“No,” Monicola murmured and sat on the grass with her knees brought to her chin.
Hawk sighed, grabbed her by the upper arms and lifted her to her feet again. “Don’t be a baby. You have to accept this.”
Monicola looked up at him. “What if I don’t want to?”
“Then you’ll go hungry, now come on.” He trudged toward the group, Monicola following reluctantly. They crouched behind a bush, watching their prey closely.
“You have to get as many as you can, alright?” Monicola nodded. She stood up and walked over to what looked like five sailors.
“Hello,” she said dreamily, tossing her hair back and smiling. The men immediately rose from their seats.
“Would you like to sit with us, lassie?” one man with clumped brown hair grunted, patting the log he had been sitting on.
She shook her head. “No, but I will give you advice.”
They all looked intently at her.
“Run.”
She distinctly heard Hawk slap his forehead.
“Why would we want to do that?” asked the only blond sailor.
Monicola smiled again. She opened her mouth wide, showing off her long canines, hissing like a cat.
They all ran. The slowest was a broad, toothless man. She pounced, sinking her teeth into him, draining him almost completely.
“I told you to get as many as you could,” Hawk mumbled, bending down and tilting his head interestedly.
Monicola surfaced, breathing hard, licking her lips hungrily. “You know how much I hate this. I hate killing people especially since I can’t join them in death.”
He pushed her hair out her face and rested his hand on her cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not,” Monicola spat and stomped away…
The present day Monicola rolled over in her bed, cursing Hawk under her breath.
***
Lupin was very late. He hurtled down the hallway and burst through the classroom door.
“I’m sorry, Professor McGonagall,” he panted, taking a seat in the back. “Somebody forgot to wake me up.” He turned around and scowled at James who smiled innocently at him.
The whole class had paid for Lupin’s tardiness. For homework they were instructed to write a two foot essay on the properties of a Color Changing spell and why it would be useful in dangerous situations.
“Can I borrow your quill?” the girl next to him asked. He looked up and saw Monicola Hardcrow staring at him expectantly.
“Y-yes,” he stuttered, digging in his pocket and taking out his best quill.
“Thank you.” She took it from him and started writing down the assignment.
He saw something very interesting on her arm. A tattoo of feathery wings with a crescent moon hanging behind them was just above her right wrist. He had never seen anything like this, but he didn’t dwell on it. He took his quill back when she was done and watched her walk out.
“Need binoculars, Moony?” asked Sirius, waving his hand in front of his face. Lupin slapped it away.
The Marauders left the class together with Lupin several steps ahead. Sirius hurried to catch up.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” he whispered.
“No, she’s not.”
Sirius stopped momentarily but then caught up again. “I think you’ve gone mad!”
“Take a good look at her,” said Lupin, pointing to Monicola who was chatting with a friend a few feet ahead of them.
“Believe me, I have,” Sirius groaned.
“Look in her eyes.”
Sirius did. For a moment he saw nothing, but then he realized something was different.
“She looks like a normal girl!” he exclaimed, glaring at her more intently.
“Exactly. She’s not the one that’s beautiful,” Lupin explained. “Something else is making men attracted to her. A spell I suppose…”
***
Monicola sat in the library, flipping through her textbook and reading under her breath.
Someone sat down across from her. It was Remus Lupin, the really smart boy with all the scratches. She ignored him and continued her work.
“Where’d you get that tattoo?” he asked suddenly.
“Where’d you get all those scratches?” she asked as if she were expecting this. She didn’t even look up once. “Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.”
Lupin raised his eyebrows. “You are extremely unapproachable, did you know that?”
“I know someone who has said that about a thousand times, it’s nothing new to me.” She made to leave but Lupin caught her arm.
“Can I at least see it?”
Monicola sighed and pulled back her sleeve. Lupin studied the marking for a minute and then let go.
“Would you like to do a cavity search as well,” she asked sarcastically.
“I wouldn’t mind one from you, Moni.” Sirius stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves. He had been waiting for Lupin.
Monicola left, not acknowledging his presence.
“As cold as a glacier, she is,” Sirius said, sitting down and dropping a large book on the table. “Did you get a good look at it?”
“Yeah, I did.” Lupin pulled the book toward him and started riffling through it. It was entitled The Many Symbols of the Wizarding World.
Half an hour later he found what he was looking for. He turned the book around for Sirius to have a look. “‘The Mark of the Waning Wings’,” he read. “‘Although the meaning is unknown, this symbol has been seen on all sorts of things such as doorposts, goblets, clothing, and, though very rare, human skin. In the 1400s, it was said to be the mark of a cursed being left to walk the earth neither alive nor dead.’”
“What does that have to do with Moni?” asked Sirius in a bored tone.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” Lupin proclaimed. “Care to help me?”
“No,” he replied flatly and left for the common room.
Lupin spent the rest of the day searching for information on The Mark of the Waning Wings. He gave up when he saw that the sun had sunk below the horizon and went back to the common room.
Sirius and Peter were playing a game of Wizard’s Chess while James watched them. Lupin saw Monicola transfixed in her Transfigurations essay at a desk in the corner.
“I didn’t find anything else,” he told Sirius as he sat down next to James.
“There’s no point in trying to figure her out,” Sirius said, pushing his knight forward. Peter’s bishop pulled the knight off of his horse and proceeded to drag him off the board by the hair.
James asked, “What were you doing?”
Lupin explained what he saw on Monicola’s arm and instructed him to stare at her in the eye.
“Wait a minute!” he exclaimed. “She’s not beautiful at all!” A few first years stared at him nervous and shifted away.
“Exactly. I’m trying to figure out what kind of spell is on her.”
Lupin and James watched Peter beat Sirius three times. After it was clear Sirius was going to lose again, Lupin stood up, stretched, and walked toward the door that lead to the boys’ dormitory. He glanced toward Monicola and his heart skipped a beat. She had just yawned and he thought he saw very long teeth, but when he blinked they were not there. Breathing deeply, he ignored it and went to bed.
***
Lupin sat in the library, leaning over a book, staring at its pages, but not taking any of it in. He was researching The Mark of the Waning Wings, but he had not gotten very far. The subject was incredibly hard to find and when it did turn up, only small bits of information were given.
Remus thought back to the time when he witnessed very sharp teeth jutting out of Monicola’s mouth. This made him think of vampires, but that couldn’t possibly be true. Vampires were extremely dangerous; not even Dumbledore would let one in the school for an extended period of time. Still, his curiosity took hold of him and searched for a book on vampires.
At first he did not find anything in The Great Blood Suckers of the World. He flipped through the pages showing graphic illustrations. He stopped when he saw feathery wings with a crescent moon behind them.
Lupin’s eyes bulged amazedly. This was incredible. This proved that Monicola Hardcrow was a vampire.
Suddenly his excitement fell. He couldn’t tell anyone. Monicola surely wanted to keep such a thing a secret. He knew exactly how she felt. Being a werewolf was difficult but he was only dangerous during a full moon; Monicola was dangerous all the time!
Returning the book to its rightful place, Lupin walked out of the library, feeling sorry for Monicola. He had to tell her what he knew; otherwise it would be a very dirty secret.
***
“What are you staring at?”
“Oh, sorry,” Remus muttered.
They were in Potions, attempting to make a Drought of Euphoria. Monicola, to her great annoyance, was paired with Remus Lupin who glared at her apologetically every few seconds.
As she poured in a few ingredients, Remus leaned toward her and whispered, “I know what your secret is.”
“Oh, really,” Monicola said. “And what would that be?”
“You’re a vampire.”
There was a loud clatter as Monicola dropped the mixing spoon on the floor.
“How…why…That’s nonsense!” she hissed. “Where did you come up with a thing like that?”
Lupin pushed back her sleeve and pointed at the brand. “That’s The Mark of the Waning Wings, isn’t it?”
Monicola shoved the sleeve back into place, whispering furiously, “How did you find out?”
“I looked it up.”
Her eyes bulged. She had no idea it was that easy to figure things out. Hawk probably had something to do with it.
The class ended. Everyone packed their things and left. Monicola and Lupin hung back.
“You can’t tell anyone!” she said shrilly, wringing her hands. “Swear to me that you won’t say a word!”
Lupin nodded. “I swear.”
They walked toward the Great Hall together. Monicola stopped at the end of the Gryffindor table.
“I guess now I can be a bit nicer to you,” she murmured, “if you promise to be less annoying.”
“I will. What about Sirius, will you be nicer to him?”
She snorted. “Don’t push your luck. Sirius has to prove he isn’t the four year old he pretends to be before I even look at him properly.”