HP, Chapter 14

Albus slumped down in the chair in front of the fire and sighed. He closed his eyes for a minute, recalling the events that had just happened. Scorpio was an angry little man... He was about an inch shorter than Albus and much paler, but that didn't mean he wasn't scary. He could probably pull off more with a wand than Albus could... And that was probably the scariest part. They hadn't even started learning spells you could use in a wizard duel...

"Are you all right, Albus?" Derek suddenly asked. He had appeared next to Albus while his eyes were closed.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine..." Albus said softly, coming out of his daze.

"You don't look fine..." Derek came up so he was standing right next to Albus's chair, studying him closely.

"Just...don't worry about it, okay?" Albus finished quickly. Derek looked around uncomfortably until a sudden crash made both him and Albus jump. And everyone else in the room. Everyone turned to see who it was, and to none of Albus's surprise, it was Samantha. She was standing next to a small, tipped over table, cringing. She slowly looked around the room and smiled sheepishly. James suddenly walked up behind her, put a hand on her shoulder and shrugged with a smile.

"What can I say? She's a clutz." He said simply, then pulled her away from the scene of the crime.

"Sorry..." Samantha said softly as everyone started turning back to their previous conversations. James led Samantha over to Albus and Derek and smiled. The two stared back at him blankly. James and Samantha both raised an eyebrow at the same time.

"So, how have you two been?" James suddenly asked, faking enthusiasm. Neither of the other boys answered. James looked at Samantha awkwardly, and she looked back with the same expression.

"You know what would be cool?" Samantha randomly said after a moment.

"What?" James asked.

"If I could break out into song and dance randomly and people wouldn't give me those weird looks." Samantha replied. Suddenly, she gasped and her eyes lit up. "Life should be a musical!!" She exclaimed, looking at James excitedly. James stared at her, confused for a moment, then a mischevious light danced in his eyes.

"You just gave me the most brilliant idea..." He said, looking around the room with a suspicious smile on his face. Samantha looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

"What kind of an idea?" Holly's voice suddenly asked from behind him.

"None of your buisness. Yet." James replied, then he grabbed Samantha's arm and dragged her to a corner of the room no one was gathered in.

"That was weird..." Derek said slowly. Holly nodded.

"Where's Peter?" She suddenly asked.

"Don't know." Albus replied with a shrug. Suddenly, as if on cue, Peter appeared.

"Guys, I've got some bad news." He said, panting.

"Define bad news." Derek said as they all turned to look at him.

"Tonight's a full moon." He replied, a rather worried expression on his face. The others all stared at him with wide eyes. "You know what that means, right?" He whispered.

"It means the werewolves will be out tonight..." Holly breathed. Albus swallowed hard. He didn't like the sound of that...

HP, Chapter 13

"Scruffy, how did you become a werewolf? If you don't mind my asking..." Andrea asked. They were all roasting fish over the fire, and it looked rather uncivilized. But it was food, and Andrea needed to eat it. But she didn't want to eat it raw. She never had been a fan of sushi...

"Well, the becomin' part ain't that long of a story..." Scruffy mumbled, rotating the stick with the fish on it. "So I suppose I could tell it to ya." He finished and took a deep breath.

"I was about four years old when it happened. I was sittin' outside in the front yard. We lived waaay out in the country, mind you, so we didn't have any close neighbors. So, it was dark, I was outside with my family, and all of a sudden, outta the woods came a werewolf. Came right at me, probably because I was the smallest. And closest. Mum came runnin' at the beast, but dad got their first with his riffle in hand. Now, he didn't kill the thing, just shot it in the leg and knocked it over the head with the butt of the gun.

"Mum ran right up and scooped me up in her arms. Dad stopped the bleedin' on both me and the werewolf, then we all rushed to the hospital via the floo network. Dad actually brought the beast along with us. Amazing man, my dad was..." Scruffy gazed into the fire for a moment before continuing. "We got the funniest looks in the hospital, mum told me, because dad had a werewolf slung over his shoulder.

"They worked on me that night to close up my wounds and try to help stop me from becomin' a beast too... Still got some of the scars from when I got all scratched up by the thing." Scruffy rolled up his sleeve all the way to reveal a scar running down his shoulder. "'Course, I still am a werewolf... They didn't stop that." Scruffy rolled down his sleeve and shrugged.

"Archie says you're not a bad werewolf, though... How is that possible? And what's the difference between a good werewolf and a bad one?" Andrea asked, glancing up at Scruffy then quickly looking away.

"Well, my family starting searchin' high and low for a possible cure or somethin' to help me with not bein' a vicious monster. My mum came across a potion that can help a bit, and started me on it right away. I think the book said I was only supposed to take it during the week of a full moon, but mum and dad had me on it every night. Took it the same time, every night of every week. When the first full moon came around, I was a monstrous little thing. 'Course, I don't remember it, but everyone told me I was a fuzzy little rascal. They tried to train me, but I kept trying to bite my older brother and sister, so they had to lock me up in a kennel. It was for my own good, really. I'd wake up the next morning in the kennel and cry until someone woke up and got me out. By then I'd be all right and not remember a thing...

"After a while, I started to be less and less wild. I got calmer, and I think a good part of that isn't just owed to the potion, but also to my family. They helped quite a bit, I reckon. Since I took the potion every night, I just sort of... Settled down over the years. Granted, while I was in school during full moons, I had to sleep in a dungeon cell, but that was just for safety purposes." Scruffy shrugged and pulled his fish-on-a-stick towards him.

"Fascinating story..." Andrea said softly. Archie nodded as he pulled his own stick towards him. "So, did you two go to school at about the same time as Harry Potter, then?"

"Yes, although I was a year or so younger than him..." Archie said.

"I had a few classes with 'im. Fascinating boy. I suppose he's a man, now, though." Scruffy chuckled as he pulled apart his fish.

"What houses were you two in?" Andrea asked, pulling her fish away from the fire and inspecting it.

"Hufflepuff." Scruffy replied promptly.

"Ravenclaw." Archie said through a mouthful of fish.

"Hm..." Andrea said, picking a small bite off of her fish and eating it. She had many more questions to ask these two...

HP, Chapter 12, continued

Potions was even more horrid than ususal. For one thing, Professor McGlinnin looked awfully sad and gloomy, which gave the whole dungeon an even sadder and gloomier look. Scorpio kept glancing in Albus's direction, and Albus couldn't help but look back, so Albus had a terrible time concentrating on the lesson. His hands shook, so his notes looked like dragon scratches and he accidentally put too much pansy powder into the potion they were making, which made the thing start to boil over the top of the cauldron. It burned a hole through Albus's pants and practically disintegrated his partner's shirt. When it got to the floor, everyone had to crawl up on their chairs to avoid the stuff eating through their shoes. Thankfully, Professor McGlinnin was fast with his wand and the gunk didn't get far.

"Well, I think that will be all for today..." Albus was grateful when those words exited McGlinnin's mouth. He grabbed his book bag, shoved his potions book into it, then dashed out the door. "Albus Potter, wait, I'd like a word with you!" Albus cringed and slowly turned around. Derek, Holly, and Peter walked past him, looking sorry.

"You'll be fine, mate." Derek whispered. Holly gave him an attempt at an encouraging smile. It turned out more like a look you would give someone who was about to be sent to Azkaban for life.

"Yes, professor?" Albus asked as he walked back into the classroom. McGlinnin glanced up at Albus and motioned for him to come closer to the desk. Albus practically crawled forward.

"Are you feeling all right, Albus?" Asked McGlinnin. Albus nodded. "Really? Not feeling... Sad or scared or hurt or...regret?" Albus thought for sure McGlinnin's eyes were looking straight into his soul.

"N-no..."

"Hm... You know, Albus, it's all right to feel sad or scared or hurt... But regret is one thing that will eat at your soul faster than anything else. It's not your fault that whatever happened out there happened."

"But it is!" Albus practically yelled. He felt like he wanted to cry again. He had no idea if Andrea was even alive or not, and she was one of his best friends. And probably Scorpio's best friend as well. If not his only friend. "I was the one that said we should go out of the Common Room! I was the one that-"

"Yes, Albus, you suggested it. But the fact that something happened to her out there in the Forbidden Forest is not your fault!" Professor McGlinnin interrupted Albus. McGlinnin put his hands on Albus's shoulders and bent down to his level to look into his eyes. "You can't regret what happened then. You have to think of ways to not let it happen again or fix the problem. Regret is not an option, Albus." Albus sniffed and blinked back the tears in his eyes. His potions teacher was right. And much smarter than Albus had ever thought. "Albus, do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" McGlinnin finished and Albus nodded.

"I understand." Said Albus softly.

"All right, you can go, now." McGlinnin stood up straight and gave Albus a small smile. Albus sniffed one last time then walked out the door.

The rest of the classes went relatively normally after that. Of course, Peter, Derek, and Holly wanted to know what McGlinnin had talked to Albus about, but Albus didn't want to talk about it. Care of Magical Creatures was interesting, because they were no longer on skrewts. They had gotten far too big to be used for teaching anyone anything other than the fact that skrewts were a pain in the rear. Instead, they had begun on faeries. Hagrid had actually gotten one to come to class. It was quite fascinating.

Care of Magical Creatures was their last class, so Albus decided to stay afterwards to ask Hagrid about Andrea. "Have you seen any sign of her out there?" He asked softly. Hagrid shook his head.

"No... Ain't a whole lot of leads, though. From what we can tell, she just up 'n disappeared. Did find somethin' else interestin' though. Sad, but interestin'." Hagrid replied quietly.

"What did you find that was sad but interesting?" Asked Albus. He was curious to see if it had anything to do with Andrea.

"Dead unicorn." Hagrid replied shortly. Albus's heart skipped a beat.

"Did someone kill it or..." Albus began, but Hagrid shook his head, so he stopped talking.

"Looked like it was killed. Not sure how, but it was sliced open and looked like it'd been dead for a couple days, at least. Blood all over the place... Someone wanted the poor thing dead." Explained Hagrid, a sad look on his face.

"Why? And who would want it dead?"

"Why? 'Cause unicorn blood is magical. It'll save ya from the worst of injuries if ya drink it. Can practically bring ya back to life, that stuff can. But, o' course, it comes with a price. Ya drink it, and ya live a half-life. A cursed life..." Albus listened intently to Hagrid as he spoke. He was getting goosebumps. "Who would want it dead? I dunno, Albus. Someone who wanted to live that bad, I s'pose." Hagrid sighed and shook his head. "I think that the person who killed the unicorn probably has somethin' to do with Andrea disappearin'." Albus swallowed hard as Hagrid finished. He hoped that whoever killed the unicorn wouldn't kill Andrea too.

"Well, I'll see you later, Hagrid." Albus said as he turned around and walked up the hill to the castle. He had knots in his stomach as he walked through the doors and down the hallway, making his way towards the Griffindor Common room.

"POTTER!" Someone yelled at Albus from behind. Albus turned around just as a hand grabbed his shoulder and slammed him into the wall. Scorpio Malfoy was surprisingly strong, Albus concluded as he gazed into Scorpio's angry eyes. "You lied, Potter. She's not in there. I went and looked." Scorpio sounded angry, hateful, and on the verge of tears at the same time. Albus plastered himself against the wall as Scorpio pulled out his wand and held it up. No one else was in the hallway... For some odd reason, the place was deserted.

"Where is she, Potter?" Scorpio growled.

"I-I don't know!" Albus exclaimed, trying to become the wall. He was sure that Scorpio was trying to kill him with his eyes.

"I don't believe you, Potter. You had your chance to tell me the truth and you lied! Where is she? Where's my best friend?" Scorpio was practically yelling now. Albus hoped it would attract a teacher or someone.

Scorpio and Albus stared at each other for the longest time. Scorpio maintained his glare, and Albus was sure he looked like a deer caught in some one's headlights. "You lost her out there... Didn't you?" Scorpio said softly. Albus didn't reply, so Scorpio yelled it. "Didn't you?!" Albus turned his face away and flinched.

"I didn't loose her! They think someone took her!" Albus yelled back. Scorpio scowled hard and pulled his wand back. Albus thought for sure Scorpio would kill him. Just then, Sir Nicholas rounded the corner. Scorpio quickly let go of Albus and put his wand away.

"Everything all right down here, boys?" Nick asked, looking over the two of them.

"Yeah, just peachy." Scorpio growled. He gave Albus one last glare then stormed off down the hallway. Albus sighed then glanced up at Sir Nicholas.

"Thank you, Nearly Headless Nick. I think you just saved my life." Said Albus, truly grateful. Sir Nicholas stared at him, puzzled, but didn't have time to ask a question, because Albus quickly ran off.

MR Fanfic (TPPOV) Chapter twenty-six

Fang sighed at the laptop screen. Everyone else was asleep either on the floor, on a chair, or on top of someone else, in Angel's case. She was using Gazzy's lap as a pillow. Gazzy and Fang were sitting on a small couch, and Gazzy was slumped over the armrest. Nudge was sprawled over the floor on her back in a star shape. Thing 1 and Thing 2 were laying on the floor facing each other. Sam looked rather uncomfortable, because he was asleep sitting upright, and Kalie was laying over two chairs. Fang had offered to take first watch, mostly because he knew he wouldn't sleep, knowing his brother was in the ER and his girlfriend was... He didn't even know where she was.

Max, where are you? Fang asked in his mind. He wondered if she could develop mind reading powers like Angel and answer him. He was looking at his blog, and he suddenly got his answer. There was Max's official icon... Fang stared at the screen, forcing his eyes to read the comment.

"fang its max and i sent u a mesage don't wory ull know it's me im fine btw love u" Fang read and re-read the message and realize Max had terrible grammar. Not that he had much better grammar most of the time... It also sounded like she was in a bit of a hurry. Fang quickly checked his hundreds of messages, searching for one from Max. Hers was right near the top, so he didn't have to search for very long.

"fang, its me..." Fang continued to slowly read the message. Slowly because 1. He wasn't a fast reader and 2. The grammar and spelling in the thing was horrible. He knew that none of the Flock had ever gone to real school for very long, but they'd learned enough about grammar that Max should have written a little bit better! Then Fang decided to look at the time. It explained something. Max had sent it at 11:54 P.M., which probably had something to do with the poor word choices and such... Fang finished the message and decided to send one back to Max. She hadn't specified where she was because she didn't know, so Fang had to tell her where he was.

"Max, I got your message. The Flock and I (And the other little group) are in a hospital waiting room. I'll let you guess who got hurt. Iggy, if you didn't guess right. He tried to stop them from taking Jazz. They shot him in the side. We brought him here and we're now waiting for him to come out of ER. We're in Ohio...Dayton, we think. Come find us, okay? We'll try to wait here for you. I love you and miss you. Be safe, okay? Love, Fang."

Fang sent the message to Max and sighed. Hopefully she'd get it and come meet them soon. He glanced at his watch then over at Nudge. She had offered to take the second watch. Fang stood up, set the laptop down next to Gazzy, and woke up Nudge. "Nudge, time for your watch." He whispered, trying not to wake up the others. Nudge moaned and rolled onto her side, away from Fang. Fang sighed and wondered if a good kick in the butt would get her moving.

"I'll take second watch, Fang." Sam suddenly said. Fang looked over at him and shrugged. He didn't completely trust Sam, but he thought he'd stay awake better than Nudge. Fang walked back over to the couch, turned off the laptop, then got as comfortable as he could and tried to fall asleep. He only ever got halfway there, though...

HP, Chapter 12

Albus woke up in the chair he had fallen asleep in. He hadn't felt tired at all... He had just...fallen asleep. He stretched then looked around. There was no one else in the Common room, and the fire was out. Albus glanced down at his watch and noted it was time for breakfast, which was probably why no one was in the Common room... Albus got up slowly. He wasn't in any hurry. He knew that by going through the day like nothing was wrong would be a lie... But he knew he had to.

Albus entered the Great Hall and sighed. Only two people were missing from the teacher's table. Hagrid and Professor Longbottom. Albus slumped over to the Griffindor table and slid into the seat next to James.

"Hey, little brother." James said, smiling at him. Albus nodded and took a waffle off a nearby plate and plopped it onto his own. "How'd you sleep?" James asked, trying to start up a conversation. Albus merely shrugged again while poking at his waffle.

"Hey, Albus!" Albus swallowed hard and turned in his seat to see pale little Scorpio Malfoy standing behind him, wearing a small smile.

"Oh, hello, Scorpio..." Albus said slowly while looking away.

"Um, where's Andrea?" Scorpio asked, looking around the Griffindor table. Albus reviewed the story in his head before answering.

"She tripped on a root that she didn't see and scratched herself up REALLY badly. She's in the hospital wing right now, but there's a curtain around her bed because her face is all scratched up and she's kinda embarrassed about how it looks, so you probably shouldn't go see her."

"I don't care how she looks, I just want to talk to her." Scorpio replied. Albus couldn't tell if Scorpio bought the story or not.

"Well, she's not in the best shape for talking if you ask me." James interjected. "Right, Sam?"

Samantha stopped chewing her bacon and glared at him.

"Right..." Albus said, looking slowly away from Samantha.

"Why isn't she in the best shape for talking?" Asked Scorpio. He evidently hadn't bought the story, Albus decided. Albus opened his mouth to reply when the owls all flew in, soaring over the heads of the students.

"Look! Mum and dad must have sent us a letter, Derek!" Holly cried, looking up. A auburn colored owl swooped down and dropped a letter and a small package in between Holly and Derek. Holly picked them up gingerly and handed the letter to Derek. It had his name on it. The package had Holly's name on it. Albus turned to watch as Holly opened the package. Anything to use as an excuse to look away from Scorpio was good for him.

"Oh!" Holly exclaimed, an excited smile appearing on her face. She pulled out a piece of thin rope that was tied at the back to make it a circle. Holly put it around her neck and looked at the small medallion hanging off of it.

"That's a pretty cool necklace, Holly. Did your mom or dad get it?" Asked Samantha with a smile. Holly pulled a small note out of the box the necklace was in and read it.

"It's from mum." She said softly. "Says it's a charm to keep the nargles away." Holly smiled and fingered the charm fondly. "I've been wanting one for ages."

Derek shook his head while all of the others stared at her like she was insane.

"I'll see you later, Albus." Scorpio said softly as he turned and walked away. Albus sighed and James thumped him on the back.

"Good job, Albus! That just about sounded like a true story!" James said more loudly than Albus would have liked.

"Yeah, brilliant job of LYING." Samantha said, glaring in Albus's direction.

"I don't feel good about it, all right?" Albus said glumly, looking down at his food. He had suddenly lost the little bit of appetite he had left...