She stood alone in the never-ending night of utter blackness. Here in this place, time slowed down. It was a place where minutes seemed like hours, hours seemed like days, and the days seemed like years. Every moment was agonizing. She cried out for someone to free her but her tears were not seen and her shouts were not heard.

It was a lonely place this everlasting nighttime. ‘A living nightmare’ she called it. She did not remember how she’d gotten there or how she would return. No older than seven years had she been brought here even though she couldn’t recall who she was brought by no matter how hard she tried.

Forever it seemed like she searched for a door or even a window. Walking forever in blindness seemed to be her doom. There were to walls to speak of and how silly to think of finding a window when surely if such a thing existed in this dismal place, it would’ve been given away immediately by a burst of kindly sunlight.

There was no way out…

She sought and sought, but never found. Her fears crept up around her, blending in with the ever imposing darkness. The stone beneath her feet, which she could not even see, would become shockingly cold. The air would freeze into shards of icy crystal and stab through her skin.

It seemed as though this would be her fate. She saw no way out. Her ever impending doom lingered in the doorway of this dark place. It waited for her hungrily, but contented itself with the pleasure of seeing her squirm with fear and confusion. It was happy to wait for its juiciest meal…

~*~

Suddenly her head started spinning and her eyes rolled back to her throbbing brain. She could hear the screaming of another girl far off in the distance. Losing her balance and falling over, she knocked herself out on the rigid and cold stone floor.

Opening her eyes once again, she saw the most magnificent sight one could see after so long in the blank stare of darkness. She saw the bright and shining sun, splendid in all of its glorious radiance. Before her eyes were many towering evergreen trees. Their limbs reached powerfully up to the sky and seemed to reach above and touch the snow white clouds. They appeared to her to be reaching for the warmth the sun brought to them, as a child for their mother when they are afraid, for the sun was their protector.

Her face was tickled by the soothing coolness of freshly dewed grass and the moistness of fertile soil recently rained upon. Taking in all the smells of the forest and breathing in the sweet, fresh air, the girl took a few moments and allowed herself to recall all the scents of the great wild.

Birds were singing a sweet song for the new morning, thankful that once again the sun had risen in its eternal magnificence. Their perfect notes rang in her young ears and the winds that came through the trees clashed into her face, relieving her boiling fever.

Still a bit disoriented, the girl stood up slowly and closed her eyes in hopes that her head would cease its sickening spinning motion. After making sure it was alright to walk, she proceeded to walk in the direction she deemed best to travel. She may have been gone for seven years, but that would not bridle the bred instinct of which direction her home was in. Nothing could take that instinct from her; not ever.

Walking freely felt unbearably blissful. The dirt of the earth did not cause rough calluses to mar her bare feet as the unforgiving stone did. The air was not poisoned with ash as it was for so long; it was, instead, sweet and clear. Singing thanks to God, she traced long forgotten steps back to the one place she knew she was safe.

Hours later she came upon a grand, but humble, English village with streets of cobblestone and fine homes and shops of luxury and purpose. This was her home. Soft pitter-patters of the pedestrians filled the air with a musical sound, as did the low, rumbling chatter that the people created. All were outside this fine day, enjoying good company and good weather.

The girl continued her journey on into the village. Her feet led her to the sidewalk that wound to the heard of the small town. A strange sight she must have been to turn so many heads. People stopped to wonder about the strange little girl with tattered clothes and an almost blank expression upon her face. But she did not care, she was going home.

At last she had come to the grand steps of solid ivory stone. She had to tilt her head to see the top of the enormous white stone that held up the roof of the front porch. The girl walked up these large steps to the porch of beautiful dark, weathered, wood.

She reached out to one gigantic wrought iron door handle and pulled open one side of the massive whitewashed oak doorway. Her feet knew where to go and they led her through the lobby. Each footstep echoed off the arched ceiling for the floor was mahogany and the ceilings were high.

People surrounded her; it was the summertime and there were many tourists. They chattered and laughed in the lobby, some sitting down while others were headed out to enjoy the welcoming day.

Walking on, she came to the front desk. The concierge, who was helping one of the guests, had a good-natured face and was wearing a white and black uniform bearing the gold crest of The Hotel White; a sword pointing downward in front of the noble face of a magnificent lion. If one looked close enough at the crest, they would see that the lion's eyes bore into their own with knowledge so powerful that it burned.

As soon as the man was done with his guest he turned to her with a startled and worried expression.

"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but where is my father?" she asked timidly, placing one hand on the grand mahogany desk.

It took a moment before the worried concierge to collect himself. "Who's your father, miss?"

"Jehosah White."

That name must've knocked the air right out of his lungs for he immediately raised a hand to his heart as if in hopes of slowing it down. He blinked at her in sheer awe. He swallowed hard and looked at her a little more closely, trying desperately to find something in her face.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you, miss, but Mr. White has been dead for some time now. His brother is here though- perhaps you should speak to him," he said kindly. "Come with me."

He led her to a small but grand hallway with slate floor tiles. Soon the man stopped in front of a door with a polished brass plaque labeled "Manager" in an elegant script. He knocked on it twice. It didn't take but a moment for the door to gingerly swing open.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Job. There's a young girl here asking for your brother Jehosah- I thought you might like to see her," said the concierge and he stepped aside to reveal a young girl, between twelve or fifteen years of age (for she looked older than she probably was), standing behind him.

She looked up at this man the concierge had called "Job". His hair came as a shock with his young face and frame. He had a good square jaw and a fine nose and brow. He had gentle blue eyes and his face was very kindly and noble. Hanging ruggedly about his face was his well-groomed white hair. It wasn't the kind of platinum blonde one might expect, but actually white; white as the first winter snow.

He looked down at the girl with tears glossing his dark blue eyes and he smiled. "Come in, my dear child," he said, stepping aside. "We have much to talk about."

~*~

Some hours later, she and Job walked out to the lobby which had been empty of it's previous occupants for some time. It seemed even larger than before now that there was no one crowding its beauty.

She and Job walked into the elevator at the far side of the lobby, just under the grand staircase. Job leaned forward and pushed the button for the 27th floor. She leaned against the wall of the elevator and traced her eyes on the patterns of the carpet beneath her feet. It was also as snow white as the rest of the hotel, except it had gold and black patterns of various wild flowers on it. The walls of the elevator were black and made of thin, one foot by one foot blocks of granite. It was so polished the girl could see her reflection as clear as day.

The bell rang indicating it had reached its requested destination. The doors parted and the two of them stepped out into a narrow but comfortable hallway. Beautiful mirrors of all shapes and sizes covered the worn down and tattered walls. It had a very different feel than the rest of the hotel. It was in no sense orderly or outstandingly kept.

The walls, or at least what could be seen of them, were a deep shade ruby and were very worn down in some places (most likely where mirrors had previously been). Some of the mirrors looked like they had been broken then glued back together which made the light reflections bounce off in different places. Other mirrors were cut into oddly shaped frames of hearts and diamonds and triangles and squiggles, if you will; but the rest were quite normal in their ninety-degree angle frames.

The floor was wooden, just like the rest of the hotel; a mocha dark mahogany, but up here it wasn’t as shiny, feet had walked on it for far longer. Keeping the mirrors company were seven large portraits along the walls; three on the elevator side and four on the other. They seemed to be of family genealogy for all their faces looked similar and they all had cloud white hair, just like Job. The girl walked to her left all the way to last portrait on her right; one of a very handsome man, maybe in his twenties wearing medieval wizard robes of a deep purple trimmed with gold bearing some suit of arms or crest on his left chest and his white hair hung ruggedly about his face but was cut fairly short. He seemed to stare intensely to someplace far beyond what any human eye could see. His eyes were a cloudy hazel and resembled a misty ocean sea.

Job motioned for her to step through the portrait. Taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out, she stepped through the portrait into a beautiful bedroom. It was a comfortable room. It wasn’t too big and it wasn’t too small. The walls were painted in a dark navy blue that had been worn down into lighter blues in most places because of the many years of supporting wooden furniture. Scattered spontaneously on the walls and ceiling were silver stars that shined in candlelight.

It held a four-poster bed of soft white sheets and black painted wood and headboard. The bed was covered in lush dark blue velvet pillows of many sizes. The bed curtains came billowing down in a sea of white snow.

On the far end of the room there were windows fit for a king. They extended all the way to the ceiling and, as was expected, pure white curtains fell all the way to the floor. They were closed right now for it was nighttime but she walked to them and pulled open the curtains which surprisingly held no dust. The moon’s light poured into her room and made it brighter than any number of candles could. She took a few moments to let her toes sink into the plush dark blue carpet and for her eyes to wander among the stars.

She opened them and walked over to a black dresser on which was carved vines of roses. Above it was a large mirror in a silver frame. Two silver candelabras stood erectly on either side of the grand mirror and also to her surprise were lit. The flames danced in the darkness knowing that night could not defeat their blinding flames.

Pictures littered the large dresser as well. They were all in black or silver frames containing the smiling faces of her family and the eye-catching Hotel White. She looked at the only picture she had of her mother. Her father had always talked about how beautiful her mother was. ‘Not even a picture could capture her real beauty’, her father used to say. She never understood what her father meant but he assured her that someday she would. Her mother had silky golden hair that hung a few inches past her shoulders. Compassion filled the warm chocolate brown of the woman’s eyes.

Then she looked through the pictures she had of her handsome father. His black hair was neatly tied back in a pony tail at the base of his neck and his dark blue eyes sparkled with wisdom. He had a dashing smile that could blind anyone with its pureness. He was laughing in several of the pictures. It seemed as though he didn’t have a care in the world. And it was true; her father didn’t have a care in the world. She always knew her father to be kind but strict, honest but tricky, and he always knew what to do and when to do it. He had always known what to say, how to say, and when to say it. But courage was his by far his greatest trait. He never backed down to anyone or anything for as long as he lived unless it was in a situation when that was the courageous thing to do. With this came great wisdom.

Last she looked at her brother’s pictures. He was a good three years older than her but they had been close nonetheless. He looked exactly like his father; black hair, hazel eyes, and dashing smile even from a very young age. He was the joker of the family, the one who brought laughter when nothing else could. One picture of him stuck out to her eyes in particular. It was the one taken when he got his acceptance letter to Hogwarts; taken on June 7, his eleventh birthday. His oceanic eyes gleamed with excitement and anticipation. His mind was already wandering through the forest of wild imagination of the years to come.

She stared at the pictures for a long time trying to will them to life, but she knew they would never return. What was done was done. After all, not event the most powerful magic could bring back the dead.

"This was your bedroom, last you were here," Job said. "I remember the long days your mother spent trying to make it perfect." His lips turned up ever so slightly. "I hope tomorrow's dawn will wake you with happiness my sweet nice," he said, and he bent down to give her a gentle kiss on her forehead.

He stepped through the portrait frame (the back of the portrait, which displayed the young man with white hair looking the opposite direction, showed through the wall inside the room) and said goodnight as he went.

She changed into a ruby red silk gown and she slid beneath the warm covers of her bed and laid her head on the largest of the velvet pillows and let herself sink down comfortably into the down mattress. Feeling secure, she murmured to the candelabras that she would see them the next time the daylight turned to darkness; the only light left was from the moon; who, at the moment, was her only protector. And that night the moon watched over her as it had for many years and took peace in the fact that her only friend was finally safe in her own home snug in her own warm bed.

~*~

She woke up the next morning to come face to face with a letter sitting on her bedside table that she had not noticed the night before. It was addressed to her in purple ink to the twenty-third floor of the Hotel White, last portrait on the right side, The Cloud Sky Suite.

It read:

Dear Miss White,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please board the Hogwarts Train, Platform 9 3/4, on September 1st. The train leaves at precisely 11 o’clock so do not be late. There is also a school supply list enclosed with this letter. See you on September 1st.

Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

Hogwarts, that’s where Daddy went to school…he was in Gryffindor…whatever that means, she remembered.

It was dated for three years ago when she was eleven; she was now turning fourteen in December. She noticed that it was the only thing in her room that had collected dust. The millions of microscopic dirt molecules had flown everywhere when she had picked it up. It seemed like it had been waiting for her; not tolerating anyone to put it away where it wouldn’t get so dirty, much unlike the rest of the furniture.

Yet unsure of what to do about it, she stretched her cramped arms and yawned deeply. She looked around her room contently, her lips curved ever so slightly into a smile almost unnoticeable and a great darkness left her eyes.

She stepped off her bed onto the warm carpet and walked through a white door to the bathroom to clean up before she went downstairs. It was just as magnificent as the rest of the hotel, but just like the rest of the very top floor, it was more used and worn down. There was a grand mirror stretching from just a few inches off the rustic tile floor to three inches shy of the ceiling and it was placed in a worn golden frame.

There was a large pool-like tub in the middle of the floor with a large overflowing fountain at the end. There were fresh fluffy red towels folded neatly on a golden cart next to the sink and an equally red fluffy robe hanging on the wall next to it. Each towel and the robe were stitched with the golden Hotel White initials in a very curvy script. She walked over to the fountain and touched the top of the fountain tap and immediately, crystal clear warm water began to fill up the oversized tub.

She walked over an enormous tapestry-like rug to the golden medicine cabinet placed over the large black granite sink and selected a rose scented bubble bath. She poured some into the ocean of water and let its sweet smell fill her nostrils. It smelled like her mother’s rose garden that her father tended to after she had died. That was a scent she certainly hadn't forgotten.

Removing her red silk nightgown, she stepped into the tub and was instantly relaxed. Swimming over to the various soaps that suddenly appeared next to the fountain, she proceeded to wash her hair and cleanse her skin.

After giving herself a well-deserved bath, she settled comfortably into the squishy robe and proceeded into her bedroom. Opening the large wardrobe closet opposite of her bed, she proceeded to get dressed.

(two years later)

“Headmaster, if I may ask, why now? I’ve only got two years left of Hogwarts including this one. Why no just finish the way I started; privately. Sort of … ‘home schooled’, if you will,� she argued.

She stood in the curious round office of Professor Dumbledore, the current Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Various strange looking objects were randomly scattered everywhere and there was a quite a large stack of papers tipping precariously off the corner of the large oak desk, behind which, the professor sat.

Off to her right by the staircase leading up to Dumbledore’s private quarters, was a golden perch on top of which sat a most magnificent ruby and gold feathered phoenix. Its large amber eyes blinked at her enthusiastically.

“Miss White, I have made an old man’s mistake. I thought that if you were to continue your studies without public knowledge, you would be safe. But only recently have I come to the downcast realization that you can’t remain inside these walls forever. Sooner or later you venture out, and obtain a job, and travel…I could not protect you then,� the Headmaster said, choosing his words carefully.

"Safe from what, may I ask?" she inquired. She studied him with great interest, hoping that for once, just once, she could link some clue from his face to find her answer.

Dumbledore smiled sadly- he wouldn't tell her, not yet.

Addalynn plopped down on the nearest chintz purple armchair and crossed her arms over her chest. Dumbledore stood up and positioned himself in front of the desk. As he did so, Fawkes, the magnificent Phoenix, flew over to Addalynn’s knee and sang a note to her. She stroked his head gingerly with great affection. Professor Dumbledore continued on as if she had never asked him anything at all.

“And when you go out, you will have no other friends than I, Professor McGonagall, and your Uncle Job. None of us are the friends that you, a teenager, need to have. You need someone your age to depend on,� he proceeded, looking at her intently with an unsurpassing amount of kindness in his eyes over his half-moon spectacles. “You have been kept away from a child’s life for a very long time Miss White and I have only contributed to that over the past few years and it is one of my deepest regrets.�

“You regret teaching me?� she asked incredulously, uncrossing her arms and spreading them wide.

“No, that happens to be one of my greatest accomplishments, my dear. The point I’m trying to get across to you is that you need to be a child before becoming an adult. You have not experienced the joys and lessons that come with being a teenager,� he explained and he walked over to the left side of the marvelous office and reached up to the top shelf. Upon that top shelf was a battered old hat that looked very patched and torn. He continued as he slowly walked over to her, “You, Miss White, have spent the past two years in deep concentration and study and it is time you are rewarded for your great efforts." He approached her with what seemed to be caution, if that was the word, the old hat yawning in the Headmaster's hands. "This is the Sorting Hat and it will sort you into one of the four respectable Houses- the one to which you most belong.�

He placed it on her head gingerly and took a step back. The Hat spoke almost spontaneously causing the young girl to jump out of the chair which, in turn, caused Fawkes to fly back to his perch where he was safe from talking hats and jumping girls.

Hmm…a White, I’ve not seen a White in many, many years. What to do with you I wonder? Your father was Jehosah White, was he not?, asked the hat.

Yes, he was…, she answered uncertainly. How could this old torn-up hat know about her father?

Well, I’ll say this; you certainly have his courage…, the hat continued in his old, cracked voice.

The hat went on to say more and more. Forever it seemed to her that it’s voice droned expressionlessly and without emotion, rambling on about what she was capable of and analyzing her ‘ever so complex’ personality.

It asked her questions and she answered them with as boldly as she could. Time seemed to pass by much more slowly now, obscuring her thoughts of what to do with the leftover time in the next few days before school started. She wasn’t sure what day it was anymore as it seemed hours had grudgingly gone by while she sat there in time so still she could see light travel. But alas! Out of nowhere the Hat came to a final destination after venturing the many forks on the ever winding and twisted road.

“Gryffindor!� it claimed and said no more. The jittery Headmaster climbed from his comfortable chair and emerged from behind his desk to take the hat back to the shelf upon which it watched the daily life within its master’s office.

“Jolly good Miss White! Your father was in that house you know! A very fine student that rascal was,� he informed her as he chuckled as all elderly men do. He turned to face her as she walked over to Fawkes to pat him on the head and hum sweet notes to him in her enchantingly low voice of sweet honey sound. “Well, this has been quite a day and the first of September starts in three more.�

It appeared she didn’t hear his words for she remained in full attention to the Phoenix, humming and stroking. Satisfied with her doting he let out a beautiful note to match hers. His magnificence stopped singing, but continued to close his eyes lazily and let her continue to sing and stroke hid plush head-feathers, for they were softer than any fine silk or velvet.

“Miss White is there something wrong?� asked the Headmaster for he could always tell better than any other the feelings of his students; especially the ones he knew best.

Still stroking the bird she replied to his question, “Sir, I appreciate your concern for me but, I’m afraid. I know it sounds silly, but…do you really expect me to just throw myself into to the frenzy with an open wound bleeding fresh blood? The sharks would come for sure. Their sense of smell is impeccable, and they're always searching- always hunting. Never do they stop; so stop would be to die. They will test me at first, then chew on me a bit, and tease me. Then the final blow will come and I will be no more than a tattered and bloody soul, stretched across the beach's white sand.� And now she continued to face her companion who sill sat contentedly on his royal perch.

“I understand, Miss White. Another of my many mistakes was alienating you from others who are just like you in the sense that you are only fifteen years old and soon to be sixteen. But please, my dear, for I believe strongly that this is the right thing to do. It may not be easy, but easy isn’t always a choice,� he finished.

There was no point in arguing against something she already knew to be true. She hummed a final note and turned away, leaving Fawkes quite crestfallen. Crossing over the oriental style round rug that covered the floor, she reached the large dark oak doors. She hesitated before reaching the handle to leave and turned around to face the Headmaster.

“Oh, um…Professor Dumbledore?� she asked the grandfatherly man who had once again settled himself behind his desk. He looked up at her face that was etched with worry, over his glasses that hung halfway down his long crooked nose. “What do I do on the first day?�

“Professor McGonagall will accompany you this Saturday, the second day the students are here, to Gryffindor Tower early in the morning. I’m sure you’ll be quick to make friends. Have a pleasant rest of the day Miss White.�

Walking down the steps and listening to the sharp echoes of her shoes pounding the hard stone lightly. Such a small sound until it reached the walls, and then it bounced back magnified in her ears. The gargoyle re-stepped into place and she proceeded on to the grounds where a perfect end-of-the-summer day was awaiting her longing presence.

Stepping onto the luscious grass on the vast grounds of Hogwarts she found a freedom that she encountered every time she ventured out of the castle’s grand halls. The sun was beginning to set as the colors of the sky melted into a fading light.

She took her precious time walking down the hills to the shimmering lake. It seemed to stretch on forever, like an ocean. But like most good things the lake came to an end on the side that she couldn’t see. But she found wonder and mystery in letting her mind travel through the depths of her imagination of what lies beyond what she can only see. She imagined that far out on this lake, was a band of pirate ships that plundered and raided; taking every ounce of gold and treasure in sight.

Deep in the forest, she fancied there were Unicorns and Werewolves; Fairies and Nymphs. That the Centaurs gazed upon the night sky to interpret the world’s history from the ancient script of the stars and to theorize the future of this world. She imagined that many things magical thrived in that forbidden place for no place that dark could live without a light just as powerful that rivaled it.

She fancied that there were secret passageways inside the castle of learning, all leading to incredible places. For all anyone knows, the pictures in the corridors that have not seen anything of what goes on outside of the stone walls, know more about what’s going on than the people who live their daily lives in the midst of the world’s action.

Maybe there were even elves that lived in a magical land far away. Not the kind that serve in the pureblood houses of masters, but the kind that are beautiful and enchanting. The kind of elves in human form with pointed ears and long silk hair and clad in fine silk clothing and rare jewels. The books that had become her friends over the long years told her many stories of the elves of the wood and the water. She had always wanted to meet an elf. After all, they are said to be the wisest of creatures on this foolish earth.

But alas, the imagination could invent so much that almost none of it is real. Such a sad fate awaits the imaginary worlds inside the minds of children when they grow up. The places of magic will grow dark and cold and the sun will set one last time before it all fades away; leaving only memories of being a child and the knowledge that replaced the imagination.

She sat on a rock overlooking the glossiness of the sunlight upon the tremors of the lake’s surface, her back to the setting sun. Closing her eyes in relaxation she listened to the voice of the nature around her. The birds sang sweet music to her from their perches high atop the trees. The winds played in between the branches of the old evergreens and whistled a lighthearted tune just slightly weighted with ever-growing gloom.

While she sat still and fully aware of her surroundings, life still went on without her consent. Just because she stopped her duties didn’t mean that the rest of the world would wait for her return. No, it would carry on just as it always had.

Although they were rather short-lived, she enjoyed her quiet moments alone when nothing bothered to trouble her already troubled mind. As she sat there in her quiet reverie gazing upon the still waters of the Black Lake, she pushed the afternoon session with the Sorting Hat to the very back, dusty corner, of her mind.

~*~

A thunderous knocking caused tired eyes to spring open. She jerked herself out of bed and threw on a long robe over her sleeping gown.

Tossing aside the books that laid astray across the wooden floor she made her way through the sitting room. She pushed the large door open to lay her eyes upon Professor McGonagall who was looking quite unnerved.

McGonagall was not a force to be reckoned with at any cost. She was a fair and just woman, but could be very harsh in her punishments, however agreeable one might find her. Her hair was pulled back into a severe black-haired bun and the back of her head and her robes were of a deep maroon. She gave off an aura of orderliness and was composed of an intimidating and commanding presence.

“Miss White, are you aware that I am supposed to be escorting you to Gryffindor Tower at this very moment? I daresay you look as if you just got out of bed,� the professor said as she looked the young girl up and down with criticism marking her vivid features.

“Um, I’m terribly sorry professor. Please come in and make yourself comfortable. If you could just give me a moment to get dressed…� she said as she closed the door behind McGonagall.

She fled into her bedroom and threw off her robe and nightgown entirely void of which way they flew. Opening the closet she selected, in a very random fashion of course, a set of dark red robes that were very festive for her new House.

Without warning she burst through the doors of her private living quarters and shouted a very flustered "I'm ready" to Professor McGonagall who was presently examining the girl's private book collection.

Pulling her long hair back into a loose ponytail she walked alongside the formidable Transfiguration Professor to Gryffindor Tower. Their journey was in silence for the most part until they reached a large portrait of a very fat lady in a frilly pink dress.

Suddenly without warning the portrait jumped to life and spoke in a tired voice, “Password?�

“Nood Wymph,� McGonagall complied. The girl looked at her incredulously with raised eyebrows.

“Nood Wymph? Who comes up with these?� she asked as the portrait nodding her head and swung open, revealing a short and winding passageway.

“Even I don’t know that Miss White.� They stepped through into a large and genial room that was scattered with sofas, armchairs, tables, and shelves.

Of course in this warm weather the fireplace wasn’t lit but she was sure it would be a fine display during the winter time when the flames dance on its hearth. The light that filtered through the room was coming from the window on the far wall. There weren’t very many students awake at this time, as they were still in the slow-going summer habit of sleeping in, but there was a few of them nonetheless.

In the far corner in a high-backed chintz armchair was a young man with black hair who seemed to be enthralled with the book he held in his two masculine hands. There was also a very pretty red headed girl sitting at one of the tables on the opposite side of the room and appeared to be writing a letter. Four other students were sitting at another table near the window playing a card game of sorts.

“Everyone, I would like your attention please, the few of you that are here. As Professor Dumbledore said at last nights feast, you will have a new student joining you today. I would like to introduce to you Addalynn Rose White,� the professor finished.
Everyone was craning their necks to see over the professor’s shoulder to see the new girl, but she was hidden out of the sunlight and was still cowering in the shadows of the portrait hole. McGonagall turned around and beckoned Addalynn forward. “Please dear, they may be lions but I assure you they are tame…most of the time.�

Reluctantly, Addalynn took a step where everyone could see her. She was fairly tall and slender and her shoulders were broad. Her raven black hair was pulled back into a half-hearted ponytail, releasing stray bangs that were pulled over to the right side, and cascaded down to her waist in a river of large glossy curls. Her pale skin glowed in the dim light except for her rosy cheeks and soft, full, red lips. She wasn’t a sight to behold, for she looked sickly and vampiric and ghastly. But her eyes were by far her best feature; not too round and not too almond shaped and outlined by long black lashes: the perfect blend of grays, greens, and blues mixed together in lingering clouds to create the perfect hazel eyes. In fact, her eyes appeared to be engulfed in a silver haze similar to that of a fish. Anyone could tell that she had the eyes that could see more than what is real.

Addalynn was quite nervous as she twirled her black curls between her fingers behind her back.

“I expect that you all will give Miss White the utmost respect as she is a very new student here and if I am under even the slightest of impressions that there are jokes being played I will sort it out and the punishments will be severe,� Professor McGonagall warned.

She led Addalynn over to the table where the red-headed girl was stationed. She rose from her seat and looked up expectantly at the towering professor. She was a pretty thing with long, thick, and wavy hair of the most fiery and deepest of reds. Her almond shaped eyes sparkled with emeralds against her fair skin; though Addalynn's face was far paler.

“Miss White, I would like to introduce you to Miss Lily Evans; she will be your official escort for the next few days until you get your bearings. Oh, and, Lily, dear, there’s a late-notice Prefect meeting tonight immediately after dinner. Everyone should meet in front of the Headmaster’s office; the password is ‘strawberry ice cream’.� McGonagall turned her rectangular glasses to Addalynn with great admiration accompanied by a healthy dose of dread. She nodded a final goodbye as if they would never see each other again.

Lily placed her parchment into a leather messenger bag and tossed it to the foot of the girl’s dormitory staircase. The petite girl stood up and gave a warm smile to Addalynn, who shyly smiled back.

Suddenly a foreign feeling crept into Addalynn’s stomach and spread through her inner core. It was the strangest feeling she’d ever experienced. It seemed to crawl up her throat and into her mouth causing her to stutter and fall short of breath. Then it spread to her heart, sending her into a state of panic as its steady rhythm quickened its pace. It took her a moment to identify the feeling because she had never experienced it before now. She thought back to all the books she had read and found the word she was looking for; she was nervous.

Determined to conquer her nervousness she instinctively took in a deep breath through her nose and let it out as unnoticeably as she could through her mouth. She was able to retain her normal character for the most part, masking her underlying emotions.

“Well, what do you want to do first Addalynn? I could give you a tour of the school…really it’s up to you. Do you know much about Hogwarts?� asked Lily. She was just standing there as kind as person could ever be; a smile still plastered to her face, but it didn’t seem abnormally stuck there, it appeared to have come rather naturally.

Remembering how Professor McGonagall didn’t hint that Addalynn already knew her way around Hogwarts like she knew the back of her own hand, she took up on a quick tour of the school. Obviously the Headmaster knew she would pick up the hints and don a façade of false innocence. She couldn't reveal that she had been privately schooled at Hogwarts for years; instead she would have to act as if she had never even been to a magical school.

“Oh! Before we do that, let me introduce you to your fellow sixth year girls,� Lily said while grabbing Addalynn’s hand and leading her up the spiraling staircase.

They walked down a narrow hallway until they reached a door with a shiny gold number '6' nailed on it. The two had just walked in on five other teenage girls who were already getting ready for the long day ahead. They were chattering merrily without a care in the world. Addalynn heard bits and pieces of ‘summer love’ and ‘old boyfriends’ floating around as she was led deeper into the wilderness of 'girl talk', which of course Addalynn never had the chance to partake in.

“Hey everyone listen up!� Lily shouted. “I would like to introduce to you all our new friend this year; Addalynn White.�

It was like a stampede except there was no running involved. Instead of the other five teenage girls running at Addalynn, it was their questions. The volume was immediately turned up with every given breath and Addalynn was feeling quite overwhelmed that she had to resort to covering her fragile ears with her abnormally long, elegant hands.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You nosy little gossipists!� screamed Lily to get the lioness’s attention.

“Uh, Lily, hun; ‘gossipists’, isn’t a word,� smarted one girl that was sitting to Lily’s left looking quite comfortable as she was pulling on her socks. Lily looked at her from the corner of her eye with the slightest hint of annoyance.

“Well it’s a word now,� taking a deep breath she continued now that she’d regained her composure and introduced everyone.

The girl that had mouthed off to Lily, was actually Lily’s best friend and turned out to be very nice. It just so happened that her boyfriend of two years broke up with her the night before at the feast. In a way she looked very studious, but very fun; kind of one of those sporty/feminine girls. Addalynn suspected she was Italian, noting her dark complexion and thick copper hair and her light blue eyes gave her a very exotic appearance. Her name was Rebecca, but everyone else in Gryffindor had taken to calling her Ruby.

There were two girls sitting in the far corner with their heads together exchanging the newly developed gossip, as of last night. Alice was the petite girl with shortcut strawberry blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes and the other, Meisha, was African. Her parents moved to England to help out the Ministry, as her father is an Auror, when Lord Voldemort started brewing up trouble. She was one of the prettiest girls in the group actually; shiny black hair, soft dark skin, and gorgeous dark eyes.

The fourth girl, with her nose pressed deep into a book, was sitting on her bed already dressed. She had smooth, reddish-brown hair hanging loosely down to her shoulders, and blue-green eyes that were intensely focused on the fantasy unwinding in front of her. Her name was Elizabeth; the girl that was quiet at first, but would warm up when the atmosphere relaxed.

Then the last girl who sat in the midst of everything, brushing her soft hair, seemed to be off in dream land. Her name was Nicole: or Nicky for short. There was only one thing that everyone knows about her; she was orphaned at a young age when Dumbledore found her and humbly accepted her to Hogwarts. Since then he’s found her a good home to live in. She had straight, dark chocolate brown hair and bright brown eyes. She seemed an intensely focused individual.

“Ooh, I’ve got a fabulous idea!� sported Ruby with a mischievous glint haunting her angelic eyes. She stood up with her attention-commanding posture and circled around everyone like a vulture eyeing its prey, making sure that the girls were all hers to manipulate. The first day back at school was prime time for those of gossiping lips and prying ears; summertime romances were either true or false, still on or broken up, or just dreamland fantasies waiting to happen during the school year.

“How about we play the ten questions game? I’ll ask all of you ten questions and you all must answer with the truth or it’s up to me to condemn you to a dare card that is at my disposal throughout the rest of the year,� Ruby suggested. This perked everyone’s to full attention except for Lily and Elizabeth; the most sensible in the group. “Now, who wants to ask ten questions first?�

The game went on for some time before Addalynn came up with an excuse to retreat back to the common room (she had dodged as many questions she could handle). She shook her head as she gracefully fled down the stairs at the nonsense of gossiping, smiling to herself nonetheless.

She stood at the window and gazed out upon the grounds. She watched as the sun lit the sky, alerting the flowers to their fullest attention as their colorful blooms turned to the welcoming light. The lake began to sparkle as midday approached with the last of summer warmth and the water rippled under the influence of the cool breeze. God took his paintbrush and filled the skies with streaks of crimson and gold with the occasional lavender cloud.

Addalynn took in a deep, calming breath as she gazed upon the peaceful painting. She could feel that fall would bring crisp breezes and the leaves would float from their home, leaving a rainbow upon the ground. The days would be cut shorter and the moon would see more of her as the winter neared, for the nights would be longer. But for now, it was still summer and the warmth of the sunny skies were still reluctant to say goodbye.

Wondering where everyone else had run off to, she decided to go exploring. Through the portrait hole and down a long corridor there was still no one in sight. She walked down the staircases and spiraled downward to the first floor. For the second time in a week she wandered outside.

She walked aimlessly across the grounds with no intention of going anywhere in particular. The wind picked up her hair most gracefully behind her as she descended down to the lake. She glided gracefully to the lake’s edge, close enough to put her foot into its mysterious blue-gray depths. Her long red robes billowed around similar to that of a fairytale princess; all that was missing was a crown and a prince.

It wasn’t until a young man about her age walked up to her, did she notice that she wasn’t alone. She was startled by his sudden appearance to her side, causing her to start backwards.

“I’m terribly sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten you…�he started, his face pure of apology.

“Oh, no it’s alright…I…um…. I just didn’t realize there was anyone else out here,� she said quickly. She nervously looked down at her feet and fiddled with her hair behind her back.

“So, I’m assuming that you’re the new student that Dumbledore was talking about last night?� he asked politely. She looked up at him quickly and gave a shaky nod and looked back down at the pebbles imbedded in the sand. “Well it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Remus Lupin,� he finished with an outstretched hand.

“Addalynn Rose White, it’s nice to meet you too,� she said, cautiously shaking his outstretched hand. She bit her lip for a moment, and then her jaw clenched into place.

He was a few inches taller than her and was very thin (almost ill-looking), but appeared very strong. He had shaggy sandy-brown hair that kept falling into his captivating eyes. They were curiously dark brown at the rim of the irises and farther in towards the pupils they began to glow a fiery gold. He smiled kindly at her as if giving her a sign of encouragement. His face was very good-natured and well-meaning; so much that it reminded her of her father.

“So, Addalynn...did you just arrive this morning?� he asked earnestly in an attempt to break the ice of the silence.

“Oh no, I, uh…I’ve been here awhile…�she stuttered.

She still couldn’t quench the feeling of her heart making its way every so slowly up to her throat. He was just standing there, smiling, and appeared to be very calm.

“Well, for how long? Surely no more than a few days…� he ventured.

He was slowly trying to lure her out of her little shell that she had spent so much time in and was completely unaware of it. They stood there for some time, neither of them sure of what to do or say next.

“Who have you met so far?� he asked.

“Only the other sixth year girls,� she said softly. Quite shy and well aware that it was only the two of them standing by the lake, her voice didn’t thunder from her lips as she thought it would. Addalynn had thought that she would be quite normal around other people her age, once she had gotten over the initial shock.

But really, what was normal for her? She had not been in contact with many people for the past few years of her life except for her private tutors inside the Hogwarts walls.

“Only the sixth year girls….my, my…we’ll have to fix that now won’t we?� he said playfully. He smiled brightly at her which received an almost unnoticeable curve in the right corner of her lips as she looked down, blushing.

He held out his hand like a gentleman, gesturing her to lead the way back to the castle, and he followed on her left side. They engaged in light conversation as they took their time making their way back up to the castle.

The wind let out a sigh that ruffled Remus’ hair, causing more of it to fall into his strange eyes. She smiled at him, and with a maternal instinct, she reached out her hand and brushed the stray locks of sandy hair out of his face.

He did not seem too perturbed by this gesture. His face was as calm as ever and his lips turned upward as a sign of gratitude. She once again blushed and continued to watch her feet as the two of them walked to the castle.

Finally stepping through the massive oak doors that shut out all who did not belong, Remus turned to her and kindly asked if she would mind taking a tour of the school.

“Of course, that would be great,� she said. The more time she spent with one person, the closer they would become. Maybe this was the startling beginning to a lasting friendship. But only time can tell how long and how well friends are together.

Remus and Addalynn walked beside each other quite comfortably as the day went on. Their conversation slowly eased from that of two strangers, to one of two best friends. Knowing what to say next, Addalynn didn’t stutter or hesitate as much as she did a few hours ago. She slowly started to elaborate more on her answers rather than only letting out a few simple words.

“Oh my, it’s almost time for lunch! We’d better get back to the common room and see if my friends are even up yet…would you like to eat lunch with us Addie? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. ‘The more the merrier’ is one of their favorite things to say after all,� Remus said.

“Addie?� she asked, cocking her head to the side in inquisition.

“Oh, I’m sorry; I don’t know what I was thinking. My friends and I sort of share nicknames…it comes naturally now, I guess,� he explained. The rose color of embarrassment crept into his cheeks as his hand rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s all right Remus, I like it. Thank you,� Addie smiled.

He seemed quite relieved as they continued to walk down the stone corridors until they eventually arrived at the infamous moving staircases. They started to ascend on one of them and so far everything was going smoothly, until they were up about halfway.

The stairs jolted to one side to link to another causing both the bewildered students to grab hold of the elaborate railing. Remus turned around to see if Addalynn was okay. Her bangs were laying in a very unkempt manner across her forehead, covering her right eye. She was frozen stiff in a hunched over position and her hands were glued to the railing. Remus almost laughed out loud before he remembered that she probably wasn’t used to moving staircases.

“Are you all right Addie?� he asked concernedly as he moved towards her.

He gently helped her hands release the railing and stood her back up. She brushed her bangs back from her eyes and they fell properly back into place. Taking in a deep breath, she looked at Remus as if searching for an explanation.

“I probably should’ve told you that these move around sometimes…� he said.

After recovering from the shock of moving staircases, Addalynn and Remus continued on to a corridor the portrait of the Fat Lady whose portrait served as the secret door to the Gryffindor Common Room.

“Nood Wymph,� Remus said, and they stepped through the portrait hole where they witnessed quite an impressive display.

Lily was standing up in a furious manner and was shouting mercilessly at a boy with jet black hair and glasses stationed quite comfortably on a large straight backed chair. His relaxed position gave him an unmistakable air of cockiness.

“Well it looks like I’ve brought you in at a bad time to meet my friends. You are now witnessing James’ Rejection,� Remus explained in a bemused voice.

Lily yelled out a few final words and turned around to walk out the portrait hole. Remus and Addalynn instinctively stepped aside to avoid a needless encounter. The boy Remus had called James was now standing up with resentment burned into his every feature.

He was fairly tall and his hair stuck out scruffily in all directions and had warm chocolate brown eyes. He had a muscular build that Addalynn assumed came from playing a sport; probably the magical version (and equivalent) of football; Quidditch.

“James, my good friend; will you just give it a rest?� Remus pleaded. James shot him an incredulous look. “Thought not…�
Remus stepped back to Addalynn's side so that James could see her properly.

“Anyways, this is Addalynn White, she’s new here,� he said, gesturing to Addalynn.

“It’s nice to meet you Addalynn; I’m James Potter.� He politely shook her hand and gave her a genuine ear to ear grin. Perhaps he was quite charming when he wasn’t too busy being arrogant.

Suddenly another boy came bounding down the stairs that led to the boy’s dormitory. He walked over to the three with an expectant look.

“So what did I miss?� he asked.

“Sirius this is Addalynn White; the newest,� James said.

Sirius, as any charming gentleman would do, lightly kissed the back of her soft hand. He was the tallest of the three boys and, like James, had jet black hair; although it didn’t look as wild as James’ hair did. Instead, it hung ruggedly down to his shoulders; a style he carried off very well, making it look dashingly handsome instead of messy and un-kept.

“It’s my pleasure to meet you Miss Addalynn. I’m Sirius Black,� he said, and he too, flashed her a handsome grin. “All right, I’m starving; let’s go get some food men! Oh, I’m terribly sorry: men and lady.� Attempting to impress their new guest further, he gave bent gracefully into a dramatic bow that made Addalynn smile slightly.
They foursome strode down to the Great Hall where a magnificent feast awaited their watering mouths. The Hall was already filling up with students from all years and the chatter of many a conversation were floating carelessly in the air.

They sat down at the Gryffindor Table, right about somewhere in the middle; a prime spot to listen to what the topic of the day is. Apparently today, it was Dark Lord Voldemort. There have been six muggle killings in the past three days. It has been concluded that in recent months, muggle killing has now become a purposeless sport for the Death Eaters. It served only to satisfy their hunger to kill and their lust for blood.

The student who brought up this particular choice topic had a very grave look in his eyes as if he knew something that no one else did. His blonde hair hung in his eyes creating an even more dramatic effect. His frown deepened as he told more of what he’d read in the papers and what he’d heard from his parents at the Ministry of Magic.

The discussion of Dark Wizards upset the Gryffindor Table so much that it almost silenced the students as they listened to the news-carrier. The blonde-haired boy, Adam, looked each of his fellow students in the eye as he informed them of the terrible goings-on outside the protected stone walls of Hogwarts, to add emphasis that the words he uttered were words of truth. The more he talked of the unspeakable deeds of the Death Eaters, the more his blue eyes filled with wariness and dismay.

Despite the fact that today’s conversation was very spirit crushing, the students all had a very good lunch. They were at school far away from all harm and they hadn’t a worry in the world. After all, they shouldn’t should they? They had enough to care about with essays, homework, and exams and so on and so forth…what was going on in the rest of Europe was not their concern at the moment in the prime of their young lives.

Soon enough lunch ended based on when everyone wanted to leave. Generally when one gets full of food, one leaves the table; but at Hogwarts, mealtimes were social gatherings. But sooner or later the Great Hall emptied with Sirius, James, Remus, and Addalynn being one of the first groups to leave.

“Awful shady subject that was…� said James after swallowing a large bite of pork.

They had proceeded to wander aimlessly down the vast corridors paying no attention whatsoever as to where they were headed.

“Well Prongs, these are shady times,� stated Sirius.

Addalynn’s ears perked at the word ‘Prongs’; was that James’ nickname? She shot a questioning glace over at Remus who nodded his head in turn, suggesting that she just listen.

“But why can’t the Ministry do anything about it? I know they’ve got Aurors all over the place looking for him, but…it just doesn’t seem to be working,� sighed James in abundant frustration. "This Voldemort person has got everyone on high alert."

“Prongs, just don’t worry about it okay mate? Just don’t worry about it…� said Sirius. “I’m sure everything will come to an end soon…�
"I hope so…" James said.

“Hey Moony, do you think we ought to show young Addie here how things are run in this place?� asked Sirius.

“I don’t know. Addie, would you like to know how the student life works inside these stone walls?� asked Remus.

“Do I want to know?� she asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Sirius shook his head and incoherently muttered something related to "tisk, tisk". James took a step so that he was directly to her left and he slid an arm around her shoulders. He led her forward down the corridor while the other two followed closely behind them.

“My dear, Addie, you are a Gryffindor. And you, sweetheart, are the heir to all the wonderful secrets this school possesses. We intend to teach you how to run this place just like we've been running it four the past five years,� he said as he gestured to the grand windows that were now before them.

From there she could see hundreds of students out on the grounds carrying out various tasks. Some were in groups talking others were fooling around with oddly funny spells. They were just enjoying the belated last days of summertime before it turned to the chill of fall. James turned this ordinary sight into quite a spectacle with his dramatic words and gestures.

As she looked upon the carefree students outside the castle, James smiled brotherly down at her, glad that she didn’t seem as nervous as she did earlier.

“Let me tell you a few key things Addie: number one, stay away from those slimy, hazardous, inconsiderate, greasy, dirty talking, lowlife, pureblooded freak, Slytherins. It can’t always be avoided, but when it can, take advantage of the opportunity-they’re nothing but trouble that lot. Secondly, anyone gives you any trouble, you come strait to us: do you hear me?� Sirius said concernedly as he looked at her with eyebrows raised and concerned stormy grey eyes. She blushed and tried to cover it up by nodding her head and listened to Sirius as he continued.

“Another thing Addie, there are people in this school that won’t….oh gosh, how can I put this nicely? Um…Addie, since you are a friend of ours-if you want to be-I should warn you; there will be a lot of people-“

“Especially in Slytherin,� cut in Remus.

“-who won’t show the, er, respect you deserve. And like James said, they’ll mainly be Slytherins. But other than that, everything should go rather smoothly. Gryffindors have always gotten along well with Huffelpuffs and with most of the Ravenclaws,� finished Sirius.
She turned her attention back to the other side of the window. The sun was shining happily, its rays of gold dripping lazily on the Black Lake.

"You have become a queen among us," said James.

They continued to wander around the castle aimlessly once again; discussing the different ways that one could sneak a Hair Growth Potion into another’s drink unnoticeably. Obviously this was Sirius’ topic of choice as Remus, being the more conservative of the lot, shook his head numerous times at the incredulity and stupidity of the very idea of such a pointless thing.

Apparently, in their third year, Sirius and James had snuck some Hair Growth Potion into the Arithmancy Professor’s pumpkin juice at the Halloween Feast (they were never caught). It made the poor man’s beard continue to grow at three inches a minute until Professor Slughorn (the Potions Master) could concoct a remedy. His hair and beard combined had reached forty-seven feet by the time the remedy was complete.

Around six-thirty the trio finally began to wander their way back to the Great Hall, amazingly, just in time for dinner. Sirius had been complaining about his stomach growling for some time now, he was quite relieved when they arrived at the doors of so much glorious food.

It all went as usual; Dumbledore gave a little school conduct speech, Sirius ate with the stomach of an army, James went on and on about Lily Evans and Quidditch, and Remus only cut in from time to time when he felt he could lift his nose from the book he had propped up against the table.

“I’m telling you two, this is going to be the year that the beautiful Lily Evans goes out on a date with me- James Potter,� said James cockily.

“Yeah, only after you do three things; deflate your abnormally large head, come to terms with the fact that the whole world does not revolve around you, and last, that she’ll never go out with you,� Sirius explained.

“Well then what would be the point of doing the first two things if the last thing is the third thing that has to happen?� asked James.

“Um, maybe I could help with this,� Addalynn cut in as Sirius opened this mouth to speak. “I've read in a lot of books that opposites attract. She's very conservative and you're very athletic and spontaneous. For such wildly opposite personalities, it will take longer for her to get used to you, if she isn't already.�
"If she is already then why won't she say 'yes' to me?" asked James skeptically.
"I believe the term for that would be denial."

Sirius and Remus both looked at each other with raised eyebrows: what a ridiculous thing to say. But maybe it was possible that true love attracted opposites, and if it did, this relationship would prove it.

“I don’t believe it! Addie, why would you give him such false hope?� asked Sirius.

She answered him with a rather self-conscious shrug.

“What makes you so sure of this?� asked Remus.

“If the same theory is in so many books then maybe it can be proven in this sad reality we live in,� Addie said softly, and that was the end of that conversation.

They continued to eat in merriment for the rest of dinner in the lighthearted cheeriness of the other students around them. The professors seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as the rest.

The candles that decorated the empty air of the Hall floated everywhere and their flames danced with twirls of delight. Laughter seemed to moves the flames to flicker with every funny joke and happy comment. Addalynn was sure that the jovial air that hung so heavily around the four tables was making the Great Hall more cheerful with every passing moment.

The sky was crystal clear and stars shone brightly against the black blanked. Silver rays let out from the moon as it settled itself in the sky to watch over the residents living in the hours after daylight.

Students of all the ages made their way back to their dormitories before curfew for fear of being caught wandering the halls late at night. The lifeless stone corridors filled with music and the great clock tower chimed nine times.

The paintings no longer stirred and the children were all safely tucked away between the warm cozy sheets of their beds…or at least they should be.

Too excited to sleep (except for the paintings) the common rooms of the four Houses were all up and restless. In the Slytherin common room were those boasting with thickly laid on pride, for Slytherins were ambitious, a bit rude, and very snide.

In Ravenclaw the students stayed up discussing the games and books of old, for in this house were great scholars who knew great intelligence of untold.

In Hufflepuff first through seventh years gathered around for games and fun in the late of night, for the House of Hufflepuff was fond of jovial delight.

Up in the Tower of Gryffindor were the greatest mischief makers, Gryffindors were the boldest of all, with pranks of every shape and size…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


What a strange concept, time. Never ending, no limitations, no beginnings, no endings and no true way to measure it. More often than not, life is mistaken for time, when time is actually life. Humans try to put a bottle on it for their own sense of security: what nonsense placing minutes and hours on something that has no end, no beginning, and as far as anyone can tell, no possible way to slow it down or speed it up.

A miraculous epiphany to think that time could fluctuate; that one could really be in the moment. People classify age as living longer, as having spent more time on earth than previously lived. Is the concept of living a long while not the same as time passing by? Humans can’t know because they can’t accept that there is something beyond their control.

If time could fluctuate, right now, is time passing by? Is it standing still? Or is it merely the perspective at which it is looked at? Getting older doesn’t mean that much time has passed; it is just over-simplification of an unexplained phenomenon.

These words formed inside her head, floating around and clashing against the sides of their cage. Her hazel eyes wandered around, not sure where to focus. Her ears echoed the sounding ring of the giant clock tower of Hogwarts which she now stood behind, pondering the words of the books she had stayed up every night reading since the very first night she came to Hogwarts. The Reading started out as adventure and fantasy, then gradually each book became more serious and more thoughtful.

The bell tower began to ring loudly to signify the turning of the twelfth hour…

Cruelly it rang, mocking her thoughts. It said to her that there are things that she will never know and things she cannot change. That every waking moment would pass by with, or without her consent. It grimly reminded her of what was, and what can never be. Each chime called out to her; “what foolishness�, they said.

Ding! Ding… ding…… ding………… ding……………

Every chime metallically echoed of the cold stone walls. They were taunting her with great pleasure. She had no power to stop them, they amounted to more than she could ever imagine. Their job was important; they kept the time.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

It dragged on forever it seemed like. Its sound was mournful, yet refreshing. Something new was starting, the next day was beginning; but for something to begin, something before it must die. It meant there was a chance to start again. She could see it in her mind’s eye; the sun rising magnificently over the horizon of mountains that surrounded the lake and the moon fading into nothing, the colors of the sky like a painting and the black cover of night vanished to a place that no one has dared to go, the trees’ leaves turning to reds and yellows just before their fall of death to the ground below, and the sweet smell of dew on the grass blades reminding the rest of the world that during the night, things healed in a place where all dark fears are confronted. But with every new day came a chance to mess everything up. All a new day is is another chance to try, and another chance to fail or succeed, a trial of sorts; but the outcome is elusive until it sees fit to appear.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

“You cannot go back…�, they said, “What is done is done. And you are powerless to change it…�. Their cruel words lingered in her ears. She did not know what they referred to in their cryptic message, but still she listened. She began to loose the distinction between the bells’ words and her own. She searched for a place to hide, her eyes wandering and her legs frozen. Their vile mockery became her own thoughts and she couldn’t turn their sweet sounding voices away.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

She attempted concentrating on other, happier, thoughts; the thought of the next day, and the day after. Time goes on doesn’t it? It never stops; it has a constant rhythm that the flow of life depends on. It speeds up and slows down when called for.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

It stops life without thinking and creates life without acknowledgement. Yet it brings joy to those who live and peace to those who die. But it annoyingly tags along behind those who try to escape it and eludes those who try to find it: and she was in the middle with no exit. It was an endless corridor of nothingness. The darkness, blacker than night, went on forever like the passage to a tomb. There were no walls, no doors, no floors, and no ceiling; there was no exit but many entrances, the perfect trap.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

She could see a thousand years and wish for death, or die tomorrow and wish for life. But it wasn’t her choice. Fate, if such a thing exists, does not cradle itself safely in her arms. Her heart started to beat more rapidly, raising more and more questions to her mind. What if I die tomorrow? What if I’m forgotten? What if I live to be the last person on earth and am all alone? What if I lose my mind to the cruel grasp of insanity? What if I can’t even remember my own name in old age? What if I get lost in time and can’t find my way back? What if-

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

"Face it Addalynn, you who likes to know everything can’t handle the fact that there are some things that can’t be known. All your life you’ve turned to the most logical of explanations, and now there isn’t one. For once in your life, Addalynn Rose White, you have no answer; logical or not," they told her. Everything they said was true. Her entire thought pattern consisted of a blend of logic and imagination and so far, she’s come up with the answer to every question that has dared to challenge her. All except for one.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

But there has to be an answer. Every question has an answer…doesn’t it? But what if this question had no answer…or what if its answer was that there wasn’t one? Or maybe the answer was so simple no one would dare to think of it.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

The answer was getting closer- she could feel it. But it was so close out of reach that her fingertips could only brush the surface of it. She stood with arms crossed and stared up into the heavens searching for something that could not be found. Tears made her crystal eyes glisten beautifully. They gently fell down over her rosy cheeks and to her chin. They wouldn’t stop flowing until she found an answer; an answer that she could believe in. Her tears would flow on to create rivers and oceans, eventually evaporate into clouds, and would finally bring the healing rain to the earth. Water is a powerful thing; it could destroy or heal. Her tears would heal and wound all who saw them. But now, she needed an answer to the unanswerable question. She needed the key to her past however elusive it may be. For the time being, she would have to be satisfied with more questions.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

Life is like water, it flows and it has a pulse; like the waves of an ocean. It creates and destroys like the rain that falls in springtime, bringing the flowers of April back to life, or destroying thousands of lives like the fury of the summer hurricanes and angry floods. Life has a time to it, in a sense. We have given life years, counted by the 365 and 1/4 days to which we live our daily lives. People are born and people die, it’s the natural cycle that God has given this world. But it has time, it doesn’t just exist. It also has a rhythm and it too speeds us and slows down when called for. And yet some grow old early and others stay young long. Why is this? No one stays young forever and no one lives forever.

Ding! Ding…ding……ding…………ding……………

The chime of the mighty bells rang in rage; offended that she was unraveling the unknown mystery behind everything, behind every question ever asked. Their monstrous melody of echoes were louder than ever. The theory of time travel is that one can go back in time to any moment. But what if all one needed to do was remember, to go back in time. What if that was the answer to time travel? No...it couldn’t be that simple…could it? It certainly was a possibility. So I can go back if I want to. Time does go on forever until all living things stop living. Time has no measure, it is simply what we make it. One day may seem excruciatingly long to one person and happily short to another; even if their days experience was exactly the same. It’s all a matter of perspective. You cannot escape time because you are alive, and there is an exit; when you die. There is no logical explanation, because the whole concept of time is entirely illogical and imaginative. Time both heals wounds and creates them. Time is of the moment because that’s all we can experience. What we call the past is just a memory now, and we can go back to that memory any time we want to. The future is what we either hope for or what we fear will be, but we can never know what is going to happen. The moment that we presently live in are the pulses in the veins of time, always moving. But just like the beat of the heart during happiness, it is steady and life goes smoothly. When the heart beats during stress or anxiousness, time goes by more slowly, almost unmoving. The heart will slow down during comforting contentment, and time will go by too quickly, not staying long enough to be thoroughly enjoyed. That was the answer. Life:: Time:: :: Time:: Life.

But this gave her no comfort because she didn’t want to believe that for all good things had to be things bad. She could not escape time by death, for the life that came after her would remember her in loss. A shadow would be added to the world and everyone would see. Time would forever haunt them because of memory; because of the past that they remembered and would pass down in the future. The memory of her would linger in the minds of all who had known her when she dies. She knew what they would remember before the end. And she cried even harder; she had found the answer to every question but her own.

~*~

Her face was stained with tears now. Bangs sticking to her forehead, caught in the wetness of her eyes. She hugged her chest even tighter with her arms to try and feel secure as she agonizingly, and slowly sank to her knees as if in slow motion; tears still falling. But there was something she didn’t know, a mystery she hadn't caught: there was a boy her age standing in the dark corridor behind her, watching her tears fall and her weak body sink to the ground. He watched as her hazel eyes reflected the moonlight and shined silver like the moon itself. He saw her curly silk black hair flow down her back and he heard her whimpering breaths between crying sobs. He wasn’t one to pity or feel sorry for another person. He was the person everyone kept their distance from. But tonight, watching this suffering girl fall to the ground helplessly, stirred something in his stone heart. It softened him a bit. His cold eyes looked upon her and all he wanted to do was cradle her in his arms; but he knew he couldn’t. To allow himself to do so would be treacherous. Friends were not a luxury he was accustomed to, but tonight was different. This girl wasn’t like everyone else he knew. There was a connection between them, a dark one, but still a connection. He noticed she was close to unconsciousness, and against his better judgment, he went to her and lifted her to her feet. He took her hand and slid an arm around her shoulders and turned her around. He proceeded to lead her into the dark nothingness of the dark corridor behind the clock tower, where not even the darkest of night creatures could see. This boy, the Prince of Loneliness, was helping the Lost Queen back to her House dorm.

And the silence did not answer the twelfth chime for fear of making it angry that a mere child wasn’t fooled by its clever wisdom of trickery. The last chime faded into silence until it died in mourning as the stars and the moon watched with despair for their child.

Ding…

She didn’t know how she got back to Gryffindor Tower, but she had. Like a mouse, she crept back upstairs to the girls' dormitory and lay down on her bed. But before she fell into unconscious sleep, Lily was pulling Addalynn’s arm in attempt to get her up and moving around, afraid of being late to class. Lily was muttering incoherently about something to do with "the end of the world will come if we're late to class again". Addie picked up her clock and shoved it in Lily’s face.

“Oh, it’s only…� Lily realized.

“Midnight, Lily, you were having a bad dream. Now go back to sleep,� said Addie who, after making sure Lily got back in her bead and slid beneath the covers, turned on her back in her warm bed and shut her eyes.

She laid there for at least an hour or two trying to go back to blissful sleep. But she had woken up and there was no turning back. Surrendering to her instinct she climbed out of bed, took a shower, dressed into her school robes, and tip-toed down to the common room as silent as a mouse.

She plopped down on the nearest chair and sat there for a few minutes racking her brain for something stimulating; for something that would keep her occupied until someone else woke up.

Well it worked, not ten minutes after she sat down, James Potter came trotting down the stairs. His hair was much messier than usual and he was still wearing his nightclothes. James didn’t seem to notice she was there because he went strait to the couch and lied down.

His vacant expression suggested her was distracted by something. He laid there staring off into space in complete unawareness of her presence. She debated with herself whether or not to ask him what was wrong. It was obviously something personal so really she shouldn’t butt in. But then she might be able to help him in whatever small way she could.

He really looked like he needed someone to talk to but, was it really any of her business? After all she barely knows him….but then what harm could it do in getting to know him better? What was the point of all this bickering with herself? She knows she’s just looking for excuses to not talk to him; she was being too shy again, it seemed.

Putting all her fear behind her she cautiously stood up and glided over to the end of the couch where his head was restfully laying on a golden colored pillow. Softly she extended her hand to his arm to wake him out of his empty reverie.

He looked up at her innocent face, surprised. He thought he was all alone.

“Could you not sleep either?� he asked quietly.

“Lily had a nightmare and woke me up about an hour and a half ago. I couldn’t get back to sleep,� she stuttered, partly because she was lying and partly because she was nervous.

“Well look at you, you’re already dressed and everything. Afraid of being late to class?� James asked teasingly. She let a tiny shy smile play on her lips as she looked away with the color of embarrassment rising in her cheeks. “It’s okay I was only joking. So uh, do you want to sit down?�

James sat up and offered her a seat next to him which she gratefully took, hoping that they were starting to become friends. After all, he didn’t tell her to go away when she ‘woke him up’.

“I couldn’t help but notice that something was bothering you. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to help,� Addie offered.

James thought for a moment about telling her while she patiently awaited his answer. She seemed understanding and honest, but could she really be trusted with this secret? No, not yet, the Marauders would have to continue to watch her before divulging anything secret about themselves.

“Oh, no there’s nothing you can do, but thanks for offering. It was very kind of you Addalynn,� he said ruefully and gave her and appreciative smile.

“You can call me Addie.�

“Addie,� he said, letting it flow off his lips like a steady river.

Addalynn sat in awkward silence next to James who seemed to be studying her. She unconsciously avoided her gaze and pretended to be fascinated with the grandfather clock sitting behind one of the large armchairs. She waited for him to say something insulting to her. After all, who was she to come bursting into the common room at 2:45 a.m. and barge in on his personal life? But instead he offered an honest question.

“You’re not very good at this are you?� he asked with a compassionate look in his eyes, showing that his words were not being used as an insult.

“Sorry, I’m not good at what?� she asked hesitantly, afraid of what he would say next despite the comforting look in his soft brown eyes.

“Not good at making friends. Remus and I were talking and we seem to agree on this. You’re very shy…you don’t really mingle with people. After all, we had to come to had to come to you. You don’t make yourself known to other people. It’s seems like you don’t want to,� he confessed.

“I’m frightened by an audience,� she told him honestly giving him a smile that plainly said ‘yeah it’s the truth’.

“I don’t mean that. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you don’t really make an effort to make friends. You wait for them to come to you. It’s like there’s something holding you back.� Then he stopped to let her breathe and then he proceeded, “So what’s holding you back Addie?�

“F-fear I guess…� she whispered.

“What do you fear?� he asked looking at her with intense concern.

“I really don’t know….I guess it’s just that in the back of my mind a voice is saying, ‘you can’t trust anyone’. But there are other things bothering me as well…things I really don’t even know about, myself. I have fear, but I don’t know what the fear is of so I have no way to conquer it.� Then she paused for a second, reaching into the depths of her mind for something to say. “If you create the monster you know its weakness.�

More silence followed her hauntingly true words. She is wise…very wise, James thought, but still a young frightened child.

Now James had never been this compassionate to anyone else before because Lily would push him away and he had no female friends. He was taken aback by his endearment to her.

All these brotherly feelings were foreign to him. After all, he was also an only child. He watched her face reflect the moonlight that sneaked in through the window on her pale skin that made her look like an angel. He decided in that moment, as she was looking out the window in passive thought, that he would protect her from all harm for as long as he could. Silently he promised her that he would watch over her.

When she turned her attention back to James she noticed that he was looking at her as if he was in a trance.

“James, are you ok?� She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him intently.

“Yeah, I’m fine…,� he said, still gazing at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world. Finally he realized this might be a little uncomfortable for her so he went on with what he wanted to say.

“Listen Addie, why don’t I be your friend? I don’t want you to be alone, well you know, um, remember what Sirius told you about Slytherins? What if one day a Slytherin decided to hex you? Who would be there to hex him all the way over to Ireland? You just came into the student world Addalynn and I don’t think you know quite how everything works around here yet. But I can assure you that I’ll be around until you understand how things work in this world, because don't seem to know what the world is like.�

She pondered this for a moment, he was asking if he could be her friend….why though? There’s nothing special about me…but I really don’t want to be alone and they have been awfully nice to me, Addie thought. But then a horrible thought crept into her mind.

“But what will happen once I’ve figured everything out? Will you just cease to be my friend?� she asked; and the pupils of her eyes grew in diameter but the size of her eyes themselves didn’t not falter.

James looked sincerely hurt by her accusation. Did she not know that friendship meant eternal loyalty?

“I will still be around. I will still be your friend. True friends stick around forever don’t they?� He looked at her uncertainly. She didn’t look like she knew what a true friend was and this unnerved him a bit. How could someone so sweet and innocent not know what a true friend is? Everyone needs at least one good friend.

“If you say so James,� she said while shrugging her shoulders.

Again they sat there in silence, and slowly, James saw that the frightened and guarded, shy look on her face, however subtle, changed to a look of comfort and relief.

So she understands; and that’ll do for now, James concluded.

Not long after their conversation, they fell asleep around 4:30 and laid there with Addalynn’s head resting on his shoulder.

Thankfully, Sirius was the first to enter the common room. If anyone else had seen James and Addalynn asleep on the couch, his arm around her shoulders, there would've been plenty of talk to go around.

Sirius gently shook James' shoulder, struggling to keep a smirk off his handsome face.

James was disoriented for a moment as he slowly deciphered why he wasn’t in the boy’s dorms as he looked lazily at Addie sitting next to him; although she didn’t look nearly as sleepy as he did. Then he looked at Sirius who what smiling mischievously back at him.

"What's going on...� James said drowsily.

Sirius leaned in and looked James directly in the face, "You're late for class. Professor Slughorn sent me down to see if you needed some help.

Immediately James jumped ten feet into the air and flew up the stairs leading to the boy’s dorms and in no time flat he was back downstairs in full school uniform with his glasses lopsided on his face and his hair looked like a porcupine standing strait on end. Addie and Sirius looked at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

“What may I ask is so funny? And Addalynn, you're going...well you're already dressed for class..."

“Uh, James, this was all a spur of the moment, pointless joke, class doesn't start for another two hours,� said Sirius who was trying with all his might to keep a straight face but was failing miserably. Addalynn smiled to herself.

“Real funny you two… what am I? A puppet for your amusement?� James accused in a low grumbling voice as he straightened his collar, and although he was only teasing, he really was a bit upset to be used like that in front of Addalynn.

“Oh c’mon now Prongs; it’s not like you’ve never pulled something like that on me before. Remember last year on the first day of classes when you threw a bucket of water on me to get me to wake up? And then, and then, you actually did make me late to class by locking the door to the shower room,� pointed out Sirius who was grinning manically and put arm on James’ shoulder.

James starting grinning at the memory thinking that this was indeed a very small payback for the prank he pulled and decided to let it go.

“Okay point taken, I’ll never do that again Padfoot. But did you really have to drag Addie into this?� asked James innocently.

“Hey uh, Addie was it?� she nodded her head, “Erm, wouldn’t you like to eat breakfast with us? I mean we normally wait for Remus and Peter but we don’t mind going down early.�

Addalynn thought for a moment about it and then remembered what James had said that night; ‘why don’t I be your friend?’.

“Sure, I’d like that. But I don’t mind waiting for Remus and, um, Peter.�

Addie couldn’t help but notice that James and Sirius exchanged smiles before they decided to go and wake the other two up.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once back up in the safety of the dormitory where Addalynn was out of earshot James turned his head knowingly to Sirius.

“So you noticed she needed us too huh?� James asked knowing the answer.

“Yeah but maybe she liked it that way. Maybe she didn’t want to have friends. But there was something else that I couldn’t help but notice too.� When he paused and James looked at him expectantly Sirius decided to continue. “I realized that I wanted to be her friend. I don’t know what it was but I felt like I’m supposed to look after her, to be there for her. You know what I mean mate?�

“Yeah Padfoot, I know exactly what you mean. I felt the same way too. It’s like you know you can trust her without knowing her…� Sirius nodded his head in agreement. “I think we love her.�

When his friend looked appalled at the idea of this being love he tried an attempt at making James feel guilty and convert to drawing a different conclusion.

“Well James don’t you love someone else already? Does the name 'Lily Evans' strike you as somewhat familiar?� Sirius asked leaning against his bedpost casually cocking his head with his hands in his pockets.

“You know that’s not what I mean Sirius. Remember when we became friends? How did we know we trusted each other? We're brothers, we love each other- simple as that.� said James excitedly. Sirius shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Then he quickly opened his eyes in realization.

“We just knew didn’t we? We didn’t need to ask each other for trust we just had it; it was just there. Wow, you think we can still make friends at our age? I mean, are we still allowed to?� Sirius asked uncertainly. James gave him a preposterous look.

“Of course we can still make friends! There’s no rule book about it is there? Besides she is our age and she needs friends,� said James pointedly with raised eyebrows. "She needs us."

Sirius sat on his bed and hung his head in confusion. Really, if the Marauders accepted Addalynn as their friend then they would be hanging out together all the time and that included the nights of the full moon. Could they really think that she wouldn’t ask questions or figure it out?

At the same time James seemed to be thinking the same thing as well but James had an advantage on this judgment; he’d talked to Addie last night. He knew they could trust her and that’s all the proof they needed.

“Sirius, I talked to her last night…� he started.

“Yeah I was going to ask you about that when I found you two asleep on the couch down there…� said Sirius lifting his head up.

“Neither of us could get to sleep….the point is I talked to her and tried to figure out why she’s so isolated. I looked her in the eye and asked her and she said that she didn’t make any effort to get to know people because she’s afraid. She needs to know that there are people here she can trust Sirius, and we can be those people. I talked to Remus the night before last and he seems to think she’s trustworthy as well. Neither of us want to frighten her though, and that seems to be the only snag.�

“Oh alright I see what you mean. I’m just afraid she’ll follow us one night and get herself hurt…�

“Not if we tell her what’s going she won’t,� determined James.

“We’d have to ask if that’s ok with Moony over there who I think is starting to wake up,� said Sirius, pointing over to the far side of the room to Remus’ four-poster bed where the sheets were stirring.

“We’d better get them up, Addie is waiting for us remember?� said James hurriedly.

They managed to wake up Peter and Remus successfully and without pranks (although it took them a great deal of self control).


Addalynn sat patiently on a comfy worn armchair waiting for the boys. She didn’t know what was taking them so long; were they putting on make-up or something? Oh well, maybe they were having trouble with the morning groggy feeling; the kind you get when it’s too cold outside the comfort of warm sheets and a soft quilt. But she was patient all the same.

She caught herself smiling at the prospect of having friends and quickly told herself not to get carried away with trust just yet…they couldn’t know anything about who she really is, not yet anyways. She needs to keep up my guard no matter how loyal they are! Betrayal isn’t always intentional…A loud thump from behind her pulled her away from her thoughts.

As she turned around she noticed a short mousy haired boy she’d seen hanging around with Sirius and James; that must be Peter. The other three followed into the common room behind him and gathered in front of her eagerly.

“Addie, I don’t believe you’ve met Peter yet,� said Remus. He gestured the mousy-haired boy next to him who in turn, gave her a reluctant nod.

Maybe not everyone can be as courteous as Remus, thought Sirius. And so they walked in light chatter to the Great Hall. Given the hour at which they arrived there weren’t may people there yet.

But as the lightheartedness of the Marauders and their guest continued, they failed to notice that Professor Dumbledore had walked in. He looked curiously at the group for a moment and thought that Addalynn would’ve chosen some different friends. He’d thought that she was making friends with the Lily’s circle; this was unexpected turn of events. But no matter, she was doing well and that’s what counted at the moment.

“Good morning to you all. I trust you slept enough to not need a nap during classes today, hmm?� implied the headmaster who’s blue eyes twinkled at them from behind his half-moon spectacles.

The Marauders all nodded their head in agreement knowing that if History of Magic was today, they indeed would be needing a little siesta. Innocent as they looked Professor Dumbledore knew better than to fall for puppy dog faces so he turned his attention to Addalynn.

“Well your choice in friends, Miss White, is quite unexpected,� he said casting a quick glance at the four boys.

“I didn’t choose them Headmaster,� she whispered. “They chose me.�

So she does understand, thought James as he bestowed his dashing smile upon her.

With one look at her sweet face, her eyes filled with the feeling of acceptance, Dumbledore patted her on the shoulder and walked on to the staff table. The Marauders were quite pleased with the image of themselves they had created for her. She knew that they had chosen her to join them and they were happy.

Addalynn didn’t say much during breakfast, but she was still very content to be kept in such good company. A strange feeling had settled in a soft spot in her soul and shone brightly through her hazel eyes.

Soon the prefects started handing out the class schedules though much to the students’ dismay. After all the groaning and whining coming from the north end of the Gryffindor table, Sirius knew what was coming.

“We must have something with the Slytherins today…that’s just great,� Sirius grumbled.

As soon as the timetables reached them, they too let out a good loud groan just like everyone else.

“Double Potions with Slytherin….� The boys said in unison.

All this poor outlook on the Slytherins made Addie a little uneasy as she remembered what the Sorting Hat told her before the start of term. She felt like she was betraying her only friends that she’d not even had for one day.

Noticing the look on her face Remus leaned over to her and asked if everything was alright. She couldn’t very well let Remus know, so she kept it to herself.

“Oh I’m just down about Potions too,� she said quite convincingly.

But as soon as everyone began to fill their plates with breakfast, Remus caught something in her eye that he didn’t quite expect. He noticed it as she sat beside Sirius, silent. He wondered what she was thinking about and as soon as he saw it, it left. But even for the split second that it lingered in her magnificent eyes, she almost looked-

She almost looked, well for lack of a better way of putting it; evil.

It was a fatal metallic glint that shielded her eyes in steely armor and shadowed her face ever so discreetly that it hallowed out her cheeks and deepened the lids under the brow bones of her eyes. She appeared menacing, but just as suddenly as it came it left, leaving Remus in blatant disbelief of what he had just witnessed.

His eyes must have been playing tricks on him for sitting before him now was Addalynn Rose White; a very sweet, timid girl with a lack of social experience. That was not the "shadow girl" he had seen take Addalynn’s place only a few seconds before; she was some sort of link to evil, someone who lingered in the shadows as if she was a genuine mystery. Giving up all hope to solve this puzzle he shook his head, causing more stray locks of sandy-brown hair to fall into his eyes, in attempt to free himself from the frightening image.

Remus scanned his friends’ faces to see if they had noticed it too; they hadn’t. Maybe they just weren’t paying attention. Sometimes when things like this happen you just have to let it go so Remus decided to put it out of his mind…for now at least.

Going on about their usual light-hearted chatter and joking around like all teenage boys do, along with Addalynn, who occasionally stepped in when she felt she needed to put in her two cents or was invited into a conversation by one of the four.

Finally breakfast ended and, most unfortunately, it was time to make the dismal steps down to the dank, moldy, and depressing dungeons of the castle where the grueling and fine tuned process of potion-making took place.

All the Gryffindors hung their heads in dread while they all walked in a tightly knit flock down to what seemed would be their demise. The Potions classroom was a very depressing place to be for two hours. There were no windows to speak of which let the moisture of the dungeons create mold that gave the place a very…nasty…smell.

It seemed only a vampire could live in this awful place. With all its dark corners and ghastly spider webs, it was hard to believe that anything could live down there at all- even a Potions master.

In the Potions classroom, there was a large squat man sitting in a large chintz chair behind the desk at the front of the room who slightly resembled a walrus. He had graying brown hair and a goatee to match. His dandy clothing made a sharp contrast to the solemn surroundings. He stood up as soon as everyone had taken their seats and smiled at them.

“Welcome, class to another year of Potions at Hogwarts!� he said. A large wave of barely audible groans swept over the room; mostly coming from Gryffindors while the Slytherins sat in their usual, eerie silence.

Remus, who now occupied the seat next to Addie, leaned over and whispered in her ear. “That’s Professor Slughorn. He’s a bit of a dandy to be teaching potions. You’ll get used to it after a while. He’s always seemed a bit too happy to teach down here though...kind of creepy if you ask me. All the Slytherins seem to suck up to him; bring him candied pineapple and stuff. I've found that he has a taste for people with connections.�

“Now today all of you will be concocting a potion that I will choose…no, actually; surprise me with something from your Potions book. You may work individually, or, you may work with the partner at your table…� Professor Slughorn’s voice was an odd mixture of a male’s deep voice and the shine of almost maniacal happiness.

His voice droned on and on about “how wonderful you all are doing!�, and “oh…I wouldn’t do that if I were you…� and such nonsense. He talked so much his voice transformed from being jubilant, to being just plain annoying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, do you really think that Moony will be alright with this?� asked Sirius.

“C’mon mate, Remus is just as much her friend as she is his. She has the right to know,� explained James.

“But who has the right to tell her? She might not believe us if we simply tell her…she might follow us out one night and get herself hurt. We might even have to show her to make her understand. Do you think she’d believe us?� Sirius asked.

He turned to face James with a torn expression on his face. James sighed and frowned. It didn’t look like he thought so.

“That’s not the question we should be asking Sirius. The real question is; will she be afraid when she finds out? She's a brilliant girl, but we don't know how afraid she would be,� said James as he continued to slice the goat liver into quarter inch squares; just like the potion called for.

They stood in silence for a while, thinking about what to do. Life is so darn complicated, Sirius thought. His strong hands sliced the fairy wings (from fairies that were already dead of course) that were surprisingly hard to cut. They were very strong, for the magic they contained was powerful for a creature so small. So strong that they could bend easily and be shaped in any way, but their fragile framework would never break. He struggled to chop and crush them into a finely ground powder. It shimmered in the candlelight of the dungeon and smelled like early morning dew. He poured it carefully into the cauldron right after James had stirred it exactly seven times to the left. The affect the powdered fairy wings had on it was astonishing as it turned the hideous murky brown to an airy, glowing green. Professor Slughorn finally walked around to James and Sirius’ station and peered into the still unfinished concoction, looking quite impressed.

“Ah, the Potion of Dreams. The one and only potion known to wizard-kind to be able to surface the pictures of our wildest imaginations. Drinking it before you go to sleep helps you dream all night and never wake up until the very moment the sun rises and taking a few sips on a stressful day will help relax the mind,� the jolly Professor said satisfactorily. But then he looked at them with an expression of warning. “Be careful of how you use that particular potion boys; wizards have been known to lose their minds to nightmares when they drink too much of it; it drove them into insanity, to which, may I inform you, there is no cure,� he informed them quite dramatically.

The two boys didn’t know about that last part; the instructions in the Potions books don’t have warning labels (thought they should). It was often up the Potions Master to thoroughly inform students of the full potential of the various complex concoctions.

“Yeah, the Potion of Dreams…er professor, what if one were to drink it during the day? You know, while they were wide awake?� asked James.

“Well it’s just as I said; on a stressful day it will help to relax the mind…� the professor repeated.

“Er, no professor, you misunderstood me. What if you wanted to live something out in your mind, but not fall asleep? Could you take the Potion of Dreams then?� James clarified.

“I don’t see why not,� Slughorn started. He gave the two boys an inquiring look and raised an eyebrow. Settling his hands inside his coat pockets he said, “But I would warn the drinker to concentrate very hard on what they wanted to see. For all they know, they might be forced to live in an everlasting nightmare…�

And that’s all he had to say, so he proceeded on to Remus and Addalynn’s work; The Dreamless Drought: made specifically to help those with nightmares and those who wake up at night with no reason, to sleep in peace without the disturbance of any sort of world around them, imaginative or real.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Slytherins audibly sniggered at her when the Marauders’ backs were turned away. This new girl hadn’t a clue about Potions. She kept doing things the wrong way. And yet Professor Slughorn still commended her on her efforts. It was a good thing she had that Remus Lupin as her partner or she would fail Potions for sure.

They watched her and studied her. Their attention had been on her since she arrived on Saturday. They saw how quickly she made friends. They watched her shy away from large crowds. No one else but them saw the way her eyes turned to black metallic liquid and her skin to silver metal that morning.

No one else but the Slytherins knew that she wasn’t at all what she appeared to be. They still didn’t know what she was, but as Slytherins, they had the drive to find out.

They continued to study her every move (from a safe distance of course). From the Monday Potions class they gathered she was helpless at Potion-making. It didn’t surprise them in the least; it took real brains to get good marks in that class.

Apparently she was a fair shot in Charms. But still again, that didn’t take much to do. You wave your wand and repeat a few fancy words: so what?

From a few fellow classmates in Ravenclaw, Addalynn White was most excellent in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The D.A.D.A. Professor was a duel master and had Addalynn and a young man from Ravenclaw, demonstrate what they knew; and to much of the Ravenclaw’s dismay, Addalynn White knew quite a lot. Now the Slytherins were finally getting somewhere with their observations; they now know that she is dangerous.

The Slytherins learned from a few of their own in Arithmancy, that she was also brilliant. She could calculate anything and solve any problem. Even just learning the basics of creating a new spell or curse was beneath the omniscient structure of her mind.

Finally on Friday, they came to a conclusion, they deemed Addalynn Rose White as ambitious, clever, cunning, and smart. She was practically the recipe for the perfect Slytherin, including the fact that she had one great flaw; unfortunately her great flaw was mixed blood. A mudblood. They did what Slytherins did best; they dug around for forgotten information and managed to uncover that her mother was a muggle: Mary Anne Lockson-White.

They didn’t deem her so worthy now, and not only because of that; it was also because since they noticed that she was a mudblood, they also started to notice her other non-Slytherin-like traits as well. She was also kind, compassionate, a good listener, was on all of the teachers’ favorites list, and had three undeniably true friends. Now they knew why she wasn’t in Slytherin. They could not accept her now, it simply couldn’t be done. They wouldn’t do it; they had no reason to associate themselves with such a low, filthy mudblood, Gryffindor such as her.

So now that they had ruled out the reasons to like her, they turned their attention to the reasons why they would make her life miserable. She was a friend of the Marauders. She was one of the most brilliant students. She was beautiful (sort of). Last, she was more powerful than they; therefore, they must bring her down; slowly and painfully…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You know James, I think that we should give the girl a proper initiation. What do you think?� said Sirius.

“We’d have to talk it over with Remus first. Peter will go along with anything we say. How about on the first Hogsmeade trip; it’s on the last Saturday of October: the 31,� James suggested. After a moment of thought, he realized once she knew about Remus, she’d also have to know about them. “Do you think we should teach her to become an Animagus too?�

“It might be dangerous, but yeah, that’d probably be a good idea,� Sirius said as he gathered his books and papers from the potions table, “How about we take her to the shack? That’ll be a good place to take her; if she’s not afraid of that then there’s no way she’ll be afraid of Remus.�

“Shh! Not so loud, she might hear you…� said James casting a worried glance at Addie, who was standing right in front of them.

“Sorry…but let’s not try and creep her out; if she doesn’t want to do it, then she doesn’t have to. We just have to know if she’ll be our true friend, a loyal friend,� finalized Sirius.

“Okay, in three weeks then.�

It was now very late in the boys’ dormitory and the moon was finally out. Mind, it was a waning moon now. But soon enough it would be full and all across the world wolves would howl in anguished unison.

The Marauders gathered around on the floor of the dormitory. James was cockily playing with the snitch as he lay down on his back.

“Remus, we’ve been talking today and we think we should tell Addalynn. I know it could be dangerous, but it’s not like we can stop being her friend. She needs us, surely you sense that?� considered James.

“I know. I just don’t want her to get hurt,� and that’s all that Remus said. He studied the words in his book for a moment, but didn’t take any of them in.

“Well, what exactly do you have in mind? And it better not be anything dangerous…� warned Remus.

“Oh c’mon Remus, the ghosts in that shack aren’t all bad…� said Sirius.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The foursome approached the fence just outside the woods of Hogsmeade. They gazed upon a two story dilapidated old house from which, supposedly, the cries of tormented and lonely spirits erupted from.

“Okay, all I have to do is walk in,� she started, and the Marauders nodded their heads, “and find a letter somewhere inside one of the rooms?�

“Exactly!� James exclaimed grinning at her from behind round glasses and messy hair.

Gathering her breath, Addalynn took a few steps inside the fence and pulled her jacket closer to her. Suddenly she turned around with her eyebrows furrowed together. “Are you sure this is safe?�

James walked up to her and grabbed her gently by the arms and looked her strait in the eyes. “You know I wouldn’t put you through anything dangerous. Besides, we’ve all done it,� he said spreading his hands wide.

She nodded her head as she took in a deep breath. She began walking down to the Shrieking Shack. Even from fifty feet away she could hear the moaning of the wood. She stepped up the front steps and onto the porch that creaked loudly under her weight.

She peered inside just to make sure that there were no monsters hiding behind the door. Deciding it was okay, she stepped inside into a dark hallway. Every step she took let out a short lived ‘eeeaaaaeeerk’.

She looked in what she assumed was the living room. She scanned the bookshelves and the coffee table and found nothing. When she turned around to step back into the hallway she thought she saw a dark figure move rapidly to the right deeper into the hall. Shaking herself out of the possibility that someone else was in the shack with her was highly unlikely she moved from the hall into the kitchen.

Again, there was no letter. Obviously they’d put them in the last room on the second floor, she thought. The cobwebs covered the cabinets where the doors were hanging off the hinges. This place looked like it hadn’t been used in several decades. Everything was covered in layers of dust, all the furniture was broken and thrown about, and there were shadows everywhere that looked like they moved.

Again, just out of the corner of her peripheral vision, she thought she saw something move behind her as she ascended the stairs. Starting to feel a tad bit uneasy, she pressed on the room down the hall. As she scanned the bedroom she thought she heard faint breathing from behind her.

Okay, shake it off…there’s no one in here with you. James said this was perfectly safe.

Then she spotted it lying on the pillow. It was a fairly large envelope and it appeared to be quite thick, she was curious to know what was inside it. She picked it up and heard the swish of a cloak behind her. She turned around and her breath lodged in her throat; her heart picked up speed.

Standing the darkest shadow in the corner right in front of her was a figure in a long black cloak and a hidden face. She backed off from the spot where she stood and retreated to the other side of the bed where the door was. The figure stepped forward revealing a once-handsome, corpse-like face. His eyes were a hollow black and so was his long hair. He smiled at her, revealing two menacingly long fangs; a vampire.

She whirled around to escape through the door but he was already in front of her and no farther than five inches away from her face. “Why do you want to leave? I know we’d have such an excellent time together…� he said in a deep hissing voice.

He gazed steadily into her frantic eyes, slowly reeling her into a trance. He saw her internal battle trying to resist him; but she was starting to lose.

Addalynn was starting to lose her nerve, but not before she remembered that she had a wand with her. She pulled it out, backed up as far as she could before her legs hit the edge of the bed, and pointed it directly at his chest.

“Just what are you going to do with that my dear? Kill me? I’m already dead…� he said as he inched closer, his eyes fixed on hers.

She was trying to resist his calling to her. Slowly she tried to shut her eyes, but she couldn’t…then she dropped her wand. She had lost her only means of defense, not that it would’ve helped as she was starting to lose control of her mind as well.

He walked forward and reached out to her waist. His eyes captured her full attention and she was under his total control. He sang in her willing ears a mournful sound; almost groaning. Again he saw the battlefield in her eyes, but not to worry; it wouldn’t be much longer before she was entirely his. She was beginning to lose the battle against his powerful hypnosis.

No, this isn’t right, she screamed inside her mind. Her task was to come in and find the letter and walk back out …

She did the only thing she could think of; she screamed and a cold dead hand covered her mouth and silenced her. She prayed that her friends heard her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remus, James, and Sirius immediately bolted for the Shrieking Shack as fast as humanly possible. All that they could think about was that they’d kill whoever was trying to hurt her…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The vampire shoved her down onto the bed harshly with his hand that smothered her mouth. “Please be silent…� he tried to pleasantly hiss.

Her eyes opened wide as his head leaned over to her neck slowly. To her great relief she heard raging footsteps coming up the stairs. Please get here on time…

A blinding flash of light erupted as if the sun itself had entered the room. She blacked out from being under the influence of the vampire and she knew no more….

Soft whispers gently floated to her ears. Her eyes flickered opened to see that it was near nightfall in the Hospital Wing. Three boys were hovering around her bed, and a fourth lingering in the back, all eyes watching her intently.

It took her a moment to gather why on earth she’d be in the hospital wing. Then she remembered the cold, empty eyes burrowing into hers, and cruel hands smothering her breath and bruising her arm.

Images of the undead man flashed before her eyes and she bolted straight up off her pillow. Her breathing became shallow and quick, but was soon calmed by the soothing voices and kind touch of her friends.

“It’s alright, Addie, we’re here. You’re safe.�

Remus’ kind gold eyes calmed her soothingly as he gently laid her back down to her pillow and pulled the covers back up to her waist. All four of them were there, including Peter, much to Addalynn’s surprise.

“How long was I out?� she asked breathlessly.

“Only a few hours,� replied James.

“You really gave us a good scare back there, Addie,� Sirius said. “We heard you scream and came running…�

“He’s still here somewhere near isn’t he?� Addalynn timidly asked, already knowing the answer.

“Well it’s not likely he’d get in the castle, Addie…� but even as Remus said so she unconsciously lifted a hand to her neck. She could still smell his metallic breath and the closeness of his fangs to her flesh, teasingly threatening to close in. Her whole body trembled from such vivid memory. But James pulled her hand away from the spot where she was almost bit and held it in his.

“Everything’s okay, Addie; just don’t think about it. No one will hurt you while we are here.�

Madam Pomfrey came bustling around the corner in quite a fuss. She told them in a very annoyed tone that it was nine thirty in the evening and they all should be heading back to their dormitories before someone caught them out of bed after hours.
“Please don’t go,� pleaded Addalynn, tugging on James’ hand, which was tenderly holding hers.

“Hey, I’ll be back soon,� he assured her before the begrudged assistant nurse ushered him out of the room.

She laid there staring up at the ceiling in utter boredom and fright; determined not to fall asleep. But Madam Pomfrey insisted that she take some freshly brewed Dreamless Draught.

Addalynn didn’t want to fall into unconscious sleep, but it didn’t seem she had a choice judging by the nurse’s crossed arms and raised eyebrows. She lifted the steaming potion to her lips and drank most unwillingly. Halfway through, she thought she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye; the same shadow she had seen haunting the Shrieking Shack.

“Come, dear we can’t stay up all night waiting for you to finish,� the lady fussed.

Deciding it was just the aftershock of the day’s events, she sipped down the last of the dreadful potion. She handed the flask to Madam Pomfrey and laid her head back down and tried to keep herself awake.

It was several hours later and she was forced to use up most of her strength to keep her eyes from sealing shut. But as soon as her eyelids started to sink down upon her pupils, James appeared before her.

“Sorry it took me so long, but I had to wait for the common room to clear out before I could come,� he informed her lightly while discarding a lightweight silvery material onto a nearby hospital bed.

Her weary eyes met his as he walked over to her bedside. He whispered softly for her to go to sleep and know no vampires would come lurking the shadows of the hospital wing while she was in such good company.

James watched Addie’s tired eyes close and her lips part to allow breath to pass. She wasn’t sleeping peacefully, he could tell. She was asleep but not too deeply; her breathing was too shallow and she shuddered every timed she exhaled. He wondered if anyone had given her some sleeping potion. If it was the dreamless drought then she should’ve been sleeping peacefully. An uneasy feeling crept into his stomach and alerted his mind that there was something wrong. He kept seeing shadows that he thought had moved out of the corner of his eye. So out of respect for Addalynn’s wish not to be alone, he sat on the edge of her bed and gently moved her bangs back from her anguished face.

It might’ve just been because it was so late at night that the shadows seemed to move around the hospital ward. Maybe the whole vampire thing was starting to bother him too. No, his eyes were probably just playing tricks on him.

James looked out the large window at the glowing moon above. It would soon be full; there wasn’t much time to calm down Addalynn enough to let her know. She was thoroughly traumatized by her earlier encounter with that blasted blood sucking monster.

He remembered when he heard her deathly scream cut through the brisk fall air and slice into his ears. Before he could register what was fully happening, he saw Sirius’ backside rushing to the old battered shack. All he knew at that moment was something was wrong, so he had followed suit.

The sight of Addalynn helplessly fighting the vampire’s hypnotic power, under his death grip, his fangs bared and ready to take her life, would never leave his memory, no matter how much he wished it would. He had seen the way her eyes pleaded to the vampire to let her go before they rolled back into her skull and her eyelids fell over them. It had frightened him to death to see her so weak; so defenseless and alone. He didn’t even want to think about how traumatized he would be if Lily had been in Addalynn's place…

It was James that had carried her from the Shrieking Shack to the hospital ward safely in the west wing of the castle. Remus and Sirius both had their wands raised to the vampire in furious rage while James ran to Addie.

The first incantation had not fully taken its toll on the vampire’s inability to tolerate sunlight. They kept at it so that every time the vampire lunged forward, fangs bared wildly, he was kept at bay by the next spell thrown at him.

Eventually he had to back out and fly off in the form of a screeching black bat, a bloody cut on his right wing. It flew out, whimpering and struggling, towards the forest.

Guilt weighed heavily on Sirius’ heart that day, since it was his idea for her to explore inside the Shrieking Shack. He hadn’t spoken at all that day until Addalynn had woken up, lying on her bed in the hospital wing. He didn’t leave her side until he was forced to by Madam Pomfrey.

He had told James before he snuck out with the Invisibility Cloak that he couldn’t bear to look her in the eye any time soon. James looked at Sirius with great concern at the pained and guilty expression that painted his face so dramatically.

It wasn’t his fault, there was no way he could’ve known that there was a vampire lurking around in there, James thought silently as he stroked Addalynn’s raven hair with his free hand.
The clock tower rang for five in the morning and Addalynn’s eyes tore open. She didn’t bother trying to go back to sleep. “James?� she said shakily.

He turned to look at her tired face. Dark circles had formed around her eyes and her eyelids were weighing down heavily. “You didn’t sleep well last night,� he noted while he brushed away some of the bangs that had fallen over her eyes when she sat up. “Didn’t Madam Pomfrey give you any sleeping potion?�

“Dreamless Draught.�

“That should’ve put you to sleep long before I got here Addie,� James said, tucking a few stray glossy curls behind her ears. “I couldn’t bear the thought of being alone all night. The only thing I could think of to do was to at least stay awake…� she told him drowsily.

“Well, I’m here now and no one will be here until nine o’clock; that's four more hours. Now go back to sleep…� he said. He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb and waited patiently until her eyes closed and her breathing became long and deep. He had been up all night watching over her and found that he also longed for peaceful sleep, but he wouldn’t let her, even if she would never know.

So to keep his mind occupied, he thought about how to tell her that Remus was a werewolf. She was already haunted by the memory of being attacked by a vampire, now she would find out that her best friend was another strange and supernatural beast.

He didn’t know if her mind would take it this soon after such an event, but the full moon was coming and she could very well find out at the first full moon or the full moon at the end of the year. No matter how it happens, he wouldn’t let her find out the way she had to find out about the vamp (even if the vampire incident wasn’t intentional).

James also didn’t know how well she would cope with being in the castle where the shadows were endless. She probably wouldn’t want to be alone for any amount of time once she was out of the hospital wing. But he knew The Marauders wouldn’t let her be alone regardless of her wishes.

It was eight in the morning when Headmaster Dumbledore strode in; half-moon spectacles sitting halfway down his long crooked nose and a purple pointed hat with silver stars sitting atop his head.

“Good morning, Mr. Potter, how is our Miss White doing?� he inquired kindly.

“I don’t know, Headmaster; she woke up a few hours ago and seemed a bit haunted by the memory of…yesterday…� James said uncertainly.

“Well, things like these take time to get over I’m afraid. But she has you and the other three. I’m sure you’ll help her through,� said Dumbledore.

Then, with a final look at his favorite students, one that lay peacefully on her bed and the other watching over her with gentle eyes, he turned to the door, half-moon spectacles reflecting the oncoming light that poured through the windows from the early morning sun.

The morning was filled with visitors, for in came Remus next. He walked over to Addalynn and watched her skin glow in the sunlight.

�I hope she’s able to get over this, James…what if she’s been so traumatized by that vampire, that when she finds out about me- and you know she will — she might be angry with me.�

His golden eyes still watched her deep breathing. Her chest rose and fell ever so unnoticeably that it seemed she wasn’t breathing at all. Her lips were rosy and pink just like the tint of her cheeks. Her long black eyelashes stood out beautifully against her pale skin. She looked so innocent and pure, and he felt so guilty for being such an unclean, demonic creature.

“Or worse; scared of me,� he whispered as an afterthought.

“Don’t worry about it, Remus, she’ll be fine. She doesn’t seem like the kind of person that would drop someone because they had a furry little problem. Besides, Moony, everyone has secrets,� James began, only to be cut off by Remus’ protest.

“I’m a werewolf, James; that’s a pretty nasty secret,� Remus argued. For a few minutes they waited in silence, neither of them knowing what to say to the other.

“How’s Sirius handling this? He told me last night he felt overwhelmingly guilty,� said James.

“He still doesn’t know if he could face her without breaking down. I told him he’ll never feel any better- even thought none of this was his fault — if he didn’t talk to her about it,� Remus said.

“But do you think he will? She almost lost her soul, her life, everyone that cared about her (except for us of course). Sirius would never forgive himself if something like that happened to anyone,� James explained.

Sirius was trustworthy and undeniably loyal; he wouldn’t hurt anyone that he was even just remotely close to him (if, of course, they were on good terms).

“Alright you two, out of the way,� said a very disgruntled Madam Pomfrey.

She was shuffling to Addalynn, who Remus had noticed, was beginning to wake. Her tired eyes opened, and blinked as they adjusted to the morning sunlight. Pushing herself up with her arms she watched the nurse pour some nasty looking liquid into a spoon.

“Ma’am,� she started with an uncertain and un-wanting look on her face, “am I going to have to drink that?�

“Medicine doesn’t taste like cherries, m’dear. Now swallow all of it,� said the nurse as she handed the spoon to Addalynn, careful not to spill a single precious drop.

Deciding to suck it up she shoved the medicine into her mouth. It was the foulest thing she’d ever tasted; even for medicine. It burned her throat and stung her tongue. It was thick and gooey like molten tar and burned like fire equally so. Madam Pomfrey studied the spoon to be sure her patient had gotten it all down.

“That was by far the most disgusting thing I’ve ever had to do…� said Addie who was clutching her burning stomach.

“Well I’m terribly sorry but for someone who didn’t let herself go to sleep immediately after taking a sleeping potion,� Madam Pomfrey said in a fuss, “you’re going to need that to prevent nightmares.�

And she sauntered off, grumbling about how incredibly unsafe Hogwarts was; “Letting children run off on their own like that…� and such nonsense.

“Er, ma’am, may I go now?�

“Yes, yes, you can go,� she allowed, still walking with her back turned to the trio, waving the back of her hand at them. She came back only a few moments later with fresh robes for Addalynn and a screen to put up around her bed.

Once back in the dormitory, James and Remus went upstairs to talk to Sirius while Addalynn got ready in the girls’ dorm.

“Sirius, you need to see her,� James said rather defiantly.

“But she’ll never forgive me for telling that she had to go in there…� said a weary Sirius who was sitting on his bed with his head hanging in his hands.

“Padfoot! You’ll never feel any better until you talk to her…even if this wasn’t your fault…besides she didn’t get hurt,� Remus said walking to his friend.

“You didn’t suggest this, Moony…� said the young, handsome boy stonily, “you weren’t the one to suggest that she go into that forbidden shack. You didn’t almost cause an innocent girl to lose her life; to lose her soul,� he concluded darkly.

He stood up and faced his two best friends. A haunting look was lingering in the shadows of his stormy gray eyes. Sirius unfolded his tall frame to full height, towering over James and Remus.

“You have no guilt because this wasn’t your fault…�

“Sirius I’ve had enough of this guilt trip you’re taking. It wasn’t your fault; end of conversation. Now get out there and talk to her if you’re feeling like this! I really think she'll listen to you. She won't blow you off or yell at you. Addalynn probably doesn't blame you for any of this. If you tell her, she'll understand.� James said.

James walked to his best friend and grabbed his arm and shoved him to the door. Sirius stumbled and looked back at James with and unreadable mask. James gave Sirius one last look of defiance and nodded his head to the red door.

“She’s probably down in the common room all alone, waiting for us to come down,� James prodded.

Reluctantly, Sirius put one hand to the door and swung it open. Taking in deep, supposedly calming breaths, he descended the staircase to the bright red and gold lounge area.

Sure enough, there was no one except for Addie. She stood up expectantly when the echo of his soft footsteps reached her ears. A look of confusion crossed her face at his disgruntlement.

“Please, a fine lady such as yourself should be at her leisure whenever she pleases,� spoke Sirius in a surprisingly soft chiding voice, gesturing that she should sit back down. He sounded bitter and worried.

His brows were unusually furrowed together in uncertainty and his eyes reflected a pool of guilt. It was only noon and the sun was coming in through the window. It was a very cheery day outside, but Addalynn had the feeling that she wouldn’t get to enjoy it.

He pulled another chintz armchair in front of her so he could speak to her eye to eye. Gentle hazel eyes that glowed like sapphires, watched him with compassion. It was almost too much for him to bear to see Addalynn treat him so kindly after what had happened because of him.

“Addalynn, after I tell you this I expect you’ll never talk, or even look at me, ever again; but I need to tell you. I would be lying to you if I didn’t and that would be much worse,� he warned.

His loyal gray eyes darkened like the eye of a storm. “I had the idea of you going into the Shrieking Shack to find that letter…� his gaze fell to his hands that were wringing each other so painfully that his knuckles were turning white.

“And you almost lost your soul,� he continued, his eyes closed. “I don’t know what I’d do with myself if something like that happened to you….�

“Sirius, look at me,� said Addalynn firmly.

Determination engulfed her eyes, turning them a dark forest green; like emeralds. But she didn’t appear to be angry.

“Sirius, what happened was not your fault-“

“But, Addie you could’ve lost your soul…� he started. His voice began to shake with the horrors of what could’ve happened. “You could’ve died; you would’ve been lost to an everlasting nightmare and it would all be my fault…�

“Sirius, it was not your fault…� she tried to convince him.

“Please forgive me for putting you through that….� he pleaded.

His eyes had retreated to the floor again, but this time a soft hand lifted his gaze back to her face. Her touch was so gentle and almost unnoticeable. He expected her to let go, but instead her left hand came up as well and held the other side of his face.

“Would you have told me to go into that shack if you knew what was in there?�

“Of course not…�

“And did you leave me there when you heard me scream?�

“No…�

“Would you every hurt me intentionally?�

“Never, Addie, never….�

“Have you ever had that gut feeling that you know when someone is trustworthy?�

“Yes….�

“Then I suppose you know what it feels like to have three good friends that you would die for that would do the same in return…� she stated. He nodded his head slightly in agreement. "I may be new to the friendship thing, but I know enough about you to judge that you wouldn't do something like that to me."

“Yes…but what that vampire could’ve done to you was unforgivable, Addalynn.�

Releasing his face she sat all the way back in her chair with perfect posture and crossed her legs. Her hands rested comfortably on the armrests. From this position she was quite menacing and the emotions in her eyes were hard to decipher.

“That vampire didn’t get the chance to do anything to me because you and James and Remus came running the moment you heard me scream. Or at least, that's what I can assume happened as I was quite incapable of counting the seconds at the time. That more than makes up for anything you could’ve done to hurt me. But if it’s forgiveness you looking for then you will always have it from me whether you ask for it or not,� she said, her voice deep. She spoke clearly and slowly to make sure that he had caught every word.

“Thank you, Addalynn,� he said, finally looking up at her.

“You should not have to thank me for forgiving you, Sirius,� she stated.

The day went on as normally as it possibly could. Students were bustling about trying to finish their first week of homework. Most of the students were outside on this gloriously bright day playing Quidditch or simply fooling around in the fresh air.

But Addalynn, not feeling brave enough to venture outside with everyone else, nor scared enough to be forced out into sunlight, stayed in the library, in front of a large open window of course, content to read books and study.

Her studious behavior startled James and Sirius as they headed out to the Quidditch pitch. They had teased her, of course, to no end as she and Remus proceeded with their academic duties. Pouring over her books she found she couldn’t resist picking up a few fiction books. Reading nothing but facts in utterly boring and Latin based dialect was boring anyways. But something with the substance of adventure and the unknown was greatly intriguing.

She was growing increasingly tired after a few hours of hunching over dusty books and jotting down endless notes…her chin started to nod down to her chest and Remus noticed she was getting tired.

“James told me you didn’t rest well last night…maybe you should go back to your dormitory and get some sleep,� said Remus. He looked up at her with his sweet golden eyes, and for the first time, she noticed how tired he looked. Dark circles formed under his eyes, a long thin scar marked the very edge of his jaw, but was barely noticeable, and his face appeared very weak.

“Remus, are you alright?� she asked in sincere concern. She leaned forward a bit in her chair to study his face more closely.

“Oh I’m in perfect health,� he said with a strained grin, “I’m just a little worn out is all…long week you know. Listen, Addie, I really do think you should try and get some sleep. It’ll do you good, calm your mind some,� Remus suggested.

Once again, the subconscious paranoia caused her eyes to take more notice of the school’s shadows, and it was making her increasingly uncomfortable. She looked down the nearest isle of ancient, dust collecting, books, out of pure curiosity.

The shadows seemed to follow her around now. She noticed them more and more since the vampire incident. They seemed darker and appeared everywhere. No longer did she feel safe alone, but still, she didn’t know who was safe to be around. She knew she could trust Remus, James, and Sirius without question (so far as she thought for the moment). It was a little risky for her to be running on instinct, but she figured being a little impulsive was probably good for her.

“No, Remus, I’d rather stay here with you,� her worried tone concerned Remus, but her face calm as night.

Remus said nothing, and instead resumed in his ‘extra-curricular’ work. Addalynn thought he was researching for his Transfiguration essay, but he was in fact, researching vampires. They hadn’t really gone over them that much in Defense Against the Dark Arts in their fourth year and he decided it was high time he learned about them.

If they were left out in the sun without being in their coffin, they would be destroyed at the mercy of flames. They could be killed with a wooden stake driven through the heart (but you had to get close to them for that). A cross would keep them back; therefore they can’t set foot inside the House of God. He’d not found anything that he didn’t already know, so these musty old books were of no help to him.

It was around eight o’clock in the evening when the stars started to twinkle and moon began to shine. The dark blanket of night cast over the bleak horizon. The two put their books back onto their proper shelves or the librarian would become very upset (and that term is used lightly).

The mood had considerably lightened in the past hours between Remus and Addalynn. They joked about some of the teachers and James’ undying love for Lily Evans. They even dived into a deep philosophical discussion about the difference between being a fool and being foolish. Hours later they still hadn’t come to any conclusion.

Lighted torches scattered the stoned walls of Hogwarts and lit their way through the dark halls. They walked through an unusually dark corridor with a very carefree sense of being. Neither of them was paying the slightest bit of attention to their surroundings.

Addalynn sure wasn’t paying attention to the shadows that disappeared and reappeared with the dancing flames of the troches. For an early November night, it was quite dark out; but still neither of the two noticed.

"Hello, mate," said Sirius as he entered the boy's dormitories.

"Hello," Remus responded rather distractedly as he uncharacteristically gazed off into the depths of his ever-expanding mind.

Sirius peered at him curiously, in search of some clue as to what his troubled friend must be thinking about. Surely it wasn't a girl- Remus wasn't one to daydream. It couldn’t be a small trivial matter, for Remus didn't worry about such things. Neither could it be an enormously problematic dilemma- or else Sirius and James would already know. So Sirius leaned forward a little more to Remus' left side more pointedly to see if Remus would react to his close proximity with another living being.

No response.

Sirius waved his hand in front of Remus' face.

No response.

"Remus?"

No response.

Sirius then proceeded to do a jig around the room, weaving his way in and out and between the four poster beds, and clapping his hands, and singing (very badly), and came to an abrupt halt in front of Remus with his hands open wide and a goofy smile on his face.

Remus looked up at him with his un-amused golden eyes.

"You do know you're just making a fool of yourself right?" Remus asked.

Sirius' grin vanished and was replaced by a look of slight embarrassment that required looking at the ground and hands fumbling around for a pocket to rest in. "Sorry, mate- it's just, I've never seen that kind of look on your face before."

"What look?" Remus asked as he stood up and also placed his hands in his pockets.

"You know…that….strange….weird…placid look," Sirius said. He then demonstrated what it was exactly he was trying to describe. Remus sighed.

"I was thinking-"

"Very hard."

"- about Addalynn."

"Oh. What about Addalynn?" Sirius inquired, curiosity sparking out of his slightly narrowed gray eyes.

"Haven't you noticed that before she was very shy- almost didn't say a word- and now…now she's very 'in sync' with us…she talks more…" Remus rubbed the back of his head with his hands and turned towards the window. "She never seems to quite be the same person all the time. It's like she doesn't have a….a natural state of being. Like a song that can't follow the same tune all the way from beginning to end."

Sirius thought for a moment about the past few days and realized that, as is usual for day to day reality, Remus was right. Addalynn could be shy and sad-looking one moment, and then all of the sudden she turned into 'Little Miss Ray of Sunshine and Rainbows'. Sirius' eyes widened.

"You're right about that. I guess I just never really thought about it."

"Do you think she's just pretending to be our friend?" Remus pondered almost to himself.

"No. No I think she really is our friend. But maybe it's just we don't know everything about her…not, yet. Getting to know someone takes time Moony. And time we have," Sirius assured.

Just then James walked in. "Hi, mates. What's going on?"

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Addalynn walked solemnly up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Her hand absentmindedly slid on the ancient wood railing and her misty eyes looked somewhere beyond her present state of being.

"Hey, Addalynn!" came a cheerful voice from the top of the stairs, but it didn't quite penetrate Addalynn's mind. "Addalynn?"

Addalynn's head jerked up to see Lily Evans standing in front of her, her bright green eyes trying to make sense of Addalynn's strange behavior. Addalynn took a moment to recollect her senses.

"Sorry, Lils, I just…drifted off there for a moment," Addalynn explained.

"That's alright, I know the feeling. But hey, the girls and I were wondering if you knew any good ghost stories? We're planning on staying up late tonight," Lily said excitedly.

"Sorry to disappoint, but, I don't know of any. But I'd be willing to listen to some," said Addalynn, who then proceeded to follow Lily to the 6th year girls' room.

Inside all the girls were spread out all over the floor with what seemed like hundreds of pillows and blankets. Large bowls of snack food were scattered across Ruby's bed.

"Let's get this started ladies!" sported Meisha, her dark eyes alive with anticipation.

Everyone immediately buzzed around to find a comfortable spot. Addalynn headed over to her bed to change in to her pajamas. Lily crossed over to the foot of her bed and sat against the footboard with her pillow hugged up to her chest.

It was many hours until Addalynn finally decided that all the screaming and "oh my goodness!" and the "OH NO!" setup of being an easily frightened teenage girl began to get on her nerves. So finally when she looked up at the clock on the table beside her bed to see that it was three in the morning, she gathered up her pillow and blanket and set of to the common room for some peace and quiet. She took her alarm clock with her; she didn't want to be caught in her pajamas on the sofa by her fellow schoolmates.

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Remus, James, and Sirius were all gathered on top of James' bed discussing the existence of a certain female friend who they found quite odd. She could be shy and sweet one moment and the bold and strong the next. Her mood seemed to fluctuate; so much that the three boys were able to stay up until three in the morning discussing it.

"It's like she's got multiple personalities. I don't understand it…" said Remus rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't know, mates, she's never done anything to put us on our guard," James said looking across at the other two.

"But then why do I feel there's something wrong?" asked Sirius furrowing his brow. "It's sort of like if one of you were in some sort of trouble but didn't tell me, I would still know because you two are my best mates. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Remus and James nodded their heads in agreement. Remus let out a rather obnoxious yawn and decided it was time for the three of them to get some sleep before the sun came up.

But as soon as James was able to spread out under his warm covers and shut off his brain for a while, a very uneasy and alarming feeling crept into his stomach and now matter how many times he tossed and turned, he still couldn't get to sleep.

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

She groaned and rolled over, shoving her face into her pillow.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Ugh…"

Her hand fell with a 'smack' on top of her alarm clock, and then she pushed herself up of the sofa cushions to see what time it was. The clock read six in the morning.

"Oh, goody…" she said sarcastically, rubbing her eyes, "another sunny day."

She grudgingly stood up, gathered her things, and trudged moodily up the stairs. Her feet banged on each step with a loud clonk, clonk, clonk. Reaching her dorm room, she worked her way through the sea of open bags of candy, pillows, and the heavily breathing bodies of her fellow sixth year girls.

Her pillow, blanket, and alarm clock fell into a messy clump on top of her neatly made bed. She turned to the powder room with the connecting showers and began her morning routine.

After getting the shower water to come to a nice boiling temperature that no human could possibly come out alive from, she stepped in. She let the sweltering water boil on her skin and reveled in the cleanliness she felt. Addalynn loved hot showers. She loved to feel like she could at least be clean on the outside, if not on the inside. But every time she stepped out of the hot mist of bullet-like streams of liquid, her skin was red and hot to the touch, so today, after a nice long soak in the hot water, she abruptly adjusted the knob to the cold side. The temperature immediately took a frightening plunge downward.

She gasped at the iciness. It cut into her skin at first, but then as she got used to it, she relaxed. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

After bathing, and brushing her teeth and whatnot, she emerged from the bathroom smelling like fresh river water. None of her roommates were up yet and it was cutting into their notoriously long primping time. Addalynn began the task of waking them up with an air of dangerously concentrated annoyance.

"C'mon girls wake up! It's time to get ready!" she shouted while shaking the shoulder of the nearest sleeping body.

They all grunted and protested and threw their pillows at her, but Addalynn got all of them up in time. But as soon as she did she stormed out the door and down the stairs with her book bag in tow; her thunderous steps echoed through the tower as she did.

She didn't stop in the common room, but instead she headed straight out through the portrait hole. James had just entered the common room as she did upon hearing all the racket from her descent down the stairs.
He stood there puzzled for a moment, pondering what could've possibly made her so upset. It couldn't have been the other girls; she didn't really hang around with them much, so there couldn't have been anything to fight about. He was certain it wasn't over a boy (he made sure there were no boys chasing after her). It could be that she didn't study for a class or forgot to do some homework. But would she upset over something that trivial?

James wasn't sure of much after the discussion the night before. He stood there for no longer than a moment; one eyebrow was raised, and then headed back upstairs. Crossing over to Sirius' bed, he noticed for the first time since school started, that Peter was in his bed sound asleep.

Where has he been all this time?, James wondered. But he paid no mind to himself and proceeded to wake up Sirius and then Remus.

"Why are you waking me up at this unholy hour, Prongs?" Sirius whined groggily. He rolled over and pulled his pillow tightly over his head.

"Because something is wrong with Addie," answered James. Sirius snapped to attention, carelessly throwing his pillow aside.

"Is she hurt?" he asked.

"No, but she seems really upset about something," James said.

Remus pulled himself into a sitting position, listening intently.

"Well, did you talk to her about it?" inquired Remus.

"No. As soon as I got downstairs I saw her practically run out the portrait hole like her dorm room was on fire," he said, "and she had this strange look on her face as if something was just tearing her to pieces…"

Sirius' face hardened and his eyes became cold and steely. "It better not be a boy…if some guy broke her heart I'll-"

"Sirius," James said with a slight, nervous chuckle, "no one is going to mess with her. She's our friend, remember? No one messes with a Marauder. Besides, she hangs out with us too much to have any extra time to date anyone."

Sirius relaxed, only slightly satisfied. He would gladly pound anyone to a good juicy pulp if they hurt one of his best friends, especially his only female best friend. Remus tensed a bit with apprehension, looking as if he wanted to say something but wasn't sure. Finally he spoke.

"You don't think she has depression do you? Most magical beings don't suffer from those types of things, but there are some rare cases of it," offered Remus.

"I don't know, Moony. All I'm sure of at the moment is that we have quite a puzzling friend. But what frustrates me is that we can't find any puzzle pieces," James said, partly to himself.

A long period of time passed after that. James continued to stand in the middle of the dorm room unconsciously ruffling his hair from time to time with a contorted look on his face. Remus was sitting up against his bedpost, staring up at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression. Playing with a feather from his down comforter, Sirius was laying on his back, sprawled across his bed, his sheets in massive disarray.

The three of them jumped when Adam's (another roommate of theirs) alarm clock went off, signaling the room of teenage boys that it was now eight o'clock and only one hour until their first class started. The ruffling of sheets and tired moans and groans filled the room as some of the boys started to get up, and others rolled over and pulled their pillows tightly over their heads in a very similar fashion that Sirius had demonstrated not that long ago.

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Having skipped breakfast, Addalynn was now sitting all alone outside her first class with her book bag in her lap. Her face was slack with disinterest and her hair clung to her face, still damp from her early morning shower. She wasn't alone for long; a tall, dark figure emerged from around the corner at the end of the long flagged-stone hallway.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He had greasy black hair that clung to the sides of his shockingly gaunt face. His ebony eyes were so dark she couldn't determine what he was thinking. As soon as he saw her he began to turn around.

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It was another dismal day in the life of Severus Snape. He had woken up two hours earlier than needed, as usual. He took a short, cold shower and brushed his crooked teeth, as usual. He dressed in his graying black uniform and scrutinized his pathetic appearance, as usual. He proceeded to skip breakfast and study in the library instead, as usual.

His roommates had snickered in his direction and laughed at his face and he didn't do a thing about it. Teachers passing by in the hallway mad a point not to look him directly in the eye. The strap on his book bag ripped and sent books and papers flying every which way. It was sunny outside, and Severus Snape hated the sun with a fiery passion.

And once again, he found himself heading to his first class early, as usual. He uninterestedly watched his feet beneath him as he walked with his greasy black hair falling into his face. He heard the echo of his footsteps ring off the stone walls with distaste as that sort of noise was prone to giving him headaches.

But as soon as he had turned the corner, he saw something unusual for once. It was the girl he had seen at the clock tower. The girl he studied and pondered over. All those questions he had, all those secrets he kept inside him, were sitting before him in a single, beautiful entity. She was sitting against the wall with a rigid posture and a discontented look upon her porcelain face. The moment he saw her, he lowered his head to prevent her from seeing his face and turned around with the hope that she hadn't noticed him.

Too late.

The four Marauders stepped into the Great Hall thirty minutes later for breakfast. James tactfully chose a seat across from his one and only great love, Lily Evans.

"Well good morning, love," said James cheerfully, obnoxiously plopping down in front of her.

She ignored him and continued to delicately eat her scrambled eggs and ham.

"Er, Evans? You can't ignore me forever, you know."

Apparently she could.

"Suit yourself if you want to resist my devilishly good looks, witty charm, and erudite intelligence," said James while arrogantly examining his glasses and placed them back on the bridge of his nose.

She snorted and rolled her beautiful green eyes.

"How rude," he said, lifting his eyebrows.

"Give it a rest, mate," said Sirius as he put a brotherly arm on James' shoulder, "you've been after her for six years; I think you've tortured her enough."

James sighed and put the rest of his strength into the eggs and bacon piled onto the plate in front of him. Suddenly it occurred to him to lift his big head and look around for Addalynn.

But, then, why would she be sitting anywhere else but at the Gryffindor table with them? He glanced at Sirius, who noticed what James was doing, for some sign of encouragement.

"She's not here, mate. I already looked around," Sirius said downheartedly.

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"G-Good morning," she stammered as she rose gracefully to her feet.

Severus looked up at her, uncertain of what to say to such a friendly greeting. She looked back at him with her great, knowing eyes. He quickly tore his gaze away from the pressure of her kind stare.

"Good morning. Though whether it is a good one or not, I cannot say," Severus spat. His eyes still showed no emotion and Addalynn was beginning to wonder if they ever showed any at all.

"I can relate," she sweetly answered.

They stood there for an immeasurable amount of time. But at some point in that time, he had gained the courage to lift up his head and look her straight into her eyes. Their unwavering gazes were held since.

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After a while James, Remus, and Sirius decided they had spent enough time at breakfast without Addalynn. One by one, they stood from their seats and left with the eyes of Hogwarts staring into their backs.

They strutted purposefully down the hallways silently pondering where she could have run off to. Remus made several suggestions, but they seemed unlikely. James thought maybe she had returned to the dormitory, but it was empty. Sirius wondered aloud if she was outside. Remus informed them that it was beginning to get too cold to go outside leisurely. So without a clue as to where their feet were taking them, they walked on.

Unknowingly to them, their feet were smart enough to take them to their first class and around the corner was a much unexpected surprise waiting for them.

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Severus Snape and Addalynn White were sitting comfortably against the stone walls of the hallway across from each other, carrying on what appeared to be a pleasant conversation. But that was all over once the Marauders stepped into the hallway from around the corner.

"Snivellus I swear if you don't get as far away from her as possible I'll blast off your big, greasy nose!" Sirius yelled. A vein in his neck was steadily growing larger as he pulled his wand from his pocket and pointed it, infuriated, at Snape.

Severus obeyed, not wishing to find out what the three 'big-headed mudblood loving wonders' would do to him if he didn't. Addalynn stood up with him but moved in the opposite direction; she moved towards the three boys.

"Sirius Alexander Black, what are you doing?" she screamed. Sirius flinched.

"Keeping you away from him. He's the kind we warned you about- the kind that would want to hurt you," said James, as Sirius was busy being too angry to speak properly.

"But he wouldn't," she said.

Remus watched them thoughtfully for a moment, then he turned his attention to the darkening figure of Severus Snape who was retreating further into the shadows. And for the first time ever, Remus saw emotion flood Snape's eyes. There was fear reflecting in the ebony depths. Fear and a small spark hope.

"Yes he would! You think you can just go off and do whatever you want don't you? Oh, you'll just befriend the whole bloody school and cast them under a spell so you can go off and do whatever you bloody want, right? Prancing around the school with whatever mood you're in…it's sickening to see you act differently to everyone! Do you not treat everyone the same?! Do you put on some mask so you can keep your freedom?! What bloody secret are you hiding?!" yelled Sirius.

He stood there with his wand pointed in Addalynn's direction. Snivellus stood behind her, his hand on his wand just for good measure. Remus was shocked to hear Sirius speak in such a manner to her. James stood a bit in front of Sirius to keep a duel from coming. Addalynn didn't move. Her expression and body language were disturbingly calm. But her eyes began to storm with thunderous dark gray clouds.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me. What are you hiding from us?" Sirius proceeded. His wand hand began to shake and his lips began to quiver out of frustration.

Addalynn couldn't stand it anymore, so she finally ran. Through Remus' eyes it looked as though she was torn from a painting the way she took off. Before he could blink she was half way down the adjacent hall, leaving the rest of them more bewildered and confused than ever.

Sirius fixated his attention back to his original target. Snivellus had let go of his wand and was walking down the opposite end of the hallway.

"If you ever go near her again, Snivelly, I'll kill you!"

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She ran until her feet bled. Her robes were torn from the snagging branches. Her hair was entangled by fallen leaves. Her breathing was shallow and her heart pounded in her ears. She pushed on through the underbrush, alarmingly aware that night was falling rapidly and thunder was ringing above the treetops.

She tasted warm salty tears on her lips and wondered why she felt like this. How could her life have gone from being so smoothe to so rocky? Why were there so many changes that jerked her in every direction? All she could do for a long time was run.

After she had taken off from the hallway in which she and Sirius had had a row, she continued running until she was outside the castle walls and beyond the castle grounds. Now she was running in the Forbidden Forest with only her wand for protection.

She didn't know what direction she was fleeing in, but as long as she was putting distance between herself and everyone else, she didn't care. All she wanted was to be alone; to sort things out in her mind.

Her nightmares had been piling up for a few years now and had been subconsciously interfering with her emotional output. It had been so long since she knew what she was really like, who she really was; she didn't know the difference between being herself and being someone else. And it all happened in the tiny space of seven weeks.

Her mind would tamper with her perception and her hearing. All the while she had been running, she saw and heard things she shouldn't have. Everywhere the shadows were contorted into monstrous beasts or horrifying images of human terror. The ruffle of the leaves on her projected path echoed in her ears as explosions while the wind sounded of screaming. She didn't dare look anywhere but straight ahead of her.

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The next day the Headmaster called the Marauders up to his office, which they perceived was not a good thing. The three approached the stone gargoyle with resentment for their rude behavior towards their fellow classmate, but Dumbledore had never called them to his office for it before. They were as frightened as they were curious.

Remus, being a prefect, stepped forward with the password "fizzing cherry sodas". The great stone statue rotated upwards, leaving behind an impressive staircase. They sighed and started up the stairs in a single file fashion, each with their heads hung low.

"Headmaster?" James called uncertainly through the thick oak doors.

"By all means, my dear boy, do come in," said Dumbledore in his usual grandfatherly voice.

Sirius pushed the heavy doors open and the three of them entered. They all stood in front of the large oak desk at which the Headmaster sat with his half-moon spectacles glimmering in the candlelight that light his strange office. Behind the spectacles, his eyes did not carry their usual twinkle. Instead it was replaced by an elderly and worn look of concern.

"You wanted to see us Professor?" asked Remus; momentarily the bravest of the three.

"Yes, I wish to speak to the three of you about Addalynn," he said with a stern voice, "for the three of you and Severus Snape are the only ones who have seen her since yesterday."

"Well yes, sir. We found Addie and Snape in the hallway and Sirius lost his temper. He pulled out his wand at Snape and threatened his life. Then he and Addie had a row and she took off somewhere," said Remus; still the bravest.
Sirius hung his head with guilt. He knew he needed to learn to control his temper; and he was doing pretty well until he couldn't help but be jealous whenever Addie started hanging out with someone else. But still, she didn't have to run off like that.

"I see. Do you know where she went?"

"No, sir," said Remus.

"And you haven't seen her since?"

"No, sir. We thought she's just been cooling off," said James, "we've noticed that sometimes she disappears for a while, even though we often do not know why."

The Headmaster stood from his chair and walked over to Fawkes and began to stroke his luscious plume.

"I am afraid, my good lads, that Addalynn is indeed missing."

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Finally, she had stopped running. It was nighttime and the rain had been falling since yesterday afternoon. The thunder and lightning alternated with fury and the flashing gave her headaches that confused her sense of direction. She only walked now with her head hung low, clinging tightly to her cloak.

Her feet trudged through the thick, unwelcoming mud. The forest, as every bit as dark and sinister the teachers had made it out to be, did not scare her anymore. She could feel the loneliness of the trees for the lack of visitors they had. Centaurs wandered abroad the forest floor contemplating the quiet secrets of the universe. She had encountered a unicorn that was frightened off by the loud snap of a small twig she had stepped on. But for the split second she saw the magnificent beast, she took in all its greatness.

Of course, there were also very diabolical things lurking in the dark as well. Once or twice she saw the leg of a giant spider move on its monstrous web. The cry of the werewolves had startled her the last night amongst the trees. Hisses and growls came form every direction from unidentifiable creatures. But she did not care now, she knew somehow deep down inside, that no creature in this forest would dare harm her.

Finally, she saw it. The mysterious caves that sat abandoned in the middle of the forest. They were carved out of stone in the shape of beehives that sprouted from the ground. They were a most unusual sight amongst the towering evergreens. They appeared to be scattered out in no particular order.

Addalynn ducked inside the nearest one. It was dry inside, but still cool. It's large dome loomed over her head and echoed the wind that sneaked inside through the small arched opening that served as a doorway. There was a curious sort of hole in the stone on the far wall. She walked over to it and leaned over to look up. She muttered a weak spell and light illuminated the crevice that turned out to be a long shaft that stretched to what Addalynn assumed to be the top of the dome. Good, she could build a fire without suffocating herself. After seizing control of her shivering muscles, she ventured back outside for wood.

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All the teachers were frantically scouring the forest. They started their search immediately the morning after Addalynn went missing. They were unsuccessful in the pouring rain. They found no sign of life within the forests' depths.

Hagrid went farther into the forest than any of the other staff members, for he knew the trees better than any. Hagrid went further in with a few detectives sent from the ministry. Still, with the heavy rain, it was difficult to see, hear, and communicate. Still they pressed on until late in the evening.

They searched every leaf and tree for signs of human life. The insistent rain had washed away any footprints she may have left. Still they had not encountered any forest life.

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A loud thud emitted from the fallen branches she had found on the forest floor as she threw them carelessly into the "fireplace". Pulling out her wand she spoke a spell for drying (for herself and the wood) and a spell for fire. Warm, inviting flames sputtered from the branches.

Feeling quite worn out, she slumped over as close to the fire as she dared. There she curled up into a fetal position and tried to lure herself to sleep. But sleep would not come for her eye had caught a peculiar symbol on the wall of the stone dwelling. So naturally she pulled herself up to investigate. It was a marking engraved in the stone and it looked peculiarly like a pattern for a spell. She backed a few paces away from it to observe it from a larger view when she noticed the walls were covered with more strange markings.

"How curious…" she whispered.

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The search went on for another day. The whole castle was in a frenzy with worry. The students went on with their days as usual despite their flustered teachers. Whispers flew from student to student that she was abducted by rebels inside the ministry or that she had gone too near the forest and was snatched by werewolves. Others suggested she was a supernatural creature that had come to tease them and now was gone, leaving them with a mystery.

The only people who knew what really had happened didn't set the record straight with everyone else. Their guilt weighed too heavily on their hearts.

"We shouldn’t have made such a scene with Snape," James suggested. "Do think we protected her too much?"

"I don't think we protected her enough," sported Sirius, who didn't dare look into James' eyes.

"But if we didn't protect her as much maybe she wouldn't have snapped," said Remus.

"And what if we didn't protect her enough and she got in trouble the first day she was here and was never able to set everything right again?" argued Sirius. "She probably ran away because of all the people and the classes and the peer pressure, or something…I don't know…I don't know why she ran away but she did. Besides all that, why did she have to get so bloody angry anyway? Now all I can do is sit here and worry about it and that doesn't set well with me."

"Doesn't set well with us either," said Remus.

They continued to walk down the hallway to their Transfiguration class when they spotted Peter. He looked a bit disheveled and very out of place for some odd, misplaced reason.

"Did you guys hear? That new girl is missing. Oh I do hope she's alright wherever she is," he said.

"We hope so too," said James. He brushed past Peter with an air of annoyance. But suddenly he stopped and turned around so suddenly the others gave a start. "Wait a moment, why do you even care?

"Well, ah, you know, eh, ah… she hangs around you lot so much, I…I thought it would be polite to ask…" he said, wringing his hands.

"Now that's a piece of-" Sirius started, but was suddenly cut of by one of James' sharp, warning looks.

"Peter why don't you just go about doing whatever it is that you do these days," Remus suggested.

"I was going to hang around with you three," Peter said boldly.

"Well that is one for sure thing that isn't going to happen…" Sirius muttered under his breath. But he looked up at Peter with a hard stare, "Why?"

"Because that new girl is missing," Peter said and he paused. A devious look overtook the glaze of his eyes for just a fraction of a second before he continued. "And she might not be coming back."

"How dare you say such a thing?" shouted James while Sirius and Remus just stood dumbfounded and fuming.

"You know something, Peter? There's something different about you," observed Sirius.

"What?" retorted Peter.

"Your attitude. You were perfectly fine until Addalynn came into the picture," Remus stated.

"Hey! That new girl stepped in and took control of everything you just shoved me aside to make room for your new admirer!" Peter accused.

"You are one sorry piece of wizard, Peter. You ought to be ashamed of yourself you evil, conniving little-" Sirius started once again before being cut off by another of James' dangerous warning looks.

"We didn't need to shove you out of the group, Peter; you did that yourself," Remus finalized.

The three walked off, leaving a very put-off and angry Peter in their wake.

"And her name is Addalynn," Sirius shouted over his shoulder.

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She woke to the sound of footsteps and opened her eyes to a dark, looming figure standing in front of the small doorway.

Frightened, she crept to the back of the hut and pulled her knees to her chest, gripping her wand tightly. It ducked under the doorway and stood before her in all its magnificent terror.

It was the vampire. Its eyes had the same stony glare, his breath the same foul stench of a thousand corpses. It smiled at her maliciously; baring his long ivory fangs dripping with thick saliva.

She had a moment of relapse remembering the attack at the Shrieking Shack. But not after a moment of recollection did she aim her wand at the hellish creature. His cloak billowed around his feet with power.

She muttered what curses, hexes, and charms she knew that would fend him off. She blinded him with light first, and then hexed him with arrows of fire. The creature shrieked and backed off into the stone wall only to come forward once more in a blur of fury.

She threw another curse at his face that covered his slippery gray skin with open and bleeding sores. This only made him angrier and forced him onward to her. He lunged at her shoulders and knocked her over. She instinctively kicked him off and scooted herself back, trying desperately to figure how she could get out of her stone prison.

But not a moment later he had lunged at her again with more strength and fury than the first time, leaving her without an effective weapon. He bruised her arms with his merciless grip and forced her too look him in the eyes. She resisted, keeping her eyes closed. That was how he had won her last time. She plunged her head into his jaw and threw him off of her a bit, but he only held on more tightly after that. But he did move one hand to her throat, leaving one of her arms free. Just as he was about bite her at the base of her neck, she punched him in the ribs a few times. He again lifted himself off her for just a slight moment before he descended once again on his long awaited prey. She mustered all of her strength and kicked him over her head and into the unforgiving stone behind her. She took the opportunity to escape.

Addalynn had just barely come out of the stone dwelling when a hand clasped around her ankle. She shrieked and fell, her wand slipping from her grip and flew off at some distance in the rain which had let up significantly in the past hours.

The creature proceeded to throw her against the nearby trees in an attempt to make her less willing to fight. She still tried to fight back with her blurred vision and throbbing back and head. She could hear her blood pounding in her brain. She gasped for air; sure that he had broken a few of her ribs against the tree.

He came at her again and again until she sunk to her knees in agony. Her open wounds were bleeding still and more bruises had formed on her arms, legs, back, and neck. The vampire approached her sunken figure. She raised her head slightly to see the face of her enemy.

"No vampire ever tortured their prey."

"I don't have a choice," he said, his voice filled with contempt and bitterness.

He plunged downward on her, desperately trying to bite her neck where the blood flow was most prominent. She wrestled with him for countless moments, flailing her arms trying to find something to defend herself with. At last her hand landed on the smooth surface of her wand. Suddenly it occurred to her that her wand was made of wood, and since it was long enough and sharp enough, she plunged it into the creature's heart.

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"Hagrid, it's so nice to see you in the forest again," greeted a strong, aristocratic looking Centaur. His hair was as deep a red as the most precious rubies and his deep-set eyes shined beneath his brow like stars.

"I'm afraid I'm here on bad bis'ness," said Hagrid, "I'm af'er a student who ran away from Hogwarts. Yeh haven't seen her 'ave yeh? Abou' this tall with long black hair?"

"The stars are hidden from us tonight; all this rain causes quite a stir in the world," the Centaur replied.

Several of the ministry detectives who were accompanying Hagrid in his search rolled their eyes. Centaurs never gave anyone a straight answer.

"Yeah tha's to too bad eh? But listen Rawnz, I need to find a lost student tha' could be here in the forest," Hagrid said.

"When we can't look to the stars, we must look to our feet and the ground before us," said Rawnz, and he walked away with an elegant gait.

Hagrid, knowing how Centaurs hid their answers in riddles, looked at ground around him and found fresh foot prints leading deeper into the forest that appeared to be the size of the feet of a sixteen year old girl.

He pointed this out to his fellow wizards and excitedly moved onwards with an immense relief that they might be getting close to their missing girl.

A half hour later they came upon a most disturbing scene. The young girl was on her knees, filthy with mud, next to a rapidly deteriorating corpse. Once they had come close enough, one of the detectives pointed out it was the corpse of a deceased vampire as indicated by its fangs and cruel appearance.

Hagrid put a giant hand on Addalynn's shoulder and she jumped, clearly unaware that anyone else was around. Her eyes were so badly mixed with blood and dirt, and her own headache, she could barely see.

"It's awirght Addalynn, we're goin' to take yeh back now. C'mon," he said as he gingerly picked up her slight and shivering frame in his arms.

Being in such close proximity with her he noticed that mixed in with the mud and leaves was blood. He began to run as quickly as possible, without harming her any further of course, back to the castle. He didn't get very far before Rawnz appeared.

"Hagrid, it's good- dear Heavens, what happened to the young foal?"

"Don' know but it wasn' good. I've got ter keep goin', she might be near death," said Hagrid and began to make his way off again until Rawnz stopped him.

"I'll take her to the castle, I can get her there sooner," he said.

Hagrid, having known Rawnz since his own days at Hogwarts, trustingly handed the girl over to the Centaur. Rawnz carried her gently and cantered off.

The ministry detectives finally caught up with the half-giant.

"Where's the girl?" asked one of them.

"Rawnz took her; he can get her to the castle faster than any of us could."

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There was quite the hustle and bustle as Rawnz burst his way into the grand entrance hall by kicking the great oak door open with the valiant thrust of his front hooves. He cantered into the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey was waiting.

Rawnz placed her in the nearest bed and assisted in getting the girl cleaned up. Dumbledore, with a fast spread of word around the school, stepped in not but a moment later. He took Rawnz aside to let the matron do her work.

"Where was she found Master Centaur?" the Headmaster asked.

"I cannot see into the stars on such a cloudy evening, sir."

"Ah, I see. Thank you for your assistance."

The Centaur bowed nobly to the wise man and took his leave back to the forest.

The Headmaster turned his attention back to his found sheep. She appeared to be just on the verge of consciousness. He stepped forward and addressed the situation to the frustrated nurse.

"I don't mean any disrespect, Albus, but please, I'm trying to do my job."

She waved him out the door and locked it behind him just in time to keep out three troublesome boys that were about to walk in, only catching a glimpse of the patient that lay silently on her bed.

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Remus, James, and Sirius sat outside the hospital doors for several hours, waiting to see the patient inside. It was almost mid-morning of the next day that Madame Pomfrey finally opened the doors.

"Five minutes" was all she permitted them to have.

The three walked over to her bedside anxiously but saw that it was surrounded by the curtains that were put up around hospital beds when the patient was not fit to be seen by the normal passersby. They all looked at each other apprehensively, dreading the worst and hoping the best, and pulled one of the curtains back. They were shocked at what they saw.

The short sleeves of her hospital gown revealed grapefruit sized, black bruises that extended down to her wrist. Bruises in the shape of fingers were choked around her fair neck. Dried blood covered the cuts and scrapes on her face and hands. Her face was somewhat sunken in and paler than before; her already slender frame seemed to disappear beneath the bed sheets.

Remus sat down next to her right and James to her left; Sirius kneeled down next to her face and moved her bangs away from her eyes. Her lashes flickered a bit at his gentle touch, but her eyes did not open. There was a deep cut on her forehead that made Sirius sick to his stomach.

All too soon their five minutes was up and Madame Pomfrey came around and began to shoe them out as she did Professor Dumbledore, but they wouldn't move. In fact, they paid her no attention at all.

"All three of you OUT! OUT! Now if you please, she needs her rest!" the nurse shouted.

She waved her hands in the air and threatened them in every way possible in hopes of getting rid of them. With no luck, they didn't move a muscle. Bristling with contempt for their bloody selective hearing, she stormed of to the Headmaster's office to convince him that the three trouble makers needed to leave Addalynn alone for a while.

"Poppy, please; you know just as well as I do that the girl needs her friends. Let them stay as long as they like. It is most important that they be there when she wakes up," said the Headmaster, his eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.

Madam Pomfrey bristled some more and set off with a tantrum back to her patients. She was hoping that maybe by now the boys had become bored and left. To her dismay, they were in the exact same position she had left them in. If she didn't know any better she would think they hadn't even blinked.

"Alright, alright, now move aside you three. Dumbledore says you can stay but I have to take care of her still," she said while arranging them in an order that better suited her treatment style.

She grabbed two fluffy, white pillows of the neighboring bed and, ever so gently, placed Addalynn in a sitting position and comfortably arranged the pillows behind her. The boys stood close by.

"Madam Pomfrey? When will she wake up?" asked Remus. He timidly stepped forward, staring intently at Madam Pomfrey's face.

"She's in a coma Mr. Lupin; no one knows if she'll even wake up at all," she solemnly replied.

"If she wakes up at all?"

"Mr. Lupin, if she doesn't wake up tomorrow, she will be moved to St. Mungo's for more extensive care."

Remus lowered his head with dismay, as did his friends. Madam Pomfrey, of course, observed this and couldn't help but feel the sorrow fall with a thick haze in the air. Against her better judgment she decided that she should give them something to lighten their spirits.

"I'm sure she'll be alright, my dears. There's nothing to really worry about. I'm sure she'll come around by tonight," said the matron.

The three boys, who were not very well educated in the ways of medicines and magical healing, did not understand why being in a coma was such a big deal. But what they gathered from Madam Pomfrey's face, it was a very serious matter that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

They stayed with Addalynn the rest of the day, each waiting anxiously in their own quiet reverie.

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Always pacing and stopping then looking at her face as if she had stirred then sighing and resuming the pacing at the foot of her bed. Such was the precious spare time wasted away by James Potter.

There wasn't a moment that his mind didn't stop to think about what had caused her strange behavior that day she ran off. It didn't matter to him that she was so emotionally unstable. He only cared that she came back to them.

He tried again and again to will her back to consciousness, but failed every time. She just lay there simply existing. It did not even appear that she was dreaming.

James was worried about her- more than he'd been worried in his life. Of course, that wasn't saying much. He'd always had a comfortable life. But he had a feeling, deep in the pit of his stomach that because Addalynn had stepped into his life, the luxury and frivolity was soon to be at an end.

Though she seemed a difficult creature, there was something in her eyes that he knew could never be erased. A gentleness and love that lit up tiny stars in the depths of her pupils shone most brightly when she was silent, simply listening to her friends laugh and talk. He knew it was there and he was willing to do anything to keep those stars from going out.

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Remus sat beside her bed in his spare time, staring into nowhere. His head would hang low with hopelessness. He wasn't sure about anything anymore. Addalynn was a being of emotion, possibly empathy. Much like a phoenix, she was purely rage or passion. But the phoenix-like nature only appeared every now and again. In between she was indifferent and shy; living in a shell that he doubted many would ever be able to break. But a phoenix was a creature of fire and the more Remus thought about the analogy, the more it dawned upon him that she was more like water; either the rain in a frightful midnight storm or like gentle waves washing upon the shore. Maybe sometimes she was much like a lake- silent, motionless, and reflective upon its surface, but still very much alive beneath the surface of glass.

He hoped she would come back soon. He had so many questions boiling in his cauldron. He tried to rationalize everything that had been happening since he met her. Voldemort was rising in power and the daily slaughters continued at a steady rise. The days all seemed to get darker with smoke and ash with a sense of death that choked the free air that everyone needed so desperately. People were slowly becoming more solemn, each losing the fullness in their laugh or the slight spring in their step. But Addalynn? She would hear people around her talking about the war and her eyes would darken maliciously for just a fraction of the moment then return to a gloomy state in which he knew she was feeling compassionate for those of who the war affected so grievously.

Remus wasn't sure about her anymore. He was the only one who noticed when her lips would shadow a malevolent smile. It was only he who saw her eyes glaze over with indifference at the announcement of death, even if for a moment.

Who are you, Addalynn White?, he wondered. What is your secret?

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Sirius wandered aimlessly about the room waiting for her to awaken. He didn't ask questions or wonder why this was all happening so fast, he simply waited impatiently. The impatience wasn't at all a new friend to Sirius Black. It was always there trying to find a way into his ever-active mind.

It is the reason why his pranks are always so well planned and his boredom appeared so arrogant. Now that his mind wasn't formulating pranks or Quidditch strategies or even looking for a way to cast out all unhappiness in his life, he had become closer to adulthood and farther away from childhood than ever before.

Addalynn had such a way of making people grow up some days and revert to a child-like stage others. She knew when to laugh, when to snap, when to be serious, and when to just let things go. But there was always one thing that occupied his mind that concerned Addalynn White: what would happen to her in the end? She was too young to die anytime soon, but always it seemed that in her mind and soul, she was so much older. Would her body ever live out to be as old as her soul? Would the claws of death claim her before the days of Voldemort were over, and all she ever got to see in her life was death and despair?

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Throwing the sheets off the bed and swinging his legs over the side of the feather-down mattress, Sirius panted wildly and wiped away the sweat pasted to his forehead. He looked around, confused at first, but gathered his surroundings and remembered that he was in his dorm room in Gryffindor Tower.

The slumbering figures of his fellow roommates showed no signs of alertness. Without bothering to pull his legs up with him he laid back down, a hand over his heart. Sirius stared at the ceiling, mesmerized. Images from his nightmare flashed before him.

He saw a young girl screaming in agony…a man with a knife, ready to kill….blood was everywhere…and a teenage boy with greasy black hair that hung in a curtain across his face. Sirius recalled as much as he could, but he couldn't quite piece it together. In attempt to forget his gory illusions he pulled his legs onto the bed and rolled onto his side, clutching his pillow tightly to his chest.

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The next morning glassy drops of rain fell from the ominous sky. Each drop made a metallic 'ping-ping-ping' on the windows. It was to this sound that Addalynn woke with a start.

Her eyes flew open and she turned her head to the ceiling, perhaps a bit too quickly. Her vision blurred for a few seconds and then everything came back into focus. Taking a moment to breathe she placed her hands on her stomach and closed her eyes.

After a few minutes the door of the Hospital Wing opened timidly and the head of Sirius Black poked through the opening. His eyes flew immediately to her bed. Eagerly, he walked forward, James and Remus only a few paces behind him.

Feeling another presence in the room, Addalynn opened her eyes to see another three pair staring back at her. Then the mouths beneath the other three pairs of eyes smiled broadly in greeting. She returned them with a faint twitch of her lips.

"How are you feeling?" asked Remus, leaning forward a bit.

"I'm alright…" she said in a hoarse voice.

The doors opened again, this time not so quietly, and a flustered Madame Pomfrey bustled her way in. She brushed the three boys aside and began to fill the spoon she was holding in her right hand with a nasty looking liquid from a crystal bottle she was holding in her left. Addalynn eyed it warily; it was more of a form of tar than anything else.

Addalynn sighed at great length knowing what was to come. She took the spoonful of tar without complaint and swallowed it without a sound. The nurse took the spoon when Addalynn was finished and eyed her warily anticipating a protest of disgust. But when none came she quirked one eyebrow and explained her patient's current condition.

"You seem to have almost recovered completely from the external effects of yesterday…although you have a few, more serious, internal injuries that I'll need to oversee for a few more days. But other than that you are healing quite well in spite of the rough night you had." Addalynn contorted her face into confusion. "You don't remember anything?" The patient nodded her head. "Well I'm surprised. You were tossing and thrashing and screaming. Quite frankly I'm amazed you didn't wake the whole castle- you were yelling the most horrifying things…"

Madame Pomfrey placed a hand on her forehead to regain her composure then looked back at her oblivious patient. The girl had a mask of indifference plastered onto her beautiful face, her eyes, though not glazed or unfocused, seemed ignorant of everything.

After a moment of reflection the nurse continued. "Usually people who undergo such a traumatic event suffer various types after-effects. I'm sure you're fine, Miss White, but anymore nightmares like that and I'm afraid I'll have no choice but put you into quarantine in St. Mungo's as violent as they were."

Everyone stood in silence for about a minute or so when the nurse jerked her head around wildly at the three boys. "You three had better get to your classes- you've already missed breakfast," and left.

Sirius opened is mouth in objection but Addie turned her eyes to him and, without speaking, let him know that they should go. James told her over his shoulder that they would be back at lunch.

By her lonesome self in the hollow room, Addalynn kept herself from absolute boredom by watching the storm wage war on the trees outside the windows. She stood up from her bed in her hospital gown, feeling the iciness of stone beneath her feet. She walked steadily to the far window and stood between two of the hospital beds. Placing out a shaky hand to the window, she let the vibrations from the pounding rain on the glass soothe her. Taking in a deep breath she begged her mind for indifference; she wouldn't be able to remember anything of the night before if emotions closed the door to her conscious nightmares.

She breathed in the moisture that seeped through the cracks of the window. It engulfed her lungs and rested her mind, giving her the clarity she needed. She closed her eyes and remembered.

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"Nightmares? Violent nightmares?" asked Remus to no one in particular.

"It sounds awful strange- especially to not remember anything…" mumbled James.

The threesome walked in a quiet way to their classes. This new role of seriousness earned them a few troubled glances and muffled whispers from the passersby. The Infamous Marauders seemed to have a serious side- absolutely baffling.

Sirius' "Fan Club" followed close by, as always. But today when they smiled at the handsome rogue as flirtatiously as they could, he paid them no mind. Disappointed, they turned to go to their classes feeling dejected.

They had a hard time talking to each other during classes all day. But their moods slowly evolved from concern to suspicion about the events that had occurred since they met Addalynn.

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It was during lunch that most of the school had noted that the normally jovial and rash nature of the three renowned troublemakers had dimmed to frowns and creased brows. Dumbledore watched as Sirius prodded his meat dully with a fork, a look of disinterest on his face. Sirius never stared at his food; he didn't even know what he ate half the time from his barbaric displays of hunger.

James ate with a sullen expression. The raindrops reflected on his glasses from the enchanted ceiling explained his overall visage. Across from him sat Remus who ate thoughtfully, as he did most meals, but this time with a trace of apprehension upon his brow.

Dumbledore deepened his frown ever so slightly behind his silvery beard. Something was wrong and he knew had to figure out what. He had been informed in the deep of the previous night when Addalynn had first begun to scream in her unseen nightmares.

Madame Pomfrey had awoken him via the paintings in his office with an urgent message from one of the nursemaids that hung in the hospital wing. It unnerved him to hear what the nursemaid had to say. The things Addalynn had shouted in her sleep had confirmed his worst suspicions.

But his bigger problem now, was how could he stop it?

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Unexpectedly, Peter Pettigrew danced his way down the table towards his best friends, ready to liven things up a bit. But when he finally arrived at the middle of the unusually calm Gryffindor table, he found Remus, James, and Sirius lazily pushing food around their plates. What was really odd was that Sirius had put down his fork; now he was simply letting his index finger make circles on the rim of his goblet.

Peter stopped just short of the Marauders. Something must have gone terribly wrong with the plans. He was supposed to get his friends back. They were supposed to be his again. This should have scared them away not bound them more tightly. Peter was going to have a word with his superiors about this.

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Hugging her knees to her chest, Addalynn sat on her bed with a thoughtful expression on her face. Her eyes were closed to block out everything that surrounded her. She needed to escape- just for a moment, to go somewhere else.

She breathed in and out as deeply as she could and let the coolness of the outside rain surround her and soothe her hot skin. Her ears tuned in quite finely to the pitter-patter of the rain that had calmed significantly since she first woke up at seven that morning. It was no longer trying to break through the ancient stone fortress of Hogwarts, but was rather trying to help hold it up. Droplets fell against the stone in communion in place of pelting it like metal bullets.

For a long time she listened until she at last fell asleep.

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Hours later, James ran down to detention and Remus was bound to prefect duties. So Sirius (who was amazingly not also confined to detention), wandered his way down to the hospital wing to visit Addalynn.

He found her sound asleep on her bed on top of the covers. She must've been freezing as she was clutching her legs tightly across her chest as she lay on her side; her head buried in her knees.

A strange new softness adorned his rugged face as he looked at her. His lips curved upward in a gentle smile as he placed one strong hand on her shoulder to wake her from her silent slumber.

"Addalynn," he whispered. "You're freezing; let's get you under the covers, now."

She looked up at him, suddenly wide awake. "Sirius? What are you doing here?"

"Checking on you. C'mon, you're cold."

He helped her to her feet and folded back the covers. After he made sure she was satisfactorily sheltered from the biting air, he began to talk to her. She watched him with her fathomless blue-green eyes that sparkled like the rain under the moonlight. They spoke timidly in the presence of darkness even though they were hopelessly alone.

"What have you been doing all day? You must've been bloody bored in here," said Sirius.

"I just listened to the rain. I think I fell asleep after a while."

"That sounds bloody boring to me." Addalynn smiled at him with an underlying laugh, and he smiled in return.

"No, it was really nice just to let my mind rest for a time. It doesn't get to do that very often."

"I don't think anyone's does."

Sirius had changed and didn't even know it. His stomach would drop, his heart would lodge itself tightly in his throat, and his voice grew quiet every time he saw her. Something about her presence had changed him; made him better, maybe even healed him. He wasn't sure, but he thought she could be the one that could make life seem worth it.

They had been talking for a time now when suddenly the storm outside took a fierce turn. The trees of the forest threw their branches into the air as if they were trying to signal the castle for help. Ripples turned into violent waves on the usually reverent surface of the Black Lake.

Rain splattered obnoxiously against the windows of the Hospital Wing. Addalynn turned her head to see raging storm. Flashes of lightning lit up her pale face and Sirius noticed the dark circles around her eyes. Her lips were chapped and redder than ever; the roses in her cheeks had faded into a barren desert of sand as pale as death. When she turned her eyes back to him, he saw a biting worry in their depths.

"Sirius, when Madame Pomfrey asked me this morning if I remembered anything from last night, I lied when I said that I didn't," she said flatly. Her eyes dimmed with shame, "Well at least I didn't remember at the time. But after a while I started seeing images. At first they were vague, but they soon became clear in what I saw and what I heard. Just as if it were a memory from one's childhood. A fleeting moment in an infinite timeline and the tide keeps carrying you away from it- always just at your fingertips."

Sirius knit his brow together causing lines deep with worry to crease on his forehead. He leaned forward from his spot on the bed across from her. Looking directly into her eyes he asked, "And what did you see, Addie?"

She did not answer at first, but rather took a sudden interest in the floor. Slowly she lifted her legs from over the bed and crossed them on top of the sheets. She laid her hands in her lap, clasped together so tightly that the skin over her knuckles became white. She forced her eyes shut as she remembered. Her arms began to shake with nervousness as she forced her hands together.

Sirius kneeled on the floor in front of her and took her cold hands in his own. "Addie, what did you see?" he asked, looking at her with eyes as gray and dark as the storm.

"I saw…..I saw him." He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, and let her continue. "He was with his followers. Only about three- four at the most. They told me things…things about my family, about…..about what would happen to me…"

"Who were these people, Addie? What did they tell you?" Sirius prodded.

"Voldemort….Voldemort and his Death Eaters."

This had captured Sirius' attention for sure. Voldemort- what could she possibly have to do with him? Surely her parents weren't his spies?

"They had captured me for some reason or another. He said…he said that I would one day become something useful- that I would help him." Though here eyes remained shut, tears ran lazily down her face. Sirius gripped her frail hands tighter as she began to shake more violently.

"He claimed that I would learn to hate as he does….I would learn to kill as he does. He said he would train me to use my talents…talents passed down through my family," she cracked. The usually melodious and deep voice she had now ran dry with emotion. It broke with every other word, as if her soul was dry wood being snapped in half. "He beat me without hesitancy. The Death Eaters cursed me. Voldemort said it was all to make me hate him. I asked him why. He said it would make me stronger."

She paused for a ragged breath of air that shook her whole body as the oxygen forced itself down her throat. Teeth tightly clenched, more tears forced themselves from her eyes.

"Then he pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear, 'You will destroy them, Addalynn because you have no choice'. I asked….I asked him who, and he just smiled. Oh that smile! So malevolent….so haunting….like a snake!"

Cries of helplessness tore themselves softly from her lips as she sobbed. He rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs to try and calm her down.

"What else, Addie?"

"He…he beat me again. He laughed every time I screamed. His laugh," she spat, "it was worse than his smile…They all yelled at me. The same thing…..over and over again. All yelled the same thing….'we will come for you when you are ready', they said. 'When you have learned to hate' they told me. Each of them looked me in the eye and told me this."

A giant sob racked her body after that and she continued shaking. The rain was now smooth and comforting, though the thunder remained. She began to calm down as she listened to the rain against the window, soft and melodious- like a Muggle wind-chime in a summer breeze. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked as Sirius.

"But I don't think it was a dream," she said. She looked away for a moment, allowing him time to accept her theory before she completed her thought. When she looked back at him, her eyes had undergone such a terrifying transformation that it was hard to know that it was Addalynn White who sat before him.

They were not distant or forward. They did not shine with laughter as they sometimes did or glow with thought when she listened. Nor did they flame nefariously as they did when she was angry. The philosophical look he had become used to that had shown the world her aged soul, had faded completely and left behind a young, lonely, frightened teenage girl. Her eyes were now haunted and fearful. They were screaming at him, begging him to help her.

Then, in a shaky whisper, she said, "I think it was a memory. A horrifying, suppressed memory from my childhood. Every time I think about it I can feel fear coursing through my heart like a rabid hunger forcing my body to surrender to its needs. It turned by blood to fire and it burned….it still burns…."

He couldn't take it any more. Sirius pulled himself up next to her and pulled her into his arms. She buried her face into his chest as her own arms encircled his neck. He pressed his lips to her hair and rocked her gently back and forth. He gripped her firmly, building a wall of everlasting protection around her, and he let her cry.

"It's alright, Addie. It's alright…"

After she had quieted down a bit, she pulled her head up and looked at him. She saw tears running down the sides of his face as well.

"I think I'm beginning to remember what happened to family. How they died," she said.

She saw his beautiful gray eyes storm with grief. It broke her heart to see that he cared so much for her.

"Tell me what happened-"

"No, Sirius. I shouldn't be burdening you with such silly troubles. Leave. Leave and forget about all of this; pretend we'd never met," she ordered.

"No, I will not and I never shall. I already love you too much- you're my friend," Sirius cracked. "I may just be an average teenage bloke, but I know about loyalty. I cannot break such a bond. I especially can't break it now that I've sworn myself to help you. It's the law of friendship after all."

"I think this is why I thought joining the student body here at Hogwarts was a bad idea from the start…" Addalynn whispered.

Sirius gave her a gentle squeeze and smoothed out her hair. It was strange having a female friend but it gave him a purpose unlike that of any that he had gotten from James, Remus, and Peter. This was a sort of chivalric purpose.

"I'm glad that I'm friends with you. Now that I've grown so attached to you in this short time, I can't imagine what this year would have been like so far without you," he said with purpose in his voice. "Now tell me what happened."

He encouraged her with a gentle pat on her back. She took in as deep a breath as her body could handle and prepared to remember that night and all the details.

"There was a raid on my town one night- I remember the flames and the screaming of our neighbors. The hotel was in an uproar. All the guests were running around frantically. The Muggles were confused and most of the wizards helped Daddy hold of the Death Eaters," she wiped an imaginary tear from her eye, afraid she would break down again. "I remember my mother ordering my brother and me to the back door of the hotel and to go out to the cabin in the woods that we took summer camping trips in. My brother, Caleb, was pulling me by the hand through the servant's corridors. I don't think I really understood what was happening. I mostly remember the screaming and the flashing lights. We were in halfway between the cabin and the hotel when I heard someone run up behind Caleb and took him. He yelled for me to keep running. I didn't want to leave him but I was too scared to turn back, so I kept running. The last thing I remember was running into the cabin and shutting the door behind me."

Now, leaning further onto Sirius' chest, she let herself breathe again, a little more deeply this time. It was still raspy but at least it got itself into her lungs. She no longer felt cold now that Sirius was keeping her safe and her blood did not burn so much now. Having his arms around her gave her hope. It wasn't much hope, but it was hers.

He heard her, just barely, whisper into his chest, "You asked me only a few days ago what I was hiding, Sirius. I guess this was it. Are you still angry? Or are you now doubtful of my loyalty to you, my friend, after I have kept so many secrets?"

"I am so sorry, Addie. I'm so sorry…"

"No, I am. I am learning to hate, Sirius. I'm afraid of what I will do. I am sorry."

"You have no control over what they tell you, Addie, but I do not believe you will become what they wish you to become."

"But, Sirius, I have already begun the transformation. Each day I discover more power and I can feel it running through my very soul, reaching to the surface. And I'm afraid of it. I'm afraid of myself. I have become a harbor for fear and a stronghold for malice…"

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Several hours later, after tucking in a sleeping Addalynn safely beneath her warm covers, Sirius returned to the Gryffindor common room, hoping that a roaring fires was lit in the grand hearth to fight the chilled, damp air.

A flood of warmth wrapped around his body as he stepped through the portrait hole. There, sitting in their respective chairs, were James and Remus. Thankful for the warmth and company, Sirius crashed onto the couch and stared at the flames.

"Well, Padfoot, how is she?" asked Remus.

Sirius sighed heavily and retreated further back into the musty cushions. He pulled his hands over his face and let his head sink back. Remus shot a confused glance at James, who leaned forward with interest.

After straightening himself back up, Sirius said, "Not well."

"What do you mean, Padfoot?" James pressed.

"She told me about the nightmare she had last night," he paused to gather his words, wringing his hands together, "and she confided in me about its meaning."

He retold everything to Remus and James that Addalynn had told him. Salty tears ran down Sirius' face as his voice began to crumble under the distress. After he was finished, Sirius looked up at them to see the expression on their faces.

Remus was pale, his gold eyes dark with disbelief. The scars on the side of his face stood out hauntingly against the flames of the fireplace as they danced around on his skin. His jaw was pulled tight as if he was trying not to cry out in frustration.

James' face wasn't visible as his head was buried in his hands. But he whispered something just barely audible, "She is supposed to be used for Voldemort's domination, then?"

"It's what she told me, Prongs."

"Addalynn, though? She just doesn't seem the type to do something like that….are you sure this was a memory of hers?" asked Remus.

"I'm sure, Moony. The way she said it, the sureness in her voice, the truth and fear in her eyes as she looked at me was too real to doubt," Sirius answered. "I can't explain everything…she'll have to tell us when Madam Pomfrey decides to let her leave."

The three nodded in agreement.

"It still worries me though. Why would Voldemort tell that to a child? Why would he even do something so……so strange?" James pondered aloud.

"Because he can," answered Sirius.

"Or maybe there's something in Addalynn he sees that we don't," Remus said quietly. The other two looked at him accusingly. "I've seen something in her eyes whenever someone speaks of death or when she hears of the war. It's not something good either- it's something terrible, menacing."

"And only you have noticed this?" asked James.

"Yes."

"Then why has no one else?"

"I think it's because some part of Addalynn wanted only me to know. She knew that I had a secret so she thought she could tell me hers."

James looked away to the window with a defeated look. He spoke solemnly, half to himself and half to his best mates, "There really is a war coming. It's already started. I know the final stages are drawing upon us more rapidly each day." He paused a moment before continuing, "It's time we stopped pretending that Hogwarts is a world apart from everything else."

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Only an hour or so later, Addalynn appeared in the Common Room just as the fire was reduced to glowing embers. The Marauders, thank heaven, were still awake. They didn't notice her at first, standing off to the side with her arms crossed securely over her chest wearing only a thin nightgown. But without fail Remus made an abrupt move with his head that caught the other two's attention, and they also turned their heads in the direction Remus was staring.

Before anyone said anything, Addalynn muttered something incoherently and began to shake. Sirius stood and led her to the couch with his arm around her shoulders. "What was that, Addie?"

"I'm scared…" she whispered."My nightmares- they won't go away."

James looked at her intently, "What nightmares?"

Remus watched with perfect attention, his ears perked for every word, every emotion. The glow from the fireplace illuminated her ever-pale face. Her raven hair- as black and dull as death- hung heavily around her face.

"To be quite frank with you all, I have come to you to see for myself that you're all still alive."

"Of course we're still alive, Addalynn. How could we not be?" asked James.

They gathered around her and listened intently to the stories of her nightmares, for she only spoke in whispers. It was now three in the morning, as the bell tolls. The storm continued.

"James, how has Lily been?"

"Lily?" said James in disbelief. "What does she have to do with any of this?"

Addalynn leaned forward to him, her face hovered mere centimeters away from his. The blue in her eyes was dull and lifeless; the green as dead as the autumn leaves. He did not even feel her breath upon his skin.

"She will be your undoing. Keep her safe at all costs, James. If something happens to her, so it will happen to you." Then her unblinking tears fell once again.

James opened his mouth to protest but she cut him short, "I know what I know and I don't know why. It's frustrating, really. Knowing, but not knowing reason."

Remus stepped forward from the fireplace and for the first time in almost a day, he looked Addalynn in the eyes straight on. "You know me, Addie. You know me in a way that no one else does. You know James and you know Sirius and you know everyone else, everyone you've ever met, don't you?"

Addalynn looked away from him, ashamed. "Yes."

"Then why do you not tell us everything if you know you can trust us?"

Now she was truly shattered. She knew she kept that secret from them. That one secret that could, and would if presented with the chance, undo everything.

Her tears increased as did her shaking. Within each tear lived a piece of her dying soul. With each shudder came a whisper of death.

"Help me, Remus, James, Sirius…. Help me…I can't do this alone…"

"Do what?"

"Live! Living alone is a terrible fate for anyone. As I waited today in the hospital wing I thought about my choices. I weighed every option. I know Voldemort wants to use me and I know that he is waiting for me to become wild- untamable. He will wait until I become dangerous to others and to myself before he collects me." She took a moment to breath, and then she continued, "As soon as I become frustrated enough with controlling myself my powers will take over. I will no longer have a conscious sense of self. I will have no control over my actions or my thoughts. I'll simply become consumed by power that cannot be contained by mere will. Then he will break me, break my spirit and I will succumb to his every whim. It's what he's waiting for. He's waiting for me to lose my mind."

"What can you do so far with your powers?" asked Sirius, kindly steering away from less desirable thoughts. Addalynn released a dreamy light smile.

"I can feel the life that is around me. I can scarcely understand what it is, what I can do. But I imagine that it is as if my soul were feeling the souls of the people around me. When my emotions heighten I can feel them more intensely. Their essence pierces me like an arrow through its target. It always lands where it intends."

James and Remus exchanged glances. Though they hadn't spoken a word to each other, their silent exchange had confirmed their belief that Addalynn had great influence over people. It was how the students had taken to her unannounced presence so well.

"Do you think this is why our friendship has formed this solidly so quickly?" asked Remus.

"I believe so. For some reason, I can feel you three better than I can feel anyone else. My contact with strangers is powerful enough for me to understand every emotion they're feeling at that particular moment, but with you all around me I can barely concentrate on anything else," she sighed with frustration, "and all I am able to feel is you. What your emotions are, where they're flowing, where they're coming from, how they're moving, your heart beat, and your breathing…..everything comes together and merges inside my mind."

"That sounds difficult to deal with," stated Sirius simply.

"No, no it's not," she said to him. When he looked at her inquisitively, she felt she should explain. "When my…essence, so to say, is synchronized with yours it becomes a single entity. Or at least that's what I think, there's no way for me to be entirely certain. It seems to be the only conclusion I am able to make. So once that happens, it's as natural to me as breathing- but I'm still curious about it because I'm fully aware of it when it happens."

All of them took a moment to soak everything in. James had a sort of bespectacled appearance in his overall face mixed with wariness in his dark eyes. The firelight reflected off his glasses. A few moments later Addalynn spoke again, her voice more grave.

"I may have only seen the surface of my abilities or this could be the extent of it. But it will become more potent and, eventually, it will kill me."

Remus looked up at her once more, "Kill you? How?"

"Remus my emotions are getting out of hand. Before this year I can't remember a time when I wasn't in absolute control over my feelings. If I feel too much of a single emotion it will crush me. I am unpredictable at the moment and I don't know what will happen if my mind accidentally taps into my abilities and puts them to use," she said defensively.

"Can you do anything else besides just…well, feeling people?" said James.

Addalynn looked at him with hesitancy written across her features. Slowing down her breathing she reached out with her left hand to his right temple. Their eyes locked immediately and they became unaware of anyone else except for themselves.

Remus and Sirius became resolutely still as they watched the two connect.

Inside of James' mind was a vast collection of intelligence and honor. Everything about himself was screaming for her attention. Memories, emotions, pictures, family, objects- everything was reaching to her. For an impossibly long moment, James felt exuberant with energy, with passion. For that moment, he and she were all that existed.

Almost immediately (in the eyes of Sirius and Remus) Addalynn removed her hand from James' temple. Upon the release James slumped over with exhaustion, his breathing labored.

"Wh-what was that?" James managed to wheeze.

"That was a transfer of all your knowledge, memories, emotions, and a lot more than that, into my mind. But I promise that I took nothing from you- I did not hold on to you long enough nor did I make any move to do so."

After catching his breath, James spoke again. "In that single moment, you were everything to me……my very existence seemed to depend on you."

Addalynn looked ashamedly down at the floor.

"That is what I feared. No one aside from God should hold such a power. It makes my wonder why I have it…" she said sadly. "I am sorry, my friends. I am cursed with this tribulation by which I am consumed."

She looked down at the floor, tears gathering at the edges of her eyes. The boys each exchanged glances for a moment, then moved closer to her. Remus reached out his hand for her face, but he hesitated for a moment, wondering what might happen if his skin came in contact with his own, then guided her chin up, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"Teach us. Show us how to help you," he said.

"It's far too dangerous for all of you-"

"No, Addie," interrupted Sirius. "It isn't."

And so begun Addalynn's training.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Suddenly everything went helplessly black. She felt her legs give way beneath her as her body bent over to the floor. Luckily James was there to catch her.

He put one arm around her shoulders and the other under her legs and gently set her down whispering, "It's okay, Addie, I've got you…I've got you."

As soon as she was safely cradled in James' arms she awoke from a world of nothing. Upon opening her eyes, she tried to remember what had just happened. She looked up at James' face in confusion, her reflection lingering in his glasses, obscuring his concerned eyes.

She was in a strange room that bent to the will of its occupants. They called it the 'Room of Requirement'. It was late Saturday evening and they had all just finished with their homework after dinner. Sirius had called for a 'study session' outside of the library. For the past two hours, she remembered, they had been working on helping her control her powers.

They had been experimenting with activating her ability's energy and stopping it at will. She had been reaching out to Sirius when she fainted from the exhaustion it caused her. Nausea had crept across her body; her cheeks were flushed with the blood of a racing heart. To stop the dizziness in her head she closed her eyes and leaned back into James' arms. Her breathing was irregular so she focused on each intake of air…in and out…slowly, rhythmically.

"Addie?" Remus called. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes," she managed to reply, "Much better than last time, anyhow."

"Okay, then, boys, I think we're making progress," said Sirius. A wide grin spread across his face as he looked at his fellow mates, who grinned in return. Eyes still closed, a smile spread across her lips as well.

"I think I'm ready to try again," she said, opening her eyes. James and Sirius took her hands and helped her up.

Her footing was unsteady once they got her on her feet so Sirius had to catch her before she fell forward again. After making sure her legs could hold her own weight the boys stepped away. Sirius suggested that she try reaching to James this time and stepped a bit closer to her in case she fainted again. Remus stood only a few feet away in order to observe the entire process, looking for any anomalies or similarities to the previously performed trials.

It was difficult for Addalynn to focus just on a single person when her mind was screaming to touch everything. The feeling had become more and more overwhelming over the past five weeks, but the more she practiced, the more control she gained.

Holding her shoulders steady her lungs expanded for a deep, concentrated breath in, then back out. Keeping her mind focused on James, she was slowly able to make everything else disappear.

Her body protested the required concentration but she ignored it and pushed on. Everything but James needed to go away. If she could make it past this one hurdle, she would be a step farther than she'd ever been. She fainted in her previous attempt primarily because she was shocked at how weak her body was. Now that she was aware of her condition, she was more able to control it. Finally, James was the only one there and their minds connected for less than a second when the connection shattered and everything came back into Addalynn's mind.

She opened her eyes in shock and let out a soft 'oh' of surprise before falling onto Sirius, who's arms wrapped themselves instinctively around her shoulders. James had bent over, hands on his knees and his eyes shut.

"James? How are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm fine," he said, "My vision's just a bit blurry is all."

"Are you sure that's all?" she pressed. He nodded his head in response.

"How are you feeling, Addie?" asked Remus. He stepped up to her and Sirius, a hand on the back of her neck.

"I'm fine…." She started, but was cut off by Sirius.

"No you're not, you're shaking like mad."

"And you're still really flushed," stated Remus as he placed a caring hand on her cheek.

All of the sudden a sharp pain stabbed at her temples. Subconsciously she held on to Sirius as tightly as she could until the pain stopped. She screeched an almost inaudible 'ah!' before being rendered incapable of speech from the two daggers boring themselves into her head, just next to her eyes. Then it stopped, but she did not release Sirius from her petrified grip and nor did she open her eyes.

James worriedly peered at her behind his round-rimmed glasses. "Addie?"

"The nerves just outside my eyes, they were burning like mad. Like a pair of daggers burrowing into my temples," she said, slightly out of breath.

"I think we should stop for today," suggested James. "You need to rest."

Knowing she was at a loss to argue, she nodded feebly. Suddenly she noticed how tired Remus looked. His appearance was more ragged than ever.

"Oh my, Remus, tomorrow night's the full moon! I completely forgot, you should be resting," she said.

"No, Addie. My time is better spent helping you sort this all out," he said with a strained smile.

She smiled back, knowing she could never had hoped for better friends than the three she was with right now. "Thank you, Remus."

With Sirius' help she managed to make it all the way back the Fat Lady's portrait. By the time they got there she was alright to walk on her own. James waited expectantly for the Fat Lady to acknowledge their presence, but the corpulent, befuddled lady was too busy laughing hysterically with her friend Violet to notice his finger tapping impatiently on his hip.

"Excuse me," he said. The two portrait ladies let out an obnoxious burst of laughter. Violet tipped her wine glass over a little too far and sent a good amount of red wine splashing onto the floor.

The pair continued to babble on about a bunch of indistinguishable nonsense until Sirius lost it and made his sentiments clear to the two tipsy women. "Ladies! Would it kill you open up?" he shouted. The Fat Lady turned to him, empty wine glass in hand and asked in a sing-song voice, "What's the magic word, handsome?" Violet let out another violent wave of laughter and lost all control of her wine glass, sending it to the floor where it sat in fragments of glittering crystal.

"Babbling Bowtruckle," he said loudly, but then added to James, "Which is exactly what they're acting like.

"Spot on!" she said, and opened the portrait for them.

The four walked through the portrait hole to an empty Common Room with a dying fire. It was well past eleven o'clock and there were only three late night study crammers seated in various places with open books, their parchment scattered in a fury around their feet or across a table.

"I think I'll head for some feasible amount of sleep, for once," Addalynn announced. "I'll see you all in the morning." Then they all headed up the stairs to their separate dorms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The instant Addalynn had opened the door the 6th year girls' room, a wave of whispers and giggles swept over her ears. She smiled to herself- they were attempting to be quiet about their slumber party.

All huddled up in a corner of the room were Lily, Ruby, Meisha, Elizabeth, and Nicky. Sweet's wrappers had been carelessly tossed about on surrounding floor. Evidently someone had just spat out something terribly humorous because all six of the girls had resorted to clasping a hand tight over their mouth, or muffling their laughter in a large pillow. After the bout of giggles had subsided (for the most part, at least), the girls all looked up at Addalynn and generously beckoned her forward.

Addalynn's smile widened- some healthy, teenage fooling around would do her some good. She dropped her book bag onto the floor at the foot of her bed and sat cross-legged on the floor between Meisha and Lily.

"What no-good are you all up to?" Addalynn asked exasperatedly.

Ruby was the first to speak, thrilled at new blood to tease. "We're passing around this potion," she held up a medium-sized bottle, three-quarters of the way full with a dark blue liquid, "and asking the drinker a question. It only takes one sip. It's not nearly as strong as Veritaserum, but it works well enough. You have five minutes to answer a question before it wears off." After her last word she burst into another fit of giggles which caused another widespread fit.

"Want to join in?" asked Meisha, a mischievous smile on her lips.

Addalynn thought for a moment. This could get bad if asked the wrong question. She looked at Lily for reassurance.

Lily shook her head, "Don't worry- with this stuff you don't have to answer, but if you do, you won't be able to lie."

"Fair enough, I'm game," she decided.

"Okay then, you're next," said Nicky. Ruby reached across the circle and handed the bottle to Addalynn.

Cautiously, Addalynn swirled the liquid around in its glass encasement, examining it with curiosity and hesitancy. Raising an eyebrow and pursing her lip, she took a small swig of the dark blue liquid.

Ruby smiled, "Who has a question for her?"

"I do," said Alice. "I hate to be so cruel, but I'm dying to know this. Is the only reason you hand out with the Idiots Four, that is, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, because you've hopelessly fallen for one of them?"

Addalynn smiled, "No."

Alice appeared surprised. "Really? All of us have had a crush on one of them at some point…."

"Well, there's more to life than boys."

"Alright then, if you had to like one of them which would it be?" pressed Meisha.

Addalynn sat in silence, determined not to answer such an unfair question. She merely smirked tauntingly at the dark skinned girl. "Your turn," she said, handing Meisha the bottle.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sirius tossed and turned in his sleep, his mind unable to find peace. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her fall. She was so helpless when she fainted. Her face would go blank, her eyes would roll back into her head and her eyelids would close, then she would fall to the ground lest he was there to catch her.

All he could think about was how vulnerable she was. She had more power than most could imagine, and yet, she was more vulnerable than anyone.