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Chapter Text

Secrets are always a good way to protect a family. The Lupin’s had known this for years. They had become convincing liars out of necessity. Conversations with non-family members were delicate steps around the truth– carefully rehearsed and perfectly executed.

"No one needed to know our truth,”.

Well, that's what Lyall and Hope told their children. Romina had watched from a young age as her parents had quietly severed ties with close friends, all to protect her brother Remus’ secret. The fact of the matter was simple: Remus was a werewolf. In a world where werewolves were seen and treated as filth- feared and hated-, secrecy was the Lupin's greatest shield. Romina learned this early on and became very good at keeping quiet-even about her own truths.

Chapter Text

The sea breeze cooled Romina’s room, stirring the cream curtains that framed her windows. The sunrise hit Romina square in the eye, pulling her from her sleep. She groaned, rubbed her eyes and rolled over to watch the ceiling before she got up. The clean clothes that she hadn’t packed in her trunk were now thrown across the floor as Romina had been too lazy to put them away the previous night. A quiet rap at the door from her mother forced her out of the warmth of her bed.

“Morning Mina,” Hope said as she walked into Romina’s room.

Hope went straight to Romina’s trunk, muttering a check list to herself. Romina rolled her eyes at her mother’s behaviour.

“I used the checklist you made me,” Romina mumbled through a yawn. “I haven’t forgotten anything,”

“I’m just checking. Your brother had forgotten to pack socks,” Hope replied, giving Romina an affection rub on the back. “Come down for breakfast soon,” Hope left, shutting the door on her way out. Romina dressed herself before making her way down stairs.

The Lupin's cottage sat on the Welsh cliffsides, far from the nearest seaside town- so no one would hear Remus on a full moon. The cottage was the first to see any storms rolling in from sea. The weathered brown brick and white-trimmed windows that decorated the exterior. The floral wallpaper that adorned the hallways, which were warmly lit by vintage lamps Hope had collected over the years. The wooden floorboards that creaked under each step- a sound that had always gotten Romina in trouble when she was young and used to sneak out of bed. Lavender candles sat upon every bookshelf, table, countertop. Lyall had read about the calming properties lavender can have, and decided to make his home smell like a lavender field. This was the longest they had ever stayed in one place. They moved every time someone got suspicious of Remus.

At the dining table Lyall sat reading ‘The Daily Prophet’ with his glasses perched on his nose. He was wearing his pyjamas and slippers.

“Morning Honey,” Lyall said, not looking up from the paper.

Lyall had called Romina ‘Honey’ for as long as she can remember. He said it was because she used to eat honey straight out of the tub.

“Morning Dad. Sleep well?” Romina asked with her head buried in the fridge.

“Yes, thank you. What about you?”

Romina poked her head out from behind the fridge to look at her father. “It was fine,”

“Weren’t you up super late because you forgot to do your astronomy homework?” Remus asked as he came out of the living room in his drabby sweater that he’s now too big for.

Lyall looked through his glass at the twins. Romina shot Remus with a look of warning.

“Astronomy isn’t important like the other subjects.” She brushed it off , “Anyway look how delicious my breakfast looks,” Romina quickly changed the subject to her father who gave a tight lip smile.

“Try and pay more attention to Astronomy. Don’t you want good results?” Lyall said, taking a sip of his tea.

Of course Romina wanted good results. She studied hard– consistently. Astronomy was just difficult for her. She could never see the constellations like everyone else could. She was starting to believe it was one big prank on her that everyone was in on.

“Aren’t you going to scare them into doing well in their O.W.L.s?” Hope quizzed as she entered the kitchen, eyebrows raised at husband.

Lyall watched to see if she was joking. When Hope’s face didn’t show any sign of playfulness. Lyall sighed and folded his newspaper. Romina and Remus looked at each other but quickly looked away because they both knew they were about to burst out laughing.

“Your O.W.L.S are very important as I'm sure you know. As a prefect Remus I expect you to behave a little better this year, less detentions, that I know are caused by that James Potter and Sirius Black,”

Remus nodded his head while biting his lip. It was obvious their father was doing this on behalf of their mother.

“Honey,” Lyall started turning to Romina “You may not be prefect BUT I’m sure Lily will keep you from causing any kind of trouble. I do not and I repeat do not want a repeat of last year,” Lyall warned.

Romina nodded her head desperately suppressing a giggle. In the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam last year Romina had sneezed mid spell and sent her professor flying across the room. She was never going to tell her parents what happened but unfortunately for her Professor McGonagall sent a letter home.

The sun had reached above the horizon emitting a gentle glow into the cottage indicating it was time to head to London. The family always drove to King’s Cross Station as Hope wanted to say goodbye as late as possible. The twins didn’t mind when they were young. But now, they just wanted to sleep in just that little bit longer. Romina and Remus read their muggle books all the way. Not even a glance out of the window at the scenery. They had seen it all before.

King’s Cross was as busy as always. Muggles wearing beige would brush past without so much as a glance, their eyes fixed on magazines, newspapers, the dirty floor, anything but the people around them. Romina always felt invisible on this side of the platform. The air was stale and hot. Whistles blew and trains hissed.

“I’ll miss you so much,” Hope whispered as she pulled her children in for a tight hug. “Please don’t do anything stupid,”

“When have we ever?” Romina sassed as she hugged back.

“Yeah, we are always so well behaved,” Remus added.

Hope gave a small chuckle as she rested her hands on their cheeks.

“Darling they are going to miss the train if we do not leave now,” Lyall stated from behind his wife.

Hope gave one last look before she dropped her hand. The twins waved goodbye before they followed their father through to platform 9 ¾ . This side of the platform glowed. The light that slipped through the windows illuminated the train. Wizards and witches alike lively chatted away before hugging their goodbyes. After they dropped the trunks off they watched as their father got stuck in a conversation with someone he went to school with.

Romina waved to people as they called her name, people in all different years and houses. Unlike her brother Romina stood out. When she first started school she had made friends with literally everyone–even the ghosts in her first week. The whistle blew and Lyall jumped out of his skin. He quickly hugged his goodbyes before the twins got on the train. Romina was left alone as Remus had gone to complete his prefect duties. She walked the length of carriage trying to find her friends when she heard her name.

“Goldie!”

Chapter Text

Romina knew that smooth, teasing voice all too well. It belonged to the one and only Sirius Black. He had called her ‘Goldie’ since second year, when Peter made an off-handed comment about how her wavy blonde hair made her look like Goldilocks. Sirius had latched onto the nickname with a winning smirk. Romina spun around to meet his stormy grey eyes and sure enough there he was with his signature smirk.

“Hey Sirius,” Romina greeted, coolly crossing her arms. “How are y-,”

Before she could finish Sirius grabbed her arm dragging her into his compartment. James and Peter sat next to the window sharing chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes. They had all grown taller over the summer. James’s hair was still a mess, sticking up in every direction. Peter had grown his hair out to try and match James.

“You could have just asked, you know? No need to drag me,” Romina told Sirius as she sat down next to Peter.

“Where’s the fun in that?” He grinned sliding next to James.

Romina rolled her eyes before she turned towards James and Peter.

“Anyway, how are you guys?” Romina asked with curiosity.

Peter replied with what Romina believed to be “I’m good,” but he had a mouthful of cauldron cakes in his mouth. James and Sirius shook their heads with mild disgust.

“I’m good, but I am a little annoyed that Remus got the role of prefect,” James admitted with a sigh.

“With the 187 detentions you got last year, did you really think you’d get it?” Romina questioned with a raised brow.

James’ jaw hung open. “What? You counted!”

Sirius and Peter laughed at their friend's look of bewilderment.

“I didn’t count,” she said casually. “Marlene did,”. The tally hung next to her bed all year, and she only did it at request of Lily so she could prove how immature James and Sirius were.

“You only want it now because Evans is prefect,” Sirius said while looking at the passing trees.

“Well obviously," James defended in a high-pitched voice.

A small chuckle slipped out of Peter’s mouth. Romina and Sirius gave each other a look of confusion at James’ new found pitch. He gave a deep cough.

“Well obviously,” He said again with a much deeper tone.

Romina decided that she’d had enough of watching all of the different voices James’ could do. “I’d love to stay and watch… whatever that was but I'm going to catch up with Alice and Marlene,”

“Already?” Sirius jumped up as she opened the door.

Romina turned back, smirking. “Aww, don’t worry you’ll see me soon,” she spoke in a low teasing tone before heading down the carriage. James and Peter sent knowing looks while Sirius sat back down.

Romina spotted Alice and Marlene in the last compartment of the train carriage. Alice was braiding Marlene’s hair while Marlene talked her ear off.

“I never thought I would get- Well look who finally decided to arrive,” Marlene chatted as Romina laid across the cushioned seats.

“Did you miss me?” She teased with a wink.

“Of course I missed you,” Alice said with a smile. Her cheeks flashed their usual rosy colour.

“… Not really,” Marlene shrugged.

Romina furrowed her brows.

“Only joking!” Marlene laughed, “How could I not miss you?”

Marlene and Romina had met on the train in their first year. Back then Marlene had an unevenly cut fringe with sweets stuck in her curls. The pair hit it off instantly. Poor Remus was stuck in the same compartment as the pair as they excitedly chatted about their lives. They both met Alice and Lily later that night at the Gryffindor table after the sorting ceremony. Alice had longer hair back then but still the same rosy cheeks she has now.

“You look tanner Romina,” Alice noticed as she finished Marlene’s hair.

“Yeah I spent most days reading outside,” Romina stated as she looked at her arm. “It’ll be back to pale in a month or so,”

The door opened and the girls watched as Lily walked in. Her long deep red hair flowed down to her waist. Her green eyes that held a certain warmth for her friends. She had collected more freckles over the summer. Last year on the way to Hogwarts, Romina had joked that every time she rejected James she gained a new one. Lily didn’t seem to think it was as funny as Marlene and Romina.

“Sorry I couldn’t come earlier, I was held up,” She said with a slight huff.

Romina quickly stood to hug her friend who she hadn’t seen for weeks.

“I missed you guys,” Lily spoke in her sweet song-like voice.

“Yeah, yeah, we missed you too,” Marlene brushed her off. “Now that we’re all here. I have news,”

Alice, Lily and Romina looked at her eagerly. Marlene watched as her friends sat on the edge of their seats.

“I overheard Henry Inkwell getting told by his dad that he has to man up and ask out a certain girl he fancies,”

“Who?” Lily asked.

Marlene’s grin widened “None other than Romina Lupin,”

The girls' heads twisted to Romina. Romina just stared wide eyed at Marlene.

Romina knew Henry, he was a Slytherin in the same year. She gave him waves and sweet smiles when he would greet her. He floated around the Slytherin groups, sometimes with Dorcas Meadows and Delancey Vinson, sometimes with Mulciber, Avery, Snape, Rosier. The girls began chatting about how cute they would be together. She began to tune them out and watched the mountains flying past. She definitely wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, especially one she didn’t know.

The conversation died down as the sky got darker. The train rocked Romina to sleep, and when she woke, they had arrived at Hogsmeade Station. The girls clambered off the train and waited for Lily to direct the first years towards the boats. Romina monitored the station in hopes of spotting Dorcas or Delancey and asking them about Henry. Just so they could nudge him away from any ideas of asking her out. Unfortunately she made eye-contact with Bellona Nox.

Bellona was a Ravenclaw who was in the same year as Romina and had never forgiven her for an accident that happened in first year. In flying lessons Romina was unable to control her broom properly and she ended up slamming into Bellona, knocking Bellona off her broom. Bellona ended up breaking her arm and had to spend a night in the hospital wing. Romina apologised a million times before she came to the conclusion that Bellona will forever hate her.

“If it isn’t Loony Lupin number one ,” Bellona sneered with a haunting smile. “Where’s the other Loony Lupin?”

Her shiny black hair was pinned back with a velvet headband. She had hazel eyes that seemed to pierce your soul. Her skin was perfect- like glass, and her nose was shaped perfectly.

Romina rolled her eyes. Was this really how Bellona wanted to start the year? “What’s your problem?,”

Bellona slightly tilted her head, “You. Though I can understand why you struggled to pick up on that,”

“You should work on your insults. They’re getting boring,” Romina advised. Her voice was dry as she stood her ground.

She lingered, staring Alice and Marlene down. Then she barged past hitting Romina’s shoulder. Her only friend Dahlia Whitmore followed behind cackling to herself. Alice gave Romina’s arm a soft rub.

“She’s a right foul slag,” Marlene stated, sending glares to the back of her head.

The girls' names were called. They spun around to find Lily waving them over as she walked off the platform over to the carriages.

The carriage wheels creaked as it rolled over the uneven path towards the castle. The sunlight had long faded behind the mountains leaving the moon and stars to cast a silvery glow across the lake. Romina gazed out the window towards the trees looming in the distance, the soft rustle of the leaves as they danced in the wind filling the silence. Hogwarts emerged more clearly as the carriage climbed the final bend. Its towers reached the heights of the sky. Windows flickered with candle light. The buzzing feeling in Romina’s chest was all so familiar and warm.

Laughter was escaping the girls' mouths as they reached the castle steps, Marlene had been doing her impression of Professor McGonagall. With her voice clipped and precise, eyebrows arched high, she jabbed a finger sternly toward Alice’s face. Alice dissolved in a fit of giggles. Lily had to hold her arm and help her up the stairs. As the girls made their way up the stone steps the wind cut across their skin sending goosebumps along their skin. Their laughter echoed faintly across the entrance hall. They reached The Great Hall and Romina instinctively looked up at the enchanted roof. Each candle flickering a golden hue. The moon and stars glimmering exactly how they were outside the walls of the castle. She may have hated astronomy but she couldn’t deny how pretty the stars were. The girls slid into their seats at the Gryffindor table and waited for the feast. Romina could hear her stomach grumbling with desperation. Roast potatoes, treacle tart, pumpkin juice was all she could think of.

She didn’t notice anyone sitting beside her until they spoke.

“Hey, how was your ride up?” The familiar voice asked.

Romina snapped her head to the left at record speed. Her brother sat with a soft smile awaiting her answer.

“Um–sorry, yeah, it was good. How was prefecting? Have you had to use your powers for good yet?” Romina asked with a crooked grin.

A chuckle slipped from Remus’s lips, “I believe there are pranks planned that may involve my prefect badge. I’m going to try and discourage them,” he whispered out of the corners of his mouth.

Romina let out a soft giggle. “I don’t think you’ll be able to discourage James and Sirius. They don’t back down easily. You might be the next victim otherwise,”

“Yeah Sirius has this idea where everyone's voice’s get switched with someone random,” Remus said with a smile that bared all his teeth before it dropped, “Don’t worry it wears off , eventually,”

A cackle came out of Romina’s mouth as she imagined how badly it could end. “That would actually be hilarious. Imagine poor Lily getting stuck with James’s voice,”

The twins giggled to themselves as they suggested absurd voice-swap combinations: McGonagall and Marlene, Peter and Dumbledore, Sirius and Alice.

Across the table Sirius watched them, their heads bent together in quiet conversation. Glancing at people, whispering and then giggling. Sirius’s chest tightens. They were twins, he knew that. They understood each other like no one else could. He understood that. But a nagging feeling tugged at him. Secrets usually didn't bother him.

The Great Hall’s doors opened wide and the chatter died. Professor McGonagall strided down the hall with the first years trailing behind her. A long line of anticipation and fear ridden faces. Their gaze travelled around the hall with jaws hanging open. Many of them nearly fell over their robes as their eyes had landed on the ceiling. Romina smiled softly to herself, she remembers her first night all so well. A mixture of nerves and excitement that bubbled in her chest. She watched as the children were called and sorted, cheering for those who were sorted into Gryffindor.

“Minks, Izetta,” McGonagall called from the parchment.

A small girl with long dark hair and pale skin made her way up the stairs towards the centuries old hat. Romina rubbed her eyes. She was a miniature Delancey.

“Isn’t that Delancey’s niece?” Alice whispered into Romina’s ear.

Romina nodded her head. “Yeah… but they could pass as sisters,”

The hat barely grazed Izetta’s head before it called out ‘Hufflepuff!’. Izetta practically threw herself towards the Hufflepuff table with a huge smile plastered across her face. Romina flicked over towards the Slytherin table to find Delancey sitting rigid, arms crossed, her stare locked on the Hufflepuff table where Izetta sat.

McGonagall called the last name and the sorting hat gave its last shout, concluding the sorting ceremony. Dumbledore raised from his chair, his beard and robes dragging on the floor. A hush swept over the hall.

“Welcome,” Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling behind his glasses. “Welcome to our new first years and welcome back to those who already call this castle home. Another magical year awaits us that I’m sure will be filled with whimsy, adventure, and…mischief,” He sent a wink towards James, Sirius, Peter and Remus. The boys straightened while trying to suppress their smiles.

“The Forbidden Forest as always remains forbidden. Mr Filch has also asked me to remind you that magic in the corridors is strictly prohibited and will earn you a detention if you engage in such behaviours. And once again we have a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher after an unfortunate accident involving some… overenthusiastic spell work,” Dumbledore’s eyes met Romina.

Romina went wide-eyed. She did not expect Dumbledore to announce it to the whole school. Her friends slowly turned their heads with amused grins growing on their faces.

“Please welcome Professor Silas Grimshaw,” Dumbledore announced, gesturing towards a very short, very angry looking old man who was just visible over the staff table.

“Is he even standing?” Peter muttered to James.

James choked on air at Peter’s comment and earned death glares from Lily. Professor Grimshaw sat back down and the students noticed how his feet didn’t touch the floor.

“His feet don’t even touch the ground,” Sirius noticed with an assumed huff.

“That’s enough of me, dig in,” Dumbledore finished.

At his words the four tables were lined with a feast fit for a giant. Platters of roasts, bowls of potatoes, plates of pies. Everyone started to grab food for their plates. The smell of the warm roast was heavenly. Lively chatter was filling the hall, everyone talking over one another. By the end Romina didn’t think she’d need breakfast.

“I feel pregnant,” Marlene mumbled, rubbing her stomach before she loudly burped.

Lily shook her head in dismay. “What do you say?”

“Excuse me,” Marlene mockingly chirped.

Older students started to head towards bed, Romina included. The girls waved Lily off as her and Remus guided the first years to the common room. Marlene groaned as she held her stomach walking up the stairs. Romina’s eyes fluttered as she entered the common room. All she wanted was to curl up in the sheets of her bed. Romina was nearly asleep when Lily came bursting through the room.

“That arrogant toe-rag!” Lily shouted.

She was fuming. Her face matched the red of her hair. Fists clenching and her brows furrowed. Marlene yawned as she watched Lily angrily rummage through her belongings.

“What’d… he do this time?” Marlene asked in the middle of her yawn. She was a few yawns from falling asleep.

“We haven’t even been here for four hours and he already has started being arrogant and making comments,” Lily complained, throwing her hands around. “Have I not made my feelings clear enough?”

“What was he saying?” Alice asked with a sympathetic smile.

A snore came from the corner bed. Marlene was out cold.

“Something about being Quidditch captain now and how I’ll have to go out with him now,” Lily huffed.

Romina laughed. “You have to admit he’s got resilience. Most guys would’ve given up with this much rejection,”

“Well I wish he would,” She snapped “Why doesn’t he go for the girls that kiss the ground he walks on? The ones that swoon when he sends them a wink in the corridors,”

“It’s best not to dwell on it. You don’t want to go to bed angry,” Alice advised, climbing into bed.

The room fell silent as the girls began drifting off settling into another year.

Chapter Text

Sunlight slipped through the windows of the girls' dormitory casting a warm, sleepy yellow haze across the room. There was a soft chirp as the birds flew past the tower. Romina’s eyes fluttered to the sound of someone shuffling around the room.

Lily was fully dressed, packing her books into her bag.

“Go back to bed,” Marlene groaned, face buried in her pillow.

“It’s time to get up. You’ll be late otherwise,” Lily said, putting her wand through her bun.

A pillow was thrown at Lily, but missed completely. “No.”

Alice walked out of the bathroom, toothbrush in her mouth watching the chaos. Romina carelessly threw the sheets off and began getting ready. A fight about ‘the importance of education,’ was ensuing between Marlene and Lily. The arguing was becoming unbearable. The back and forth between them was gaining volume. Alice calmly tried to get Marlene out of bed. No use. Marlene gave Alice a gentle push.

Romina grabbed her wand and muttered, “Baubillious”.

White sparks flew out the end of her wand hitting Marlene in the back. She jolted out of bed.

“What was that for?” she exclaimed, angrily.

“You weren’t getting out of bed and I was sick of the argument,” Romina answered, dusting off her skirt.

Marlene grumbled to herself, rubbing her back while heading to the bathroom.

The group made their way to The Great Hall to find most students already there, including the boys.

“You know they call themselves the ‘Marauders’,” Marlene teased with a sly smirk.

“Don’t even get me started,” Romina replied, laughing.

The smell of breakfast made Marlene practically drool. Romina dropped her bag with the girls before making her way further up the table for her usual morning talks with her brother. She was stopped several times by her peers.

“Hey Romina, how was your summer?” Mary McDonald had asked.

Mary was a beautiful sixth year with a heart made of gold. She lived close to Remus and Romina and they often saw each other down by the sea.

“It was good. How was your summer? I saw you hang around that muggle boy, Billy, a lot,” Romina grinned.

Mary’s cheeks flushed a hot pink. “It was great. Billy is such a sweetie but it’s just a summer fling,”

They chatted a bit more before Mary had to meet her friends. Romina continued up the table and sent friendly nods and sweet smiles to everyone who said hello. Finally, she reached her brother and dropped to the seat next to Sirius with a huff.

“Did you say hello to enough people?” Peter asked, while shoving a crumpet in his mouth.

Remus let out a chuckle from behind his book, but was sent dirty looks by his twin.

“No,” She replied dryly, stealing a slice of Sirius’s toast “I still haven’t said hello to the ghosts.”

Sirius sent her a disapproving look and tried to snatch his slice of toast back. Romina lifted her arm out of his reach.

“Give that back,” Sirius demanded, reaching over grabbing her arm.

“No, bugger off,” Romina laughed, as she struggled to get her arm back.

“You’re a thief,” Sirius declared with a smile, as he grabbed what was left of his toast. “What do you want? Because I’m assuming it’s not just to steal toast.”

“I just came to congratulate James on being selected as Quidditch captain,” Romina said with a smile.

“Thank you,” James said with a huge grin, “Can you tell Marlene she has to come to tryouts this Saturday, it’s very important that she’s there.”

“Only if you can do something for me,” Romina bargained.

James leaned in. Romina yanked his ear so hard his glasses slipped down his face.

“You need to stop bothering Lily,” She hissed, “She’s not going to go out with you. Especially if you continue being a massive prat. So leave her alone.”

Before James could reply, McGonagall had walked over.

“Miss Lupin,” She addressed sternly. Romina dropped James’ ear like a hot potato. “I hope there is a good reason as to why you are pulling on Mister Potter’s ear.”

“He was a massive prat last night,” Romina replied, casually.

The boys struggled to contain their laughter.

McGonagall pursed her lips and arched her brows. “Perhaps next time, we use our words, not force.”

She handed them their timetables and moved on. Romina knew she had to go give praise to Marlene because her impression last night was spot on. She returned to her usual spot with the girls. She was actually somewhat excited for the day. History of Magic, Ancient Runes, double Potions and ended with double Defence Against the Dark Arts.

“Today’s timetable is actually okay,” Romina said with a smile as she sat down next to Alice.

“Yeah but then look at tomorrow. Everything is doubled. Double Transfiguration, double Herbology, and finishing with double Charms. That has to be illegal” Marlene groaned, dramatically dropping her head to the table.

Lily gave her back a quick rub. “You’ll live.”

Marlene popped her head up. “No I won’t. When I saw my sisters, Elowen and Mallory in the summer they said fifth year is the hardest. The teachers give so much homework to prepare us for the O.W.L.s.”

“That’s a good thing,” Lily argued, “We need to do well.”

The girls finished their breakfast and headed towards Professor Binns’ room. Marlene was ranking the best positions to fall asleep on your desk. According to her the best position was using your arms as the pillow. Lily shook her head with a suppressed smile.

They came in and sat at their usual tables off to the side. Some Hufflepuff students were already seated with their quills out. Romina liked when they didn’t have class with Slytherin because it meant she could sit next to Lily without Severus Snape sending her looks. Not that she didn’t like Snape, she didn’t mind him–in small doses–but whenever she sat next to Lily in class he would send her the evil eye and then complain to Lily later.

The last couple of people came through the door, including James, Sirius, Remus and Peter who were loudly chatting about Quidditch and whatnot.

Professor Binns began his lesson on the Giant wars. Marlene was dropping her head down before she shot back up-she was already sleepy. It always amazed Romina on how Professor Binns died in the staff room but still continued to teach. Would you not just want a break? Wouldn’t you want to enjoy being a Ghost?

Marlene leant backwards on her chair whispering in Romina’s ear, “If I were a ghost you best believe I’d haunt everyone who’s wronged me. Filch, Nox, and especially Dorcas Meadows,”

A huff of air escaped Romina’s lips. “I understand Filch and Nox but I still don’t know why you hate Dorcas. You’re acting a lot like Nox.”

Marlene dropped the chair back to all fours. She whipped her head around and had a look of disdain. “How can you say that? I am nothing like her.”

“Firstly you both have to stop talking. Secondly Marlene it happened in first year. Dorcas apologised," Lily hissed, before she continued writing the notes.

In first year Dorcas spread a rumour that Marlene’s real name was Sugar Plum McKinnon. It spread through the school like wildfire. Safe to say Marlene has never gotten over it.

“People called me Sugar Plum Fairy for a whole year. A WHOLE YEAR,” Marlene whisper-shouted the last sentence.

“It’s okay, no one even remembers,” Alice said with a gentle sigh.

“I remember,” Marlene huffed, crossing her arms.

Lily shook her head while writing notes. Marlene didn’t speak for the rest of class. She only groaned when Professor Binns set an essay on the Giant wars for homework.

The corridors were bustling full of students travelling to class. Loud chatter echoed down the corridors making it hard to hear your thoughts. The girls parted ways, Alice and Marlene heading to Divination while Lily and Romina headed to Ancient Runes. Romina grabbed Lily’s hand as they swerved between a group of second years who were walking ever-so slowly. They were climbing the stairs to the sixth floor when Lily slowed.

“Hey, I heard what you said to Potter this morning and I just wanted to thank you,” Lily started. “It meant a lot.”

Romina raised her brow, “Didn’t realise you were watching.”

“It’s hard not to when you yank his ear down in the middle of breakfast,” Lily said, the corners of her mouth curling.

Romina gave a smile, “That’s fair.”

They walked in sync as they climbed the last set of stairs.

“I know I don’t say it often but I’m extremely grateful for you,” Lily said, in a soft voice. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Romina glanced sideways. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’d probably be in detention a bit more,” Lily joked, with a smile that bared all her teeth.

Romina let out a laugh and playfully pushed her away. Lily stumbled away dramatically. They fell into a fit of giggles as they reached the classroom. Ancient Runes was a small class of about ten students. Lily and Romina were last to walk through the door. They went to their table in front of Delancey and Dorcas. Sending warm smiles as they got their equipment out.

“Hey Lily,” Dorcas whispered.

Lily turned her head at the call of her name.

“Congratulations on getting prefect. You deserve it. It’s not easy to keep the Gryffindors in check,” Dorcas said.

A smile grew on Lily’s face. “Thank you, Dorcas. It means a lot.”

“What do you mean ‘keeping the Gryffindor’s in check’? We don’t need to be kept in check” Romina said, with furrowed brows.

A laugh came from Lily. “Oh really? Because last year you and Marlene tried tampering with the bathroom sinks to spray water at Bellona and Dahlia.”

“You shouldn’t have stopped them,” Delancey chimed in, “Those two are foul.”

“They are,” Lily agreed, “but I’m not having Marlene and Romina in detention for it. We’ll just have to wait for them to get what’s coming.”

“Honestly, she pushes my buttons so much I’d pay a hundred Gallons to Potter and Black just for them to prank her,” Delancey admitted, with a wicked smile.

Romina was glad Delancey was feeling better after the sorting ceremony. Her nieces and nephew held a special place in her heart. Since her sister Elma died earlier last year, Delancey had been doing her best to keep the children close to her. Their muggle father, however, was trying to keep them from her using the excuse of ‘she’s evil,’. Despite his twisted lies, Delancey never surrendered and Romina admired her greatly for it.

“Maybe every time she wants to insult someone it comes out as a frog croak,” Lily said, while writing notes.

Romina laughed, throwing her head back, “That was a little evil, Lily.”

Lily turned her head to look at Romina, "Well then she shouldn’t insult my friends.”

She had a wicked look in her eyes like she had actually imagined Bellona croaking in front of the whole school.

Homework had been given at the end of the hour. Stress levels were already rising in Lily. Romina knew why, Lily felt that because she was a muggle-born, she had to prove herself to everyone. She was aiming for a near perfect O.W.L score.

Romina gave her a rub on the back, “Stop stressing. It’s the first day back.”

“How did you know I'm stressed? I thought I hid it well?” Lily questioned, her brows raising as they walked down to the dungeons for Potions.

A soft laugh came from Romina, “Oh, you don’t hide it well at all. Your left eye twitches at like a million beats a minute.”

“It’s just… I can’t mess up. They’re waiting for me to screw up,” Lily whispered, looking at the ground.

She knew who Lily was referring to. The aspiring Death Eaters in their year; Avery, Mucliber, Wilkes, Rosier and Rowle. They sent venomous glares and poison laced words whenever Lily walked past. Lily knew she had to beat them.

“I know, but don’t worry you’ll get that near perfect score. I can feel it,” Romina reassured, giving Lily a tight side hug.

They arrived at Slughorn’s classroom to find he had not arrived yet.

“Lily! Romina!” Alice called, waving them over.

Goodbyes were sent to Dorcas and Delancey as they made their way to Alice and Marlene. Goosebumps were slowly rising on the students' skin. Romina’s hair prickled at the back of her neck. She looked around wondering where Slughorn was when she made eye contact with Henry Inkwell. He had dark skin and curly black hair. His eyes were a pale blue that you couldn’t not stare into. He stood with Avery, Snape and Mulciber, but he seemed different from them-he was on the outside. Henry sent Romina a polite smile with a small wave. Romina was about to return the smile when Slughorn showed up.

Both houses filtered into the classroom. The girls snagged their usual table, thanks to Marlene running for it. Romina was highly skilled at Potions but had a love-hate relationship with the subject. Some days she thoroughly enjoyed coming to the dungeons, other days she would love nothing more than burning her Potions textbook in the common room fireplace.

“Welcome, welcome,” Slughorn said, his voice warm and theatrical. “Come, sit down. Now, I feel obliged to mention your O.W.L exams that are coming this June. They’ll be challenging, but if you put in the hard work your results will be more than satisfactory. In fact, for many of you I expect the highest results.”

Most students straightened upright at the mention of the O.W.L exams.

“Today we will be brewing a Draught of Peace, can anyone tell me what the Draught of Peace is?” Slughorn asked the class.

Lily shot her hand straight up.

“Miss Evans.”

“The Draught of Peace is a potion used to relieve anxiety and agitation,” Lily answered.

“Excellent, five points to Gryffindor,” Slughorn said with a smile.

The girls held their hands out under the table for Lily to high-five. Every time she got them house points they’d do this–just tradition.

“And what are the ingredients of a Draught of Peace potion?” Slughorn asked, speaking with his hands.

Lily shot her hand straight up again. Henry also put his hand up, but much less eager than Lily.

“Mister Inkwell.”

A huff came from beside Romina as Lily dropped her hand.

“Powdered moonstone, powdered porcupine quills, powdered unicorn horn, and syrup of hellebore” Henry answered, lazily.

“Excellent, excellent, five points to Slytherin,” Slughorn said, cheerfully.

A smile flashed across Henry’s face. He caught Romina’s eye and sent a wink her way. She blinked, not knowing whether to smile or turn away. She chose the latter.

“Why does he get two excellents?” Lily murmured.

With a flick of his wand the instructions on brewing appeared across the board. Poor Alice squinted, trying to make them out.

“We must be very careful with the Draught of Peace. A heavy hand with the ingredients will send the drinker into a heavy or irreversible sleep,” Slughorn warned, as he walked in circles around the tables.

A yawn slipped from Marlene as she stirred her potion. Lily was hyper-focused on her potion. She had convinced herself that she was competing with Henry. The grip on her ladle was turning her knuckles white. Alice had messed up her potion and had to restart. There was a deafening blast from the other side of the class followed by a pungent smell of rotting eggs. Romina whipped her head around followed by Lily, Marlene and Alice.

A dusty pink sticky residue was on Peter’s face. Remus forced down his laughter as he grabbed a cloth for Peter and wiped his eyes for him. Unlike Remus, Sirius and James couldn’t hold back their laughter. They toppled over one another struggling to breath.

“Merlin’s beard!” Slughorn exclaimed with fervid hand gestures, “How did this happen?”

Much to Slughorn’s dismay, James and Sirius were still wheezing with laughter.

“Instead of a simmer, Peter, here boiled his potion,” Remus explained.

Disappointment was sported over Slughorn’s face. “Right, well boy go clean yourself off.”

After Peter left, the rest of the hour was smooth sailing. The girls had finished their potions and earned full marks. Slughorn set a foot long essay on the importance of the Draught of Peace and dismissed them. On the way to lunch Lily started to schedule when she’d get all her homework done. Marlene was groaning on how much they’d received already.

“Hey McKinnon,” Dorcas greeted, “Are you trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team?”

“None of your business,” Marlene snapped.

Dorcas raised her brows, “Just asking a question. You can calm down.”

Delancey dragged her away, muttering something in her ear.

“What was that? Why is Meadows talking to me? Why does she feel the need to continuously try and make me feel horrible? What an absolute twat,” Marlene scrutinized, glaring over at Dorcas who was laughing at something Delancey said.

“Marls, she just asked if you’re trying out for the Quidditch team,” Alice pointed out, as they sat down. “She’s not this evil person as you make her out to be. She’s actually kind of sweet.”

“She’s evil. I’ll prove it,” Marlene mumbled.

Romina’s eyes were surveying the Slytherin table in search of Henry. Not that she was interested, maybe a little intrigued. How can someone keep the company of Mulciber, Avery and Rosier, and seem completely normal? If Delancey and Dorcas can be friends with him but absolutely hate his friends, what does that mean? Is he a good person who keeps bad people as company or is he awful himself?

Remus strolled in shaking his head. Sirius and James behind him. Sirius was stopped by a Hufflepuff girl Romina recognised to be in the year below.

“Hey Evans,” James began, fluffing up his hair. “Are you having a good time being back?”

“Obviously,” Lily replied, dryly.

“You’d have an even better time if you went out with me,” James smirked as he leaned on the table.

Lily looked over at Alice. “Twelve hours,” Alice said, as she checked her watch.

A laugh came from Marlene. “You’re such a nitwit. You asked her out twelve hours ago. What? You think she’s changed her mind in twelve hours.”

“You’ll get her next time,” Sirius encouraged, pulling James away.

They sat down further down the table all on the same side, watching the Slytherin table.

“Where’s Peter? Surely he was able to clean himself off by now,” Alice wondered as she grabbed a sandwich.

“Considering they’re all looking over at the Slytherin table,” Romina started, nodding to where the boy’s eyes were watching, “I would have to guess Peter is about to do something stupid on behalf of Nitwit One and Nitwit Two,”

“Like what?” Alice asked, in innocence.

“I surmise that we’re abo-,” Romina couldn’t finish her sentence before a scream echoed across the hall.

The girls stood up to see what was happening. There sitting on the Slytherin table was Snape with a duck's beak instead of a nose. James and Sirius were in hysterics for the second time that day. Teachers came rushing over but Snape had run out of the Great Hall. Laughter was erupting from half of the students while the other half stared in silent horror. Lily sent glares over at James but he was too busy wiping tears from his eyes. She jumped to her feet, grabbing her bag and ran after Snape. Alice and Marlene quickly followed. The laughter was dying down and people were continuing on with their lunch break. Peter came trailing in, his face beaming with pride. James and Sirius each gave him a high-five. Grabbing her wand from her bag, Romina made her way towards her brother. Her skin tingled with heat as she got closer. She knew Lily was seething right now. She knew Lily would love nothing more than to yell at James. She sat down next to Peter, bit too close for his comfort

“I’m actually surprised you pulled that off,” Romina stated, twirling her wand in her hand as she stared Peter in the eyes.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Peter reassured, in a thin voice.

“Goldie, you have possibly thought that was Peter,” Sirius laughed, “Did you not see him in Potions?”

Her eyes narrowed. “No, what I saw was the perfect opportunity for Peter to head back to the common room and grab a certain invisibility cloak. Would I be on the right track?”

James squinted his eyes at Romina. His eyes then glazed over to Remus who was looking down at the table. He made a mental note to corner Remus about telling Romina about his cloak.

“What has he ever done to you? Because I’ve racked my brain trying to think of something for years and I’ve continuously come up empty,” Romina was staring James and Sirius down, aiming her wand between the two.

“You mean besides existing?” James said, apathetically.

Sirius moved forward. “You have to admit, Goldie, it was hilarious,”

“Maybe if it was you I’d laugh. In fact… you should watch what you drink, we wouldn't want all your girlfriends to disappear. Now would we?” Romina threatened, with a wink.

Standing up she turned to her brother, “Remus, why didn’t you say anything? These two massive wankers need to be told to leave Snape alone. I don't expect Peter to be able to grow a backbone but Remus, I thought you had one.”

Romina grabbed her bag and stormed out of the hall. She wanted to be friends with James and Sirius, but if they continued to act as immature as they do she knew she'd have to eventually cut the cord.

Remus sat in silence staring at his plate, appetite disappearing. The laughter of his friends sounded like it was miles away. His sister had every right to be upset, it wasn’t a harmless prank. His half-hearted attempts at stopping them could cost him worse than detention.

Chapter Text

Like honestly! What is their problem?” Lily huffed as she stomped down the corridor.

Her sharp steps echoed on the stone floor, arms tightly crossed across her chest. When she reached the end of the corridor, she gave a dramatic twirl before stomping the other way. Marlene and Alice’s eyes watched as she ranted. They were waiting outside the boys bathroom for Snape.

“They are so immature! I’ll be giving both of them detention if McGonagall hasn’t yet,” Lily declared, with another twirl.

“Can McGonagall even give them detention?” Alice asked cautiously.

Lily halted her pacing. “Why wouldn’t she?”

“Well, it’s just… James and Sirius were in her eyeline the whole time. They were sitting at the table, so she doesn’t technically have any evidence that they did anything to Severus,” Alice explained, putting her hand to her lips.

“You may have to stoop to their level. I’m thinking you should release Pixies in their room,” Marlene suggested.

Lily cracked a small smile like she was thinking about it before firmly shaking her head.

“If you don’t I might,” Romina said, coming around the corner. “How is he?”

The girls looked at the door of the boys bathroom.

“He won’t come out. Won’t talk to us,” Lily said with a sigh.

The bell rang over-head. Nervous glances were exchanged; they had to head to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Lily went and knocked on the door, begging him to come out. Silence was all she got in return. Marlene linked arms with Lily and gently pulled her away, leading the way to class.

“What happened after we left?” Marlene asked Romina.

“Well… I told Peter I was surprised he managed to pull it off. He obviously played dumb. I knew that Peter must have had some kind of invisibility charm on,” Romina explained, deliberately leaving out the part of James’s invisibility cloak. “Sirius insisted that Peter didn’t do it-but come on- I saw the praise James and Sirius gave Peter when he showed at the table. I then got mad and threatened Sirius,”

Small laughs erupted from the girls as they walked into class, sitting on the left near the windows.

“What did you threaten him with?” Alice asked, grabbing her books from her bag.

Unfortunately they also had this class with Slytherin and the tables slowly began filling up.

“I told him to watch what he drinks because we wouldn’t want his girlfriends to disappear,” Romina said with a sly smirk.

Lily cracked a smile at Romina but it dropped when James strutted in. Trailing behind in deep conversation was Sirius and Peter. With his head hung low and eyes too the floor Remus had entered. There was no sign of Snape. Lily’s thoughts drifted to him, hoping he made it to Madam Pomfrey.

“Good afternoon,” a deep voice greeted.

Conversations stopped and eyes travelled to the front. Professor Grimshaw stood writing his name on the board. A step stool was needed for him to reach the board. His robes weren’t tailored to his proportions, leaving a long train of velvet green fabric. Marlene bit her lip trying to stop herself from laughing.

“As you know, I am Professor Grimshaw, your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. From what other Professors have told me, I should expect great things from many of you,” Grimshaw said.

He was walking between the tables. Sunlight reflected off his balding head like a freshly polished Snitch. Like Marlene, other students also had trouble getting over his dramatically long robes. Mulciber was making signals to his friends with his fingers inching them closer together. Professor Grimshaw had reached Marlene and Romina’s desk where he stopped.

He turned and looked Romina in the eye. “Miss Lupin. I’ve been told that you apparently have excellent wand work. I just hope your aim has improved over the summer,”

Loud laughs erupted from the other side of class. Henry didn’t laugh though, sending her a tight lip smile with apologetic eyes.

Without thinking Romina replied, “We can test it out if you want, but you might want to get something to soften the blast,”

Her tone was sneering and harsh. She was in no mood to be criticised. Grimshaw who had reached the front spun on his heels.

“That’s detention,”

‘Just great,’ Romina thought. Her head dropped to her hands with a huff. How had she managed to get detention before James and Sirius? First the prank on Snape and now detention- first day back wasn’t going great. The Slytherins emitted small chuckles to themselves. Lily and Alice both gave her a sympathetic look. While Marlene whispered ‘You already got detention might as well just blast him,’.

The double period was dragged on by endless talks of the O.W.L exam and ways to do well. If the word ‘study’ was said once more, Romina thought she might actually fall asleep. Her eyes had drifted out the window to where a group of third-years were in the middle of a Care of Magical Creatures lesson at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

A ball of paper was thrown and landed in the middle of her desk. She opened to find a drawing of Grimshaw being blasted by her. It was an awful drawing really. Well Grimshaw was perfectly drawn, yes, but her… She was depicted with three fingers on her hand. Her eyes were huge and bug-like, with a crooked smile. It was signed with the initials of ‘S.B’. Romina grabbed her quill and wrote ‘You suck at drawing’ before throwing it back.

A minute later it was thrown back, with the words ‘Show me what you can do then’. Romina turned her head to find Sirius was watching her, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. She wasn’t one to back down, so she grabbed her quill, turning every couple of seconds to look at Sirius- she needed it to be perfect. Once finished, she’d thrown back at him hitting him on the nose. Sirius’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Repeatedly slapping James’s arm, he shoved the drawing in his face. Both sent their eyes to watch Romina. To say the drawing was amazing would be an understatement.

“Did you know she could draw like this?” James whispered, still staring at the drawing.

Sirius shook his head running his hands through his hair. “No, but I look amazing,”

While they continued whispering Professor Grimshaw made his way back down the aisle. James and Sirius had not noticed him standing behind them; perhaps they couldn’t see him. A deep hem-hem managed to get their attention. The boys craned their necks to glance at Professor Grimshaw.

“What a beautiful portrait of you Mister Black, however you are disrupting my class,” Grimshaw stated, looking ahead.

“No one even noticed us talking,” Sirius remarked, leaning back in his chair. “You’re disrupting your own class by standing here,”

James bit his lip. He had promised his mother that he wouldn’t get detention on the first day back.

“Quite the attitude you have there, Mister Black,” Grimshaw marvelled, puffing out his chest.

He strolled back to his desk, checking students’ notes along the way.

“I’m glad you like it,” Sirius leaned back in his chair, smirking.

Grimshaw chuckled looking down at his feet. “Mister Black, I have no tolerance for attitude or for students not doing the work. Which is why you now have detention,”

Sirius didn’t seem fazed by the detention. Crossing his arms over his chest, nodding his head.

“Friday afternoon, you and Miss Lupin will be cleaning one of the Greenhouses,” Grimshaw informed with a face like stone.

Class finished soon after. A foot long essay on dark creatures was set. Amazing Romina thought. Elowen and Mallory had been right in advising Marlene of fifth year. Three essays and one reading set in a single day. Romina wouldn’t be surprised if Lily went grey from stress; she might even go grey herself.

“How did you guys feel about Professor Grimshaw?” Alice asked, dreamily.

A shrug came from Marlene. Lily talked about how she learnt a lot in his class but she didn’t like how he spoke to Romina. They headed to the common room for some rest before they started homework while Lily went to find Snape.

The first week passed in the blink of an eye. Each subject had given them copious amounts of homework. It was a struggle for Romina to enjoy her favourite subjects: Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Grimshaw wasn’t making it any easier in his class. He was harsh with his grading and didn’t accept mistakes. Romina felt like she was drowning. She finished what was assigned, only to be given several new essays and readings the next day. Friday had arrived and Romina had been dreading her detention all day. Why couldn’t he just make her write a hundred lines of ‘I will not give my Professor attitude’?

“Maybe it won’t be so bad. Don’t the house-elves clean everyday?” Alice had walked down to the Greenhouses with Romina to keep her company, while Marlene was getting homework help from Lily.

“Do they clean the greenhouses?” Romina wondered, as they reached the Greenhouses.

Evidently, the house-elves did not clean the Greenhouses. The windows were covered in sticky yellow sap so they couldn’t see in. The hinges of the door were loose which swung in the gentlest of wind chills. Inside there were pots thrown askew. Dirt lined the stone floor smelling of old Dragon excrement. Standing waiting by the door was Grimshaw.

“Goldie!,” Sirius called out.

He strutted down the ancient stone steps. His hands were in his pockets. The gentle wind had his hair flowing behind him. Romina rolled her eyes, he was a dear friend but sometimes she thought he was a tad pompous.

“Are you ready to clean this greenhouse?” He asked, clapping his hands together.

“Not at all,” Romina grumbled.

Grimshaw called them over. Alice gave Romina’s arm a brief rub before she headed back to the common room.

“The rules of detention: No wands, no talking, no leaving until the task is finished,” Grimshaw puffed out his chest as he spoke to the pair.

Romina and Sirius rolled their eyes–they had been in detention enough times now to know the rules. With a soft poof all the cleaning supplies appeared.

“I’ll be back in an hour to check your progress,” Grimshaw stated, before walking back up the steps.

Begrudged, Romina entered the greenhouse. It was somehow worse on the inside than it looked from outside. Air thick and stuffy. The smell was overwhelmingly awful, it was obvious it hadn’t been cleaned in years. Romina gagged, holding the bridge of her nose. Sirius started sweeping the dirt, whistling like it was a normal day.
Romina decided to get a start on the windows. She scrubbed and scrubbed but the sticky sap wasn’t coming off as easily as she hoped. Her arms were aching as she scrubbed, but it was like the sap was cursed to stay stuck. Sirius’ eyes kept glancing at the door.

With a tired sign Romina wiped her forehead, only to find Sirius had stopped cleaning,“What? Waiting for someone to save you?” she asked, arching a brow.

“Yes,” Sirius said, with a matter-of-fact tone in his voice.

The door squeaked open. Crossing his arms Sirius watched the hazy air. There were shuffling feet and hushed voices entering the greenhouse. Romina thought she might have been going crazy until she identified one of the voices- Remus.

“Ouch! Peter you stood on my foot,” Remus whined.

In the blink of an eye, James, Remus, and Peter stood at the end of the greenhouse. Of course they used the invisibility cloak. They gave sheepish smiles to Romina who had crossed her arms. If Sirius left with them instead of cleaning, she was going to hex him into next week.

“I seriously hope you’re not about to leave me here to do all the work myself. Because if you are I will hurt you,” Romina warned, inching closer to the four of them with a pointed finger.

Sirius barked with laughter, “Calm down, they’ve come to help,”

Romina eyed the four warily. Peter handed over her wand, while James gave Sirius his.

“How did you get my wand? I left it in my room,” Romina asked, taking it from Peter.

“I asked Marlene to get it while Lily was distracted talking to Mary,” Remus admitted. “We felt bad that you were here alone with Sirius,”

She narrowed her eyes at the four boys. They gave her half-smiles that didn’t help her scepticism.

“I hope you’re not here to steal anything either,” Romina waved her wand at them.

James held his arms up, “We’re just here to help,”

“Otherwise you two would be here until after dinner,” Remus stated, looking around at the mess.

Romina gave the boys a smile. “Well, if you’re here to help, start waving your wands, because it smells like a trolls-armpit in here and it's making me nauseous,”

She directed them around; they all had their own jobs. Sirius was cleaning the floor, James was fixing the door, Remus was repotting the plants while Peter helped with the windows. Within a half hour they were able to completely clean the greenhouse. They were able to see out of the windows again, the door was back on the hinges and no longer squeaked when opened, the planets were beaming with life again, and the floor was sparkling.

“Bloody hell! Grimshaw is headed this way,” Peter squeaked, jumping away from the window.

James yanked out his invisibility cloak and tossed it over the three of them. Romina lobbed her wand to James’s outstretched hand and spun on her heels to inspect a plant. Sirius whistled a tune, broom in hand, sweeping the spotless floor. Grimshaw entered with hands on his hips, eyes scanning the greenhouse. He dragged a finger down the benches, inspecting for dust. Crouching down to peek under the table, like he was looking for something or someone.

“You two work fast,” He said walking around. “A little too fast,”

Shuffling was heard every time he took a step. He held up his head to listen for it. Nerves started flying in Romina’s chest, she couldn’t have them get caught. Grimshaw took a step forward and again heard the shuffling.

“Professor, are we free to go?” Sirius asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Grimshaw slowly turned his head to look at the pair. “You don’t hear that?”

Sirius and Romina held up their heads to try and listen.

“No, I don’t hear anything,” Romina lied. “Maybe you’re just tired from your first week. You should have an early night,” trying to convince him to leave.

Taking another step towards the end of the greenhouse. Grimshaw swiped his arm out a little too hard and fell forward hitting the bench. Jumping out of her skin, Romina rushed over to his aid. When she couldn’t spot any blood she was able to calm down. Sirius tried to gently shake him awake. There was a low murmur in reply. They shook him again in hopes he’d wake. His eyes slowly opened and Romina helped him to a seat.

“Are you alright Professor?” Sirius asked, leaning back. “You should see Madam Pomfrey,”

A subtle nod was all he answered. He let the pair go while he stayed back to nurse his headache. After exiting, they found James, Remus and Peter waiting at the top of the steps. Peter handed back Romina's wand with a smile which she returned.

“He got too close, so Peter tripped him,” James admitted as they headed back. “Ouch! What was that for?”

Romina had slapped James’ chest. “What if he died? Then what?”

“He wasn’t going to die,” James said, with a dismissive wave.

Her eyes narrowed and stared at him, trying to find a trace of guilt or at least some accountability. Nothing.

“Do you four ever think about consequences, or do you not understand what that word means?” She shot, quickening her pace.

She wasn’t waiting for their answer; she needed to get back to the common room before those four did another stupid thing. Romina did not want another detention in the first week, McGonagall would send a letter home. She did not need her parents to worry.

Chapter Text

Rain pattered softly against the common room window. The fire was crackling with warmth, casting an orange hue across the room. Low chatter drifted from scattered groups of Gryffindor students. Scents of cinnamon and orange wafted through the air. Curled up in the armchair by the fire, Romina was absorbed in her book. Marlene paced around the couch while Lily was hunched over, proofreading her essay. From the couch, there was a soft clicking of knitting needles: Alice was making scarves, humming to herself.

Trotting down the stairs, Remus scanned the common room, looking for his twin.

“Can you read this?” he asked with a yawn.

He shoved his parchment in Romina’s face, snapping her out of her book. She raised a brow.

“There’s a word you're missing,” Romina said, putting her book on the table.

“Please can you read this?” he corrected, flopping on the couch next to Alice.

“Of course I can. Thank you for using your manners,” Romina sassed, grabbing the parchment from him.

Remus stared at the ceiling while he waited for the feedback. It seemed the first week had overwhelmed him too. The soft humming from Alice and the warmth of the fire could have put him to sleep.

“Mar,” Lily piped, not looking up. “It’s pretty good, however I’d add a few more lines on the spell's effects,”

A deep groan came from Marlene as she snatched her essay back and stomped off to a table.

“Don’t you have Quidditch trials?” Remus asked, turning to face her.

Marlene shot her head up, wide eyes and her mouth agape. Jumping to her feet she bolted out of the common room. Gathering her books, Lily gave quick goodbyes before she headed to the Library to meet Snape.

“It’s fine,” Romina declared, handing Remus back his parchment.

“As in ‘it’s fine’,” he gave a dreary voice, “Or ‘it’s fine’,” he said, perking up.

“As in, nearly full marks,” Romina replied, already absorbed back in her book, “Just fix your spelling.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, reading over it once more. The soft humming from Alice was making it hard for Remus to get off the couch, so he decided to stay and watch her knit.

A gentle glow of pink shone through the window; it had stopped raining. The crackling of the fire slowed. Alice managed to knit a scarf and a pair of socks for Remus, who was snoring on the couch. Closing her book, Romina glanced out the window to watch the sunset. Stomachs grumbled as the afternoon lingered. It was serene in the common room- until they waltzed in. James and Sirius were loudly chatting about the new Quidditch team. Behind them Marlene entered with Peter. Their noise jolted Remus awake.

“So who is on the team?” Alice questioned, starting another pair of socks.

James and Sirius moved in front of the fire, completely soaked but totally unbothered.

“Well, obviously I am chaser. The other chasers are Marlene and Dirk Cresswell,” James said, pointing at Marlene who gave a wave while heading upstairs. “Beaters; Sturgis and obviously-,” he pointed to Sirius.

“So it’s basically the same team from last year,” Remus interrupted in a mutter, stifling a yawn.

“No. We have a new Seeker and Keeper. Rolland Harrington and Frank Longbottom,” James concluded, crossing his arms.

A flush of pink crept up Alice’s neck nodding her head hearing the team. Frank entered the common room and Alice watched him walk to his dorm. Romina caught it and gave her a playful smirk.

“Wait, Goldie,” Sirius said, turning to her, "Didn't Meadows say she would tell you the outcome of the Slytherin team?” Sirius asked, moving closer to her.

“Yeah, I gave the letter she sent to Peter this morning,” Romina admitted, voice flat.

Peter sank further in the chair, avoiding James and Sirius’s eyes; he had obviously lost the letter. Chuckles emitted from Romina and Remus as they stared at the frustration of James and Sirius. They both crossed their arms and had their mouths agape.

“You’ll catch flies if you don’t close your mouth,” Remus warned, with a crooked smile.

Romina grimaced, “You sound like Nana when you say that,”

“Don’t say that,” he groaned, hiding his face with his hands.

Marlene bounced down the stairs, she was no longer soaking wet. Grabbing the hands of Alice and Romina she dragged them out of the common room, claiming she was hungry and didn’t want to go eat alone. They were led down several corridors listening to how Quidditch trials went.

“I was scoring left, right and centre. Everyone was struggling to keep up with me,” Marlene held up her biceps. “But there were so many little fan girls watching Potter and Black,”

Romina laughed quietly. She couldn’t imagine watching Quidditch tryouts-in the rain- for a boy.

“How was Frank? Is he any good?” Alice asked, with a gulp.

Marlene stopped showing off her biceps and halted her walk. She narrowed her eyes at Alice, who looked away. “He was pretty good. I reckon with some training he could be amazing. Why?”

A shrug was all Alice gave in response.

They reached The Great Hall. There was a buzz in the air as students entered. Warm smells and loud laughs echoed against the walls. The rain had started again, gently hitting the windows. Lily was already at the table hidden behind a Potions textbook.

“Lily!” Marlene called.

Her head poked up, when she spotted the girls she gave a big smile and an enthusiastic wave.

“Guess who made the team again,” Marlene said excitedly, flopping in the seat next to her.

“I knew you would,” Lily congratulated, clapping her hands.

Most of dinner was spent listening to Marlene recap Quidditch trials- the visibility issues, the fangirls who didn’t stop cheering for Potter and Black, James’s attempt at trying to scare the Slytherins away. It was as if she’d summoned him. James strutted in fluffing his hair up like he owned the place, the rest of his friends trailing closely behind. They sat within eavesdropping distance along the table.

“Hey, McKinnon,” Dorcas shouted.

Marlene rolled her eyes as she watched Dorcas and Delancey stroll towards their table. Alice, Lily and Romina gave waves and polite greetings as they arrived.

“Saw you flying today,” Dorcas taunted, with a smile as she leaned against the table, “You might actually have a chance at beating me,”

“Hey Meadows!” James interrupted, “Who’s on the Slytherin team?”.

Dorcas whipped her head around and sent a withering glare. She has never liked James -especially his pranks.

“Bugger off, Potter! I’m not telling you anything!,” She snapped with a sneer.

She sent a quick glance to Romina, winked in return. James’ face twisted in regret. He should have watched the trials yesterday instead of helping Sirius in detention. Laughter erupted from the girls, even Marlene gave a few chuckles, but Lily laughed the hardest and reached across the table to give Dorcas a high-five.

“She’s been waiting to say something to him for years,” Delancey said, taking a sip from Romina’s cup.

“I’m going to crush him at Quidditch this year,” Dorcas added, shooting him another glare.

“I’m going to crush you at Quidditch this year. So hard you won’t be able to show your face ever again,” Marlene retorted, with crazy eyes.

Dorcas gave a bitter laugh, “You wish, McKinnon,”

As they stood up to leave, Lily tugged them down.

“I have a question,” she started, gazing over at Romina oblivious to what was about to be asked. “I don’t want to be nosy-well maybe a little- but, is it true? Does Henry like Romina?”

All eyes glanced over at Romina. Romina scowled at Lily, who responded with a wicked smile. Did she really ask that? Not that it meant anything to her… she had just been noticing him in class a little more than usual. That didn’t mean anything, right?

Dorcas and Delancey shared a look, before turning back.

“He’s never said anything out loud,” Dorcas answered.

“But he asks about you. And he's always staring,” Delancey added.

They headed off, leaving Romina staring across the hall at the Slytherin table. He was chatting with Snape and what looked to be Sirius’s brother, Regulus. Henry’s gaze drifted to Romina. Her stomach did backflips when he sent her a smile. Did she like him? No, of course not, he hung around aspiring Death Eaters.

A snap of someone’s fingers pulled Romina out of her trance. Remus had slid down the bench.

“I’m being forced to ask you if you know where Emma Vanity is?” Remus glanced over at the Slytherin table, “Or if you know where she hangs out,”

“Why?” she asked, raising her brow.

“Please don’t make me repeat the plan,” Remus begged, closing his eyes.

“What’s the plan?” Lily asked, peering up from her book.

Remus groaned.

“Lily! He just said not to ask,” Marlene sassed, “But seriously what is it,”

“The plan is… that Sirius is going to try and flirt the team list out of her,” Remus’s face contorted.

Romina exhaled to try and stop from laughing at him, “Firstly, not much of a plan, Sirius regularly flirts with girls. Secondly, I know she hates him so I don’t know how well your ‘plan’ is going to work,”

“Do you know where to find her or not?” Remus questioned, monotony.

Romina shrugged looking back at her friends. Blank faces and shrugs all around.

The boys soon left the hall, whispering amongst themselves. Romina threw her head back and let out a deep belly laugh. All this work and for what? To know who's on the Slytherin Quidditch team. She wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye.

“Are you okay?” Alice asked, her eyes surveying Romina.

Romina pulled a folded piece of parchment out of her pocket and threw it on the table. A slight gasp came from Lily.

“No way! Is that-”

“The team list,” Romina had a big smile plastered across her face.

Quickly, the girls gathered around opening the letter and reading it aloud .

Dear Romina,

Here is the Slytherin Quidditch team as I promised:

Chasers;
Lucinda Talkalot
Emma Vanity (C)
Henry Inkwell

Beaters;
Me (Dorcas Meadows)
Bruce Mulciber Jr

Keeper;
George Avery Jr

Seeker;
Regulus Black

Don’t give Potter this list just yet– mess with him a bit. He deserves it, after Snape, don’t you think?

See you soon,
Dorcas Meadows

Lily, Marlene and Alice stared at Romina who still had a smug grin.

“How did you get Peter in on it? I would assume he’d tell James straight away,” Alice questioned, biting her nail.

“He wasn’t in on it. Peter just has a habit of second guessing himself,” Romina said, “Like what Dorcas said, he deserves someone messing with him,”

Lily gave a smile. She was glad someone else was doing the prank this time. In her books, it was an excellent prank; it wasn't callously cruel or emotionally scarring.

That evening, the common room whispered with quiet chatter as everyone wound down for the night. Pages of books were turned. Yawns were exhaled. On the floor, sat Peter who had challenged Alice to a game of wizard chess. Brows furrowed in concentration as they both contemplated their moves. Marlene watched in anticipation, giving quiet cheers to Alice. Crouched down by the fire, Lily and Romina hugged their knees as they swapped Muggle books. Both had already finished reading all the books they had brought.

“I’ll send a letter to my mum, to see if she can send me more books,” Lily whispered, handing Romina a copy of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’.

“Same, because I’ve already read most of the books in the library too,” Romina yawned, handing a copy of ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’.

As the stars twinkled high in the night sky, students slowly trickled to bed. Remus lingered, gazing out the window at the soft glow of the half-moon,- a gentle, silent countdown. The portrait door opened, James and Sirius strutted in with smug grins.

“Did you find out who's on the team?” Marlene asked, trying hard to suppress her grin.

“We did, thanks to Mister Casanova here,” James voiced, in a low matter-of-fact tone, “Do you want to hear it?”

“It’s fine, I already know the team. But I hope you had fun snogging Emma Vanity,” Marlene teased, sending glances to Romina.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Romina while James’s eyes squinted as he tried to piece it together.

“You have the letter!” Sirius accused, pointing a finger at Romina.

Romina shook her head, “No I don’t. I told you I gave it to Peter,”

James shot up the stairs in hopes that Peter may have lost the letter in their shared dorm. Five minutes later, he returned in a huff. Lily and Romina exchanged a glance. The letter sat burning away in the fire. It was only fair, if they wanted to pull pranks and cruel jokes.

It was late. The common room was empty except for Romina, James, Sirius, and Peter, who were crowded around the couches. James was throwing theories as to how Marlene knew the team, each more ridiculous than the last. Hanging on to his every word, was Peter who couldn’t stop apologising for losing the list. Sirius was staring daggers into Romina’s head, waiting for her to confess. He knew she had the letter and he knew that, like her brother, the guilt was going to build up inside her.

“Stop staring,” she demanded, her eyes not leaving her book.

“I know you have the letter,” he was insistent.

James and Peter had stopped talking to watch the pair.

“I told you, I don’t have it,” she looked up, staring into his grey eyes.

“Then what happened to it? Because Peter didn’t lose it,” Sirius said, shuffling closer to her.

Romina glanced over at Peter who was biting his fingernails. The guilt in her stomach rose, Peter didn’t deserve all this torment. In the end he was just trying to impress his friends.

“I burnt it,” she admitted, standing from the armchair.

All three gasped. They swapped looks of bewilderment.

“Why?” James asked.

“Because of the prank you pulled on Snape. I felt you deserved to be messed with. If you continue with your cruel pranks on him, I will start to prank you three just as hard,” Romina announced, heading to her dorm.

The three boys' eyes followed her as she climbed the stairs. Neither of them said anything for a while, wondering if she was bluffing.

“Do you think she’s serious?” Peter asked, biting his thumb.

“No, this is Sirius,” James joked, jestering to Sirius with a smile.

Sirius gave a grin back, “Peter, have you ever seen Romina go back on her word? I can answer for you. No you haven’t,”

“But we aren’t going to stop pranking Snivellus,” Peter stated, “So what? We just let her get us back,”

“We’re just going to have to be smarter and quicker about our pranks, so Romina can’t catch us,” James said, standing up.

The three headed to bed. James and Sirius were quietly conversing on how they could prank Snape and get away with it, while Peter trotted on behind.

Chapter Text

“Does he ever give it a rest?” Marlene asked, her lip curled as she glared at Sirius.

Sirius was laughing lightly at something Dahlia Whitmore had said, eyes sparkling as they searched her face. James stood nearby with Peter and Remus, all three of them making exaggerated kissing faces and fake gagging sounds behind Sirius’ back as he rubbed Dahlia’s arm.

“Why is he flirting with her,” Romina sneered.

Normally, Romina didn’t care about Sirius flirting- but Dahlia? It was like a punch in the gut. She was a cruel soul, who much like her friend Bellona, thrived on the misfortune of others. Glares burned at the back of Romina’s head. She didn’t have to turn around; she knew who was sending them; Bellona. Don’t add fuel to the fire, she told herself. Bellona stood with arms crossed listening to her friend affectionately flirt. At that moment, Flitwick opened the doors and let the class enter.

Rain pelted the windows with force. Thunder rumbled in the distance; lightning danced across the sky. The class sat in mellow silence, scribbling the notes from the board. Lily clutched her quill as she wrote about the ‘Reductor Curse’, knuckles white and eyebrows furrowed.

Tearing of a bit of parchment, Romina wrote: ‘Are you feeling okay? You’ve been upset since Defence Against the Dark Arts,’. With a shake of her head, Lily wrote: ‘I need to talk to you about something Severus did’. Romina nodded, returning to her notes, silently begging time to pass quicker.

Flitwick wandered around the classroom, checking students’ work. When his back was turned, a paper plane landed on the desk of Marlene and Lily. With a loud huff, Lily flicked it off her desk. A second one hit her in the head. Marlene grabbed the paper plane out of Lily’s hair and spun to glare at those responsible. James Potter and Sirius Black sat grinning ear to ear. Without breaking her glare, Marlene shoved the paper plane in her mouth and began slowly chewing. Their grins vanished.

Alice let out a mini-scream when Marlene started choking. Dropping her quill, Lily patted her back with force. Romina called Professor Flitwick over in desperation. The whole class had stopped to watch. Rushing over, flicking his wand. It all happened so fast, Marlene spat out the soggy paper plane on the floor. Another flick and it disappeared.

“I think it’s best if you head to the hospital wing,” he told her gently. He spun to face James and Sirius, “As for you two-I think detention will suffice," Flitwick said, with a touch of annoyance.

Peter snorted.

“You can join them Mister Pettigrew,”

Remus rolled his eyes. He did warn them. He told them not to. He told them Lily and her friends wouldn’t appreciate being disturbed. Did they listen to him? No! Of course not, when do they ever?

The thunder echoed louder, the lightning brighter and the rain heavier. Chatter picked up as they were given permission to practice the curse. As Romina mumbled the curse, waving her wand. Her block of wood disintegrated, reduced to smoldering ashes.

“Excellent work, Miss Lupin. First in the class, five points to Gryffindor,” Flitwick praised, walking past.

A strange buzz rang in her ears, like it was ricocheting off the walls. Her ear drums felt like they were going to explode. The class continued practicing blissfully unaware of Romina’s pain.

Then, with a crack of lightning, Romina saw it: a cliffside, perched high above a dark sea, tall grass swirling with the violent wind, whispers of an ancient language.

“Romina, are you feeling okay?” Alice whispered, shaking her arm.

She couldn’t answer at first. What was that? That cliffside felt… familiar. But how can a place she’d never been to feel familiar?

“Yep,” she eventually replied, blinking hard as she surveyed the room.

Marlene had returned from the hospital wing. Most students’ were doing quite well with their curse. Across the room, Remus was helping Peter with his wand movement, while James and Sirius rocked back on their chairs. The bell rang, Lily’s mood had picked up, after she managed to reduce her own block of wood to ashes.

Romina didn’t speak much as they headed for the library. The cliffs still haunted the corners of her mind. She could feel the salt on her skin, dry and itchy, as if she’d just been for a swim. Just as the unease started to tighten around her ribs, Alice linked arms with Romina, tugging her back to reality.

“Mar, I can’t believe you ate the paper plane,” Lily said, giggling.

“Neither can I,” Marlene replied, holding the door to the library open. “Don’t expect me to do it again, it tasted awful,”

“Not even to shut them up?,” Romina teased, as they settled at a table.

“I can’t get over James and Sirius’s faces when you did it,” Alice said.

“I know, they were like-,” Lily mimicked the way their grins dropped.

The girls fell into stifled giggles, careful not to be too loud. They didn’t want to get kicked out by Madame Pince.

Slowly, the library filled with fifth and seventh year students. Romina spun the ring on her finger as she read her Transfiguration textbook. She was so entranced, she didn’t notice Henry Inkwell standing at the end of their table.

He coughed. All four girls snapped their heads up.

“Hi,” he greeted, scratching the back of his neck.

“Hi,” Romina responded, with a sweet smile.

Henry took a deep breath. He wiped the palms of his hands on his trousers. Marlene opened her mouth but Lily kicked her under the table.

“This might sound a bit odd,” Henry chuckled, “but would you like to study with me? I’ve been struggling with Charms and well… you’re the best in the year,”

“I’d love to,” Romina replied, grabbing her things and following him.

Glancing back at her friends, they gave proud smiles. Marlene gave a thumbs up with a kissy face. Shaking her head with a smile, Romina sat next to Henry. He smelt of mint and firewood. As he explained his ‘struggles’ a smile crept up Romina’s face–he wasn’t struggling. He just needed an excuse to talk to her.

“Henry, you don’t need my help. Not with Charms anyway. It was a good try,” Romina said, still smiling.

He tilted his head, “So what do I need help with, then?”

“How to talk to girls,” she quipped.

He threw his head back and gave a deep belly laugh, slapping his knee.

Romina didn’t think it was that funny, but she politely smiled. They studied for a while, quizzing each other on spells, potions and magical creatures. As dusk arrived, Henry stood to leave. He said he had to leave to meet his friends. A swirl of uneasiness churned in Romina’s stomach. His friends… the muggle-born hating friends. The friends that sent dark jinxes against young students. The friends that have suspected Death Eater parents. The friends that whisper evil words about Lily.

Romina moved back to the girls, who gave devious gazes. Smirks lingered on their faces. Romina didn’t need to recount how it went, they watched. Alice, however, had her thoughts elsewhere- her eyes locked with Frank as he left the library. There was a sharp intake of breath before its release. Alice was crushing, hard.

As they headed upstairs later that night, Romina and Alice were being bombarded with questions by Lily and Marlene. How long have you liked Frank? Can you see yourself dating Henry? Have you talked to Frank? What about coming to watch Quidditch so you can talk to him? It was a very exhausting evening of answering questions.

As the rain pour slowed and the thunder quietened, the girls climbed into their beds. Lily waited for Alice and Marlene to fall asleep, before she tiptoed over to Romina’s bed. Her eye twitched as she slid down the wall.

“So what did Snape do?” Romina asked, moving to sit next to Lily.

“Today in Defence Against the Dark Arts Severus was writing what looked to be dark magic spells. When I asked him about it he got defensive and said it was just study, but… I’m just overthinking it, right?” Lily confided, hugging her knees.

“People with good intentions don’t study dark spells,” Romina advised, crossing her legs.

Lily nodded silently, brows tight with concern, “What about Henry? He’s friends with Mulciber, Avery and the rest of them,”

“I’m aware, which is why I don’t want to get too close. On one hand he’s this smart and… I mean he’s not Sirius Black good looking but he’s alright,” Romina confessed, while Lily gave a small smile, “But on the other hand, he’s friends with aspiring Death Eaters,” weighing her hands up and down, mimicking a scale.

Lily stayed silent, her eyes were stuck on the floor. She had every reason to worry. Alice always tried to hide the ‘Daily Prophet’, afraid the headlines of the disappearances, the attacks, the torture would send her into a frenzy.

“But…” Romina started, “Snape hasn’t actually used the spells, so please try not to lose sleep over it,”

Lily sighed, without another word she tiptoed back to bed.

Pulling the covers up to her chin, Romina closed her eyes to drift off, when suddenly the cliffsides from earlier flashed in her head. Jolting awake, her heart was pounding, her hands were shaking. Romina took a couple deep breaths to calm down and muttered the words of a lullaby her mother used to sing. Scared to close her eyes again, Romina laid awake staring at the wall.

Thunder cracked like a curse. Grass swayed with the howling wind. Waves violently crashed against the jagged rocks. Storm clouds, dark and restless crept across the sky. Perched high above the sea, cliff sides echoed with whispers. The overwhelming smell of sea salt, carried by the wind.

“Aequessa,” a weak voice hissed.

A frantic shake of Romina’s shoulder forced her awake. Staring down at was Lily, holding a napkin of food. She held the back of her hand to Romina’s forehead.

“What was that for?” Romina asked, holding her head.

“You were thrashing and you mumbled something. I thought you were possessed,” Lily replied, setting the food on the side table, “you also missed breakfast, so I brought back some pastries for you,”

Lily sat at the end of Romina’s bed.

“Where is Marlene and Alice?” she asked, grabbing a jam tart.

“Marlene is still in the Great Hall talking to Dirk Cresswell, and Alice is pretending to study in the common room,” Lily responded.

Romina nodded, her thoughts wandered back to the dream of the cliffs. Why did it feel so real?

Pushing away her wandering thoughts, Romina swung her legs to the floor. As she got ready for the day, Lily complained about the two thirds-years she had to give detention too.

“You gave them detention for taunting a portrait?” Romina questioned, raising a brow.

Lily nodded, crossing her arms.

Romina tilted her head in agreement, “That’s understandable,”

Grabbing a letter intended for her parents, Romina followed Lily downstairs. Considering it was a sunny day there weren't many people in the common room. Alice was twirling her quill with slight sighs of boredom. Quietly, Lily sat next to Alice and was immediately absorbed by her study.

The door to the boys dormitory opened, Sirius and Remus came down in hushed conversation. Their eyes darted to Romina who leaned against the table waiting for her brother.

“Remember to ask her, but don’t tell her,” Sirius reminded, pointing a finger at Remus, who rolled his eyes.

As a secretive person herself, Romina tried not to eavesdrop but she can’t deny her ears did perk when he said that. She tiptoed behind him.

“Whatcha talking about?” she whispered in Sirius’ ear.

His shoulders tensed and his stomach churned when he felt her close. Her vanilla and sandalwood perfume waft through the air. Spinning around with a sly grin, he met her amber gaze.

“Miss Lupin,” Sirius greeted, casually, “I see you’re eavesdropping now,”

Romina gave a sweet smile, “Only because you were practically yelling. Now you have to tell me,”

A glance was exchanged between the boys. Remus gave a firm shake of his head at Sirius’s growing grin.

“Top secret, can’t tell,” Sirius replied, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“So… it’s another one of your stupid ideas,” she stated, crossing her arms.

Sirius shook his head.

“Yes. It’s one of his stupid ideas,” Remus admitted, tiredly.

“Hey!” Sirius protested, “It is not stupid-it’s revolutionary,”

The twins brows raised in unison.

“Can you have revolutionary ideas?” Romina teased.

“You wound me, Goldie,” Sirius grinned, holding a hand over his heart.

Romina rolled her eyes, “You’ll just have to get Dahlia Whitmore to kiss it better,”

“Who?”

Remus let out a loud laugh and nearly toppled over. He dropped his letter, wiping tears from his eyes. Romina studied Sirius’s face for any indication that he was joking. She couldn’t believe him, does he not know the names of the girls he flirts with?

“The girl you were flirting with and rubbing up against yesterday before Charms,” Romina snarled, her face hardening.

“You seem jealous,” Sirius taunted with a smirk, leaning closer to Romina.

Romina's mouth went dry. She pushed his shoulder, “You wish. I hate her,”

Turning on her heels, Romina grabbed Remus’s arm and headed out of the common room. She could hear Sirius bark with laughter as the portrait door closed. Remus struggled to keep up with Romina’s hasty pace. He could sense that she was lost in her thoughts. Her steps were hard against stone. How dare he think that she was jealous of idiotic Dahlia.

“Slow down,” Remus called out.

Romina pivoted. She hadn’t realised how fast she was walking until she saw Remus still on the stairs of the entrance hall. Warm sunlight spilled across the school grounds. There was a soft rustle of the trees. Remus stumbled over his feet as he made his way to his sister. Observing the sky, Romina saw the moon. An aggressive reminder that in a couple days her brother would spend a night in excruciating pain.

“Sorry, I forgot about…” she mumbled, as he caught up.

Remus gave a dismissive wave as he continued towards the owlery.

The climb up the tower always made the twins dizzy. They both had to stop multiple times on the way up both from the spinning and Remus being tired.

“Finally,” Romina exclaimed as they reached the top.

“That…gets longer…every… trip,” Remus stammered, throwing his arm at the stairs.

Gentle hoots drowned out the huffing of Remus. Romina chuckled as she tied her letter to a barn owl. The feathers soft against her fingertips as she stared into the beady yellow eyes.

“Please deliver this to Hope and Lyall Lupin,” she told the owl.

With a silent lift of wings, the owl took to the sky. A blur of brown feathers gliding through the glare. Remus’s owl followed shortly behind. The twins leaned against the rail, arms touching as their gaze was fixed on the horizon. Romina rested her head on her brother's shoulder, exhaling softly. Her thoughts had drifted back to the cliffsides–the howling of the wind and the crashing of the crash of the waves echoed in her mind. But the thing that haunted her the most was the hissing voice. She couldn’t shake it, it was too vivid, too real.

“This is a weird question,” Remus started, still watching the sky, “but can we-,’

“Is this Sirius’s question?” Romina interrupted.

“You would know if you let me finish,” Remus replied, “but yes. He wants your advanced charms textbook,”

Romina glanced up to meet his eyes, “You might want to remind him of what will happen if he pranks Snape,”

“It’s not for that,” Remus advised, looking down at his fingers.

Romina hummed, “Is there a specific charm you're looking for?”

Remus tilted his head and thinned his lips, “I’ll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone,”

“When have I ever?” she asked, to which Remus thinned his lips in defeat.

Romina held her palm out, Remus reciprocated. Their fingertips hooked–their silent vow.

They created it when they were six. In the quiet hours of a Wednesday morning, after their father had left for work and their mother was upstairs cleaning, Remus had knocked over an antique lamp–Hope’s favourite. His face paled, lips trembled, hands shaking. Without a word, Romina dropped to her knees collecting the pieces, hiding them under the couch. All day she distracted her mother so Remus could find the glue. Late that night, she helped Remus glue it back together. However, the secret didn’t last longer than three days. The guilt had clawed at Remus and he confessed at the table over dinner. After the punishment for lying was dealt, Romina and Remus made the first secret vow; a vow they continue to uphold.

“We need a tracking charm,” Remus said, pushing off rail.

“Like to track someone?”

“That’s what a tracking charm is,” Remus sassed.

Romins rolled her eyes and mimicked Remus’s face, "The Homonculous Charm is what you’re looking for. However, it is N.E.W.T level,”

“That’s fine,” Remus reassured, heading back down the tower steps.

“Just under zero circumstances do I want my name attached to whatever is being planned,” Romina declared, sternly pointing a finger at him.

As they sauntered back to the common room, Romina waved to passing peers. Remus rolled his eyes at her vivaciousness. There was nothing worse than waving and creating small talk with everyone in the corridors. Well, that’s what he told himself anyway.

The portrait door opened and Romina headed straight for her advanced charm book. She handed it to Remus with a smile.

“Try not to do something stupid enough to get that prefect badge taken off you, mum would freak,” Romina whispered, then turned to sit with her friends by the window

Chapter Text

It was an early Monday morning. The sun slowly rose over the vast mountains. Fog settled in ghostly fashion across the grounds. Portraits whispered obnoxiously at Romina as she passed. The corridors were lit only by her wand. She traced the stone walls with her fingertips as she made her way to the hospital wing.

She pushed the heavy doors open. All the beds were empty– except for one. Remus lay in the furthest one from the door. Madam Pomfrey brushed his hair away from his eyes. His arms cradled his stomach as he groaned in pain. It was difficult for Romina to watch her other half suffer every month for years on end. Every full moon she never slept. How could she when her brother was in a dusty old shack transforming into a werewolf. When she was little, she begged and pleaded in desperation to the Muggle gods to cure him–not because she believed they were listening to her, but because it was easier to whisper to the stars than to accept the truth.

“Good morning Madam Pomfrey,” Romina greeted, as she sat in the seat beside Remus’ bed.

“Morning dear,” Madam Pomfrey replied, moving to her work bench.

In her younger years, Madam Pomfrey would try and send Romina back to bed until realising she was wasting her breath. Eventually, she started leaving a second cup of tea out.

“Hey, Remus,” Romina murmured, pulling a bar of chocolate out of her pockets, “I brought you chocolate.” She placed it on the side table.

“Thanks,” he moaned, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.

“We’re synced up, you know,” Romina joked, quiet enough that Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t hear.

Remus didn’t laugh. He glared at her from the corners of his eyes. Romina sensed his dismay and mouthed an ‘okay.’

She stayed there until the sun was higher than the mountains, after that Madam Pomfrey demanded she go to breakfast. Romina muttered her goodbyes to her brother before heading off. As she strolled the corridors she unintentionally got stuck in a conversation with Nearly Headless Nick. Not that she didn’t enjoy talking to Sir Nick, she just needed a minute of silence. She needed to organise her thoughts before breakfast- before the smiling and joking slipped over her face.

To her relief, she was the first of her friends to arrive at breakfast. She could sit in silence just a little longer, no questions, no talking, just the rough scrape of cutlery against the plates.

Romina cut the same slice of bacon over and over, eyes fixed at the table. Just like every full moon: her bones tingled with dread, her jaw tightened, and her shoulders tensed. She hadn’t noticed anyone pass until Mary MacDonald greeted her. Romina snapped back to her ‘normal’ self, quietly conversing with Mary.

Sirius had been observing her. He noticed her disassociation and how she snapped back. He noticed it every month. Not even her closest friends picked up on her change of behaviour. It unnerved him how easily she was able to hide from them.

Alice, Lily and Marlene wandered through the doors in joyous laughter. Her lips curled to a smile as they sat beside her.

“Where were you this morning?” Alice asked, reaching across to grab a jam pastry.

“I woke up before the sun, and decided to get ready early,” Romina replied. “I didn’t want to wake you,”

“Good call, if the sun isn’t up neither am I,” Marlene admitted, stabbing her eggs.

“You don’t want to wake up when the sun is up,” Lily stated, pouring everyone a glass of juice.

“Where’s Remus?” Alice questioned, looking down the table at James, Sirius and Peter.

“He has a cold again,” Romina quickly replied.

“Again?” Lily exclaimed, “he should really start taking some more vitamins,”

Her facade faltered for a split second. Unnoticeable to the eyes of her friends. “Maybe,”

As the girls chatted, Henry Inkwell stumbled over. He looked down at his hands as he approached Romina. Her wavy blonde hair cascaded down her back, amber eyes eagerly watched Marlene as she talked of her dream dinner guest list. Her wrists stacked with silver and gold bracelets. Vintage rings adorned each of her fingers. Lily leaned close and whispered something in Romina's ear, something Henry couldn’t hear. Romina’s eyes glanced up at him, the corners of her lips lifted.

“Hi Henry,” she greeted, warmly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“H-hey Romina. How are you?” he stuttered, wiping his palms on his trousers.

“I’m good, thanks for asking. How are you?”

Knowing smirks grew on her friends' lips. Marlene wriggled her brows from across the table. Alice had to hold her hand to her mouth, so she wouldn’t laugh.

“Yeah I’m good, great even now that I’m talking to you,” Henry seemed to regain his confidence. “I was actually wondering if you wanted to come to Hogsmeade with me next weekend? You know, get a butterbeer or something,”

That wasn’t what Romina was expecting, she didn’t actually know what she was expecting. Her lips parted slightly, with her mind flicking through the possibilities. Henry was clever and he liked her, but… he was connected to people who made her skin crawl with disdain.

“Stop overthinking it, it’s just butterbeer,” Lily whispered in her ear.

She was right. What was the worst that could happen?

“I’ll see you at the Three Broomsticks,” Romina finally said, with a smile.

Henry’s eyes lit up with admiration and he was grinning from ear to ear.

“See you then,” he said, walking backwards with a wave.

Childish giggles erupted from her friends. Marlene made kissing sounds and rubbed her hands up her back.

“How are you feeling?” Lily asked.

“Fine,” she answered.

It was just butterbeer. No stakes, just friendly.

The girls left The Great Hall whispering amongst themselves. Chatter from the hall began to fade into white noise as Sirius watched her leave.

Henry? Really? Why was she going to go out with him?

“Did you see that?” Peter asked, astonished. He shoved a crumpet into his mouth.

“Yes,” Sirius snapped, through gritted teeth.

“I didn’t think she’d actually give him a chance,” James said, with surprise.

“Why?” Peter asked.

James stopped eating his breakfast. “Isn’t it obvious? All his mates are practically Death Eaters.”

“She’s just being nice, like always. Doesn’t mean she actually likes that loser,” Sirius announced, glaring at the back of Henry’s head. He could sense something was wrong. Not from her behaviour but from her eyes–like something was hiding behind them. Sirius hated that, and he had no idea why.

James gave Sirius a side-glance; he knew better than to pry about his bitterness.

Grass tickled Romina’s thigh. Her neck ached as she hunched over her sketch book. Charcoal smudged, as she wiped her finger across the page. She sat cross-legged by the edge of the Forbidden Forest, far enough to not get in trouble but close enough to hear it breathe with life. A low hum billowed out from deep within the forest. She felt like this was the only place to get some peace and quiet. Not a soul knew that this is where she hid.

Romina tried to focus on the page. Last night she had dreamed of sigils that she couldn’t find in any textbooks. She wanted to draw them before they disappeared from her memory.

A whisper brushed her ear–soft, slithering. Her head snapped up in fear someone was watching her. Nothing. Just the usual rustle of the trees.

“Romina,” a voice hissed.

Jumping to her feet, she whipped her wand from her robe. She was obviously being pranked and she knew exactly who.

“James this isn’t funny,” she called out, voice sharp.

No answer. Spells flew in multiple directions. Wild and desperate to hit someone or something. When the air stilled, she grabbed her sketchbook off the ground and stomped back to the castle.

Her fists clenched. Heat slithered up her spine as she stomped all the way back to the common room. James Potter and his stupid invisibility cloak. Why did he feel the need to come bother her? He should spend his time doing something else–literally anything else.

“Acromantula,” she huffed, at the Fat Lady portrait.

Storming in, she found James Potter and Peter Pettigrew sitting on the couch, loudly laughing. Her fists instinctively relaxed when she saw them. No way he would have been able to beat her back.

“Where have you been? What have you been doing all afternoon?” she interrogated, pointing a finger in his face.

James’s sank into the couch, “We went to visit Remus when the bell rung and then came back here,”

She studied his face, watching for a lip curl or a muscle twitch. His face was like stone. Her finger swung toward Peter, who held his arms in defence. Doubt began to creep in, the voice didn't sound like James or Peter. She scanned the common room, Sirius wasn’t there. It must have been him.

“Where is Black?” she demanded.

“Upstairs,” James said, casually. “But I wouldn’t go in there, it’d scar you,”

Romina rolled her eyes. “Has he been there the whole time?”

“It’s been half an hour,” Peter stated, nervously biting his nails.

If it wasn’t them using James’ invisibility cloak, who had whispered her name? Had someone whispered her name or was it all in her head?

Taking a few deep breaths, Romina composed herself. Her face relaxed, the heat faded from her spine. Turning away from James and Peter without another word, she climbed up the steps two at a time. She needed a nap from exhaustion. Only a month back at school and she was ready for summer break. Warm air, late nights, days spent reading outside by the beach or down under the willow tree.

As soon as Romina opened the dormitory door, Alice ran at her, giggling and jumping like an overexcited baby rabbit. Words were spilling from her lips at record speed.

“Whoa, slow down– I can’t understand anything you’re saying,” Romina laughed, holding her hands out to steady her.

“I talked to Frank!” she shrilled, practically vibrating with excitement.

“She smiled and said ‘hi’ as he passed us in the corridor,” Marlene called from her bed, with a lazy grin.

Lily- who Romina hadn’t noticed when she walked in- rolled her eyes with a fond sigh. “She spoke to him without her face going beetroot red, which is a pretty big deal,”

“What did he say?” Romina asked, sliding her sketchbook under her pillow.

Alice hid her face with her hands. A gaze was exchanged between Romina and Lily.

“He gave her a nod,” Lily said, flatly.

Marlene rolled off her bed, “It was so weird,”

“Just wait till you have a crush,” Lily shot, “I bet you’ll stumble over your words, blush in frustration, play with your hair,”

Marlene and Lily launched into a full-blown argument about crushes. Romina and Alice settled on one of the beds, eyes darting back and forth. Arms were thrown up. Eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowed. Romina sighed. So much for that nap.

The next morning, Romina woke with the sun. Soft snores echoed from Lily’s bed, as Romina quietly got ready. She couldn’t stop yawning as she sluggishly walked to the hospital wing. Ears alert for signs of Flich and his ratty brush that he insists is a cat.

She arrived moments after Madam Pomfrey guided Remus back into the hospital wing. His eyes were shut tight, a black robe draped around his thin frame. Inside the ice cold air pierced against Romina’s skin. Her breath caught at the sight of her brother’s battered, bruised face.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. It was unbearably cruel that he had to suffer every month for the rest of his life because of a monster. Fenrir Greyback. Even the sound of his name made her toes curl in fear. A name that is forbidden in her home. Romina had always feared that maybe one day, Greyback might come back for her.

She watched in silence, holding her breath as Madam Pomfrey healed his cuts and wiped the blood from his lip.

Even though Remus had drifted to sleep, his eyes fluttered to the touch of Madam Pomfrey. Like they always did when their mother wiped his cuts.

“You can relax, dear. He just needs to rest,” Madam Pomfrey advised, pulling a chair over for her.

A soft smile was all Romina could muster. But, as she sat watching over him she knew. She knew that one day she was going to create a cure. A spell, a potion, something to stop the continuous torment. And, if she couldn’t do that the next best thing was to tie Greyback up and toss him into the Celtic Sea, and watch as the bubbles stopped rising.

Chapter Text

The girls dormitory was a mess: clothes strewn across the floor, beds unmade, and wrappers of sweets and chocolate littering the bedside tables. Romina sat on the edge of her bed while Alice did her hair and Lily dabbed pale pink blush onto her cheeks. Every now and then, Marlene chimed in with a sarcastic comment from across the room.

The date with Henry was today- in an hour to be exact. Romina’s stomach churned as she fidgeted with her bracelets and stared at the floor. Her friends buzzed with excitement for her, but she couldn’t match their excitement. Every time she tried to speak, the words got caught in her throat–it felt like swallowing vomit.

“So what are you going to talk to him about?” Marlene asked, painting her finger nails.

Romina didn’t answer, her eyes still fixed on the floor.

She sat up straighter. “Oi! Earth to Romina.”

Looks of concern were exchanged.

Lily snapped her fingers in front of Romina’s face. “Romina, Mar asked you a question. I know she’s been annoying, but it’s rude to ignore her.”

Nothing. No movement. Not even a blink.

“Is she dead?” Marlene asked, inching closer forgetting about her nail polish.

Alice pressed two fingers to Romina’s wrist and proceeded to shake her head. “There’s a pulse. Faint and fast.”

Lily crouched down to gaze into her eyes. “Hey. Are you feeling alright? Do you need to go to Madam Pomfrey?”

With a quick couple blinks, Romina seemingly came back to life. Her breath hitched, like she’d just broken the surface after being stuck underwater. Her eyes darted to her friends' concerned faces.

“Ready to go?” she asked suddenly, standing from her bed. She needed to change the subject–and fast.

Marlene gently pushed her back down. “What was that?”

“What was what?” her brow rose.

“You were like… a statue.” Alice glanced at Lily.

“You weren’t responding. Or even blinking,” Lily explained, crossing her arms.

“I was just overthinking this thing with Henry,” Romina said, still fidgeting with her bracelets.

Marlene grabbed her hand to stop the clinking sound.

“You don’t have to go,” Alice said gently.

“We’ll tell him some lame excuse,” Lily offered.

“Yeah. We can tell him that you have a headache or something like that,” Marlene added, unusually soft.

Romina rolled her eyes and gazed out the window. She envied the birds flying towards the horizon. No questions, no pressure, no pitiful looks of concern.

“I’m fine,” she snapped. Guilt immediately pounded on her chest–they were only trying to help. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. Just a little nervous.”

A sigh escaped Lily’s lips. “Well… we should get going then.”

The girls grabbed their belongings, and Romina muttered a few more apologies as they made their way out of the castle.

Romina was a practised liar. Micro expressions were calm and controlled. Words selected with precision. Posture measured. There was no room for error. But, today she fumbled. Her friends had seen it, how she retreated into her mind, vanished behind her eyes. A crack in the glass.

The October wind chilled the girls’ skin. Goosebumps crawled up their spines. Leaves in shades of orange and scarlett swirled in the air. Lily kept tugging strands of hair away from her mouth, where they stubbornly clung to her lipgloss. The silence was thick as they travelled to Hogsmeade. Romina still felt the guilt of snapping at her friends. They didn't deserve it.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you guys,” Romina apologised, wrapping her coat tighter.

“Oh for Godric’s sake Romina!,” Marlene huffed, rolling her eyes, “you’ve apologised like… a billion times.”

Romina gazed at Marlene who shook her head.

“We said it was fine. This is a tense moment. It’s your first date ever,” Lily said, pulling Romina close.

“We’ll be right there if you need us,” Alice said.

The hustle and bustle of Hogsmeade seemingly grounded the girls. Their squabbling stopped instantly. Students and wizards alike brushed past with muttered apologies, as Marlene led them down the street. As always they visited ‘The Old Hourglass’, a jewellery store. In the window, there was a vintage bracelet with sapphires intertwined in the silver that Romina stared at every Hogsmeade trip. It had sat in the window for years, taunting her every time she walked away.

“I don’t know why you don’t just buy it or ask someone to buy it for you, as a birthday or Christmas present,” Marlene wondered, as she peered into the window.

Romina didn’t take her eyes off the bracelet, “Mar, we’ve been through this. Look at that price tag. A hundred gallons, I can’t afford that and I can’t ask someone to buy it for me. It’s just nice to look at.”

“Maybe ask Henry to buy it for you. His family is rich, like very rich,” Marlene said, absentmindedly.

Lily sighed, “Does everything we say just go through one ear and out the other? Romina doesn’t want to ask someone to buy it.”

Marlene mouthed an ‘Oh yeah’.

“Why do you like this bracelet so much?” Alice asked, tilting her head. “That one is cheaper.” Alice pointed at a similar bracelet with a nicer price tag.

“It sounds weird so don’t laugh. When I first saw it in third year it sang to me. Something soft and delicate,” Romina explained.

“That doesn’t sound weird,” Alice replied.

“We live in a world with mermaids and vampires, nothing sounds weird anymore,” Lily added. “But, you’re going to be late if you stare at it any longer.”

“Goodbye bracelet. Till next time,” Romina said, as Alice linked arms dragging her to The Three Broomsticks.

The smell of butterbeer and firewood hit like a wave as they opened the door. Exuberant chatter bounced off the antediluvian walls. Chipped white paint adorned the walls. Centuries of spilled drinks stains soaked the floor that no amount of scrubbing could remove. Madam Rosmerta rushed around the pub, like a headless chicken. In the corner sat Henry. His blue eyes eagerly searched the crowd of wizards and witches.

“Have fun,” Marlene teased, with a sly smirk.

“If he gives you any trouble just hold up three fingers, and I’ll come get you,” Lily said, firmly.

“Don’t put pressure on yourself,” Alice encouraged, rubbing Romina’s arm.

But, Romina didn’t move towards him. She spun on her heels and tried to walk out the door. Marlene caught her arm, tugging her back.

Lily pointed a finger at Henry and furrowed her forehead. Romina knew she wasn’t playing around when the forehead wrinkles came out. Now she had to go.

He appeared to get further away with every step she took. Air heavy with dread. Romina’s shoulders tensed as they locked eyes. Henry quickly stood as she arrived.

Henry was dressed in a lapis cashmere sweater. A sweater that Romina could identify from a fashion magazine– an expensive sweater. His curls effortlessly swept over his face.

“Hey, how are you?” Henry addressed.

“I’m good, how are you?” she replied, politely.

Henry nodded. “Great now that you’re here.”

Together they squeezed into the booth.

Romina sharply inhaled. The only way for this to work was to talk to him, ask him questions. “So tell me about yourself Henry. I haven’t heard much about you over the years at school.”

He chuckled. “What exactly do you want to know?”

“What about your family, I know you had a sister who graduated a few years ago.”

“I have three older sisters, Viella, Corinne and Erica. Viella got married to an American wizard, and she works in the Ministry. Corinne works as a professor at Koldovstoretz. Says it's freezing, like all the time. Erica was the one who graduated two years ago and has yet to do anything. She’s my parents' current disappointment,” Henry explained, trailing off at the end.

He couldn’t meet Romina’s gaze. His eyes had drifted to something behind her.

Romina followed his gaze. “What are you looking at?”

“That painting,” he muttered.

Behind her, an oil painting was hung crooked on the wall. It was a painting of an older woman: with messy long black hair, her dark robes whipped in the wind, she stood on a limestone cliff in the middle of a thunderous storm. Her green eyes seemed to scowl past whoever were to look at it. In her hands, she clutched something silver close to her chest. A thick layer of dust covered the painting, like it hadn’t been cleaned in decades.

“I don’t like it. Feels like her eyes burn my soul,” Henry grumbled.

Romina squinted. “I think it might just have a spell on it to confuse people.”

“Maybe,” Henry hummed, not entirely convinced.

There was no plaque beneath the painting; no title, no artist. A masterpiece from millennia ago with no one to claim credit.

The longer Romina watched, the more she felt the woman would crawl out. The longer she watched it felt like the woman would curse her.

Henry shook his head, eyes drifted back to her. “What about your family?” he asked with a smile. “I know Remus is your twin brother,”

Romina gave a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. This question always felt like a trap. Did he know her mother was a Muggle? He’s friends with a group of Slytherins who hate the very thought of Wizards and Muggles having children together. Did he share those thoughts?

“There’s my mum, dad and obviously Remus. There’s also my Nana but… she’s difficult to get along with,” Romina stated, spinning the bracelets on her wrist. Silently begging for him not to dig deeper.

He nodded in understanding. “You’re Welsh too, right?”

“Was my accent that obvious?” she snarked, with a grin.

Henry let out a laugh that was louder than all the chatter in the pub.

He told her about his ambitions of studying magic in South America, but his hatred for studying and learning. He asked more questions about her which she successfully danced around. Henry told her about his ambitions of being a curse-breaker in South America, but his hatred for the studying and learning. He continued talking about all he hoped to achieve in the future, hardly giving time to ask about Romina. She was growing restless and tired of his stories, but he had taken time out of his day to be here with her, she felt obligated to stay. But, when he started talking about his father's money she held her hand up to stop him.

“I’m getting a butterbeer, would you like one?” Romina offered, slowly standing.

“If you don’t mind.”

Whirling around, Romina disappeared into the sea of students. Elbows nudged her sides as she crammed to the front of the crowd. Madam Rosmerta was busy laughing at two boys in a circle of giggly girls. Romina rolled her eyes when she realised who they were; Sirius Black and James Potter. Their fan club hung on to every perfectly curated flirty comment. Remus and Peter shunted off to the side, cut out from the circle. Some Ravenclaw girl tilted James’ glass with a sickly sweet giggle.

“What can I get you?” the barmaid asked, pulling Romina out of her gaze.

“Could I please have two butterbeers?” Romina asked, holding up two fingers.

The barmaid made her drinks within seconds. Carefully, she grabbed the glasses spinning to head back to Henry.

Whack.

Someone crashed into her. Butterbeer poured down her shirt, her skin soaked with the sticky drink as it trailed down her legs. Romina’s eyes glanced up to see who had whacked into her but she really wished she hadn’t, because standing in front of her with arms crossed was Bellona.

Bellona’s eyes leered down at Romia and she didn’t have a drop of butterbeer on her. Which didn’t seem very fair to Romina.

“Watch where you’re walking, Looney,” Bellona jeered, jutting out her hip.

“You crashed into me,” Romina argued, flicking butterbeer off herself.

“That’s not how I saw it. Dahlia what did you see?” Bellona called Dahlia over.

With a perky pep in her step Dahlia came to the call, like a trained dog coming to a whistle.

“I saw Looney here crash into you,” Dahlia gave a fake smile. She turned and pulled a boy over.

Sirius.

It was just getting worse for Romina. The longer she was trapped in between them, the sticky her skin got. Discomfort growing by the second. She didn’t want to argue with them. All she wanted now was to go back to school and have a hot shower.

“Sirius, baby, what did you see?” Dahlia was rubbing her hand up and down Sirius’s chest.

His eyes trailed up and down Romina. “Sorry Goldie, I didn’t see anything.”

Romina closed her eyes and exhaled. He had the chance to back her up and said nothing. Was he kidding? Nails dug into Romina’s palms. He knew about how Bellona and Dahlia treated her, how they treated her friends. He had heard the complaints and had witnessed the tears from their comments. And, yet here he was with her. Being called ‘baby’ by her, having her gremlin hands rubbing his chest.

Anger bubbled in Romina’s chest. “Thanks for your help. I appreciate it so much.” she sneered at Sirius, who only shrugged.

“I would love an apology,” Bellona bit with venom.

Like Romina hadn’t apologised to her enough over the years. Romina had never tried to escalate the situations with Bellona and Dahlia, but she was done with that. Maybe she might even pull a play from James’s book, jinxing them in the corridors. Detention would be worth it. She would sit writing lines with a grin stitched on her face. Just the thought of hexing her, brought Romina joy.

“You’re kidding right?” Romina questioned, raising her brow.

“No,” Bellona replied, with a curl of her lips.

Staring into Bellona’s cold eyes, Romina let out a laugh in disbelief. She thinned her lips and bit her tongue. Her heartbeat quickened as her nails dug even harder in her palms.

The air thickened with warmth, before a sudden icy chill swept across the pub; like a storm front. Candles that kept the room lit, flickered before extinguishing completely. A hiss of whispers echoed through Romina’s ears. Windows shatter in an ear piercing blow. Screams erupted. People covered their heads as shards soared across the room. Sirius ducked while gazing at Romina. She didn’t blink–eyes locked on Bellona, burning with rage. Glass had cut skin from the majority of the patrons, but not Romina–the glass avoided her, like she had a shield.

Bellona revealed her cowardness as she had used Dahlia as a shield. Dahlia’s face was sliced. Blood dripped down her cheek as she screamed in pain.

“You will never get another apology out of me,” she seethed, blind with rage.

Chaos sparked as everyone tried to regather themselves. Romina stormed out the door without a glance back. Henry didn’t even cross her mind as she headed back to school. She was lost in her thoughts — the whispers echoing in her mind, Bellona and Dahlia’s cruelty, and Sirius being an idiot.

The wind wailed as she climbed the hill. Leaves spiralled around her, clinging to the sticky fabric of her shirt. Romina groaned, attempting to remove the leaves. Every time she had thrown the leaf, it circled back to her chest.

“Stupid wind, stupid leaves, stupid Bellona, stupid Dahlia with her goblin fingers,” Romina ranted, stomping through the grass. “Stupid glass breaking and ruining the moment to punch her.”

So much for a good Hogsmeade trip.

“Aequessa.”

Romina froze. It was the same hiss from the Forbidden Forest, the same hiss from The Three Broomsticks, the same hiss from last month in Charms.

She twisted around, half-expecting to find someone pranking her. But nothing and no one.

Only crazy people hear voices, she told herself.

Continuing up the hill she heard the hiss again.

“In death they call for you. They have waited centuries for you.”

It was shrill and unworldly, it felt like it was scratching her brain with nails. Squeezing her eyes tight – it was just a figment of her imagination. The scratching was harder, sharper, this time. Romina couldn’t feel her legs anymore. She collapsed, landing on her knees. Mud splashed up, covering her. Hogwarts was in her view, she could see the bridge. If she could just crawl, but her limbs were immobilised.

“You know them.”

Romina covered her ears in desperation. The torment was unbearable. The wailing of the wind swelled as she cried out in pain.

“Romina!” a different calmer voice had called out to her. “Are you alright, what happened?”

The voice lifted her off the ground, providing a stable hand for her to hold. Romina opened her eyes to find Henry’s worried face scanning hers.

A gentle breeze replaced the wails. The leaves dropped from her chest. Her legs regained strength. The hissing voice stopped and the scratching of her brain disappeared.

Romina blinked back tears. She was so confused about what had just happened. Wind had basically used leaves to attack her. Voices had hissed at her and scratched at her brain. Her legs went limp and numb. The argument with Bellona. The glass shattering at The Three Broomsticks. So she had no idea how to answer Henry’s question, because she wasn’t okay nor did she look okay. Her hair had butterbeer, mud and sticks tangled within the waves, shirt still drenched, legs covered in mud.

Romina swallowed the taste of vomit. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just fell over.”

Henry accepted her answer and pulled two wands out of his pocket–his and hers.

“Quite the temper that wand of yours,” Henry stated, handing it back to her, revealing a scorn mark on his palm.

Romina’s jaw dropped at the sight of it. His left palm had a blister running across it. Never had her wand behaved like that. Her friends and father had all held her wand before and they didn’t suffer from any burn marks.

“Let me help you,” she insisted, healing him.

The blister healed but the scar remained.

“Thank you,” he uttered, closing his fists.

They fell into awkward silence as they stared at each other.

“What happened at The Three Broomsticks was pretty crazy,” Henry piped, moving his hands to his pockets.

“How does glass even shatter like that?” she questioned.

They began to walk towards the school, footsteps falling into sync.

“I assume just some younger kid playing pranks. If they ever get found out, not only will they get a year's worth of detention, Rosmerta would probably force them to clean that floor of hers,” Henry pondered.

Romina gave a shy laugh. “McGonagall is most likely fuming right now. I reckon she’ll have steam trickling out her ears.”

Henry gave his usual belly laugh to her words.

They reached the steps of the entrance hall. Completely empty, the only sound coming from Peeves down the corridor. Henry cracked his knuckles, eyes stuck on the floor.

He drew in a long breath, and reached for Romina’s hand. Romina watched him with curiosity and caution.

“Romina Lupin,” he started, sucking in a deep breath.

This wasn’t a proposal, right? It felt like a proposal.

“I really like you. Your effortless flare. Your intelligence exceeds anyone I've met. Not to mention your beauty. I’d be a fool not to, so I was wondering if you’d like to hang out more… as my girlfriend,” Henry said.

One date– that she left half way through– and he wanted to officially date her. No one had ever asked her to be their girlfriend. Her breath got caught in her throat. Henry was kind to her and had never said anything horrible about muggle-borns, but his friend did. Every possible outcome of being his girlfriend ran through her head. The look in his eyes was of quiet begging and silent hopefulness. He didn’t give her butterflies, but she thought those came later.

“Sure,” the word spilled from her mouth before she could stop them.

Henry’s face lit up, giving her a peck on her cheek. Romina gave a smile that faded as fast as it came. The air suddenly felt extremely warm.

“What happens now?” she asked, nervously.

“What do you want to happen?”

“I want to go to my common room, so I’ll see you soon,” Romina said, giving Henry a hug before turning on her heel to head back to the common room.

Henry was left standing in the entrance hall with a grin on his face.

Romina lay on her bed staring at the roof, lost in her thoughts. It was an eventful day. The silence didn’t last much longer as her friends came through the door. Marlene held a paper bag from Honeydukes, Lily playing with her hair, and Alice humming a song.

“Romina, how was it?” Lily asked, sitting on her bed. “We lost sight of you and Henry after that weird glass incident.”

Marlene and Alice gathered around her bed. Their faces were impatiently waiting for recount.

Romina sat up, “Well… he talked about himself a lot.”

Her friends gave stifled laughs.

“I went to get butterbeer though and Bellona whacked into me and the butterbeer got poured all down my shirt and down my legs. Then she claimed I whacked into her, called Dahlia over to back her up, and then Dahlia pulled Sirius over,” Romina nodded to the gasps of her friends.

“Sirius was with Dahlia?” Alice questioned, wide-eyed.

The three of them were on the edge of their seats.

“Her gremlin hands ran up and down his chest as they asked him who whacked into whom. Do you think Sirius backed me up? No! he didn’t, he stood there like an idiot. Then Bellona asked for an apology,” Romina continued, at rapid speed.

“Like you haven’t apologised to her enough,” Lily scoffed, crossing her arms.

“Exactly what I thought. Then the glass shattered everywhere so I left. I was so angry with her and Dahlia and Sirius, and I was sticky from the butterbeer that was still dripping down my skin. Eventually, Henry found me and one thing led to another,” Romina finished, leaving out the part of hearing voices. She didn’t want to worry or scare them.

“You had sex?” Marlene questioned, with furrowed brows and a sweet falling out of her mouth. “Please tell me you lit a candle after, boys will mess with your aura.”

Lily sent a glare her way but slowly turned her head to watch Romina.

Sensing her friends' concern she back tracked. “No, no, no. He asked me to be his girlfriend, which… I agreed.”

A squeal left Lily’s mouth. She grabbed Romina’s hands and pulled her up, spinning her around.

“You should probably still light a candle,” Marlene advised, softly. “Just in case.”

“How do you feel?” Alice asked.

Romina missed a beat. “Fine I guess. How are you meant to feel when you get a boyfriend?”

“From what my sister, Mallory, told me when she got with her boyfriend, was that she had never felt that happy. It was like an angel had come and blessed her,” Marlene recalled, not looking from her sweet bag. “But she’s a poet or something like that.”

“Is that what you felt?” Lily asked, still holding her hands.

“Yeah, no, that's exactly how I felt,” Romina agreed.

Romina’s voice wobbled and she swallowed hard. She was sure no one caught it–but Alice had. Alice noticed how her voice had dipped in sadness when she spoke of Sirius not helping her. She noticed how empty her words felt towards Henry. She noticed the storm in her eyes.

The mask Romina wore was cracking, and Alice was noticing.

Chapter Text

Breakfast used to be the only time where Romina didn’t have to talk about school work. But Lily had infected it with mutters of potions and spellwork. Bacon never tasted quite right when you had to answer a question about Transfiguration. Lily had put an exam countdown above her bed. Everyone expressed their concerns about how it could stress her out, yet Lily went through with it anyway. She tried to make it permanent with a sticking charm on the countdown, but Alice stole her wand, and Romina and Marlene lectured her like she burnt the castle down.

“You’re stressing yourself out,” Romina stated, closing Lily’s textbook shut.

“Exams are ten months away. I need to study,” Lily replied, desperately.

Marlene scoffed. “We saw the calendar.”

“Lil, why don’t you just do the work assigned this week,” Alice advised.

“I have finished everything, even that blasted Astronomy essay. Took me hours,” Lily huffed, finally eating her breakfast. “Romina, I understand now why you hate that subject.”

“Romina, have you started the Astronomy essay yet? Because I was thinking-,” Alice began.

Romina held up her hand. “I’m not talking about that stupid essay. I might cry.” And if she did, it wouldn’t be the first time she’s cried over that subject.

Alice thinned her lips and went back to her eggs without another word.

Laughter ensued from the middle of the Gryffindor table. James Potter was recounting a story with wild hand gestures, with no regard for volume. Sirius leaned back, lazily with a smirk, while Remus tried–and failed– to hide his amusement and Peter wheezed as James barrelled on.

A Hufflepuff girl sauntered past and sent Sirius a wink so obvious it physically hurt. He caught it, raised a half-hearted brow, then turned back to listen to the story.

“-and then I walked out onto the pitch, NAKED!” James bellowed.

A few people turned to glare, but James didn’t notice– or more likely, didn’t care.

"You're an idiot,” Remus said flatly, though the curling of his lips gave him away.

Owls began fluttering in the hall with the mail. Letters and newspapers were dropped in orderly fashion. An old barn owl approached Lily with the Daily Prophet, she placed a coin in the owl's pouch before it flew off. Her friends inhaled sharply as they watched her eyes furiously scanning the articles. Displayed on the front cover was Eugenia Jenkins with the title ‘Minister of Magic Ousted From Office’. Lily straighted, eye twitching as she flipped the paper.

Marlene reached over and snatched the paper from her. “Stop scaring yourself.”

Lily went to retort when another owl landed between them. It carried a package with a letter tied to the top. Romina immediately recognised her mothers handwriting. She ripped the letter open. She loved getting letters and felt a little homesick after reading them.

Dear Mina,

I’m glad to hear that fifth year has started nice and calm. That’s exactly what you need for such a stressful year but, your brother did tell me that you got detention on the first day back. I can understand why you didn’t tell me but maybe, next time just hold your tongue (even if you think a remark is necessary).

Everything is relatively fine in town. The tides and storms have been rough this past month and your father I haven’t been able to go for any beach walks, which is upsetting. Also, Todd McGuire has officially retired from ‘The Salty Sea Dog’ and his son Dylan McGuire has come back into town to run it. Now, I love your father very deeply, but Dylan is extremely easy on the eyes. You’ll see when you come home for the holidays.

Your father has recently come down with the flu and refuses to use any potions or take ‘muggle’ medicine. So he’s bed ridden in a blanket of tissues. Men, I tell you.

In the package, I’ve included the books you requested, as well as some magazines–just in case you wanted something lighter to read. Remus also said Sirius mentioned an interest in motorcycles, so I sent a motorcycle magazine too.

Hope to hear from you again soon.

Love you to the deepest depths of the ocean and back,

Mum.

She smiled to herself, a feeling of longing for home briefly washed over. Not speaking to her parents everyday was a struggle. Romina tore open the package. Inside were all ten books she had asked for, plus some fashion and gossip magazines–and of course, Sirius’s motorcycle magazine.

“That poor owl had to carry all this?” Marlene asked, glancing between the stack and Romina.

“I didn’t think my mum would send them all,” Romina admitted, gently patting the owl.

Alice picked up one of the fashion magazines. “Vogue,” she muttered, flipping it open.

She and Marlene were swiftly entranced, turning each page like it held the secrets to the universe.

“I’m going to give this to Sirius,” Romina whispered to Lily, holding his magazine.

Lily nodded, eyes not lifting from her plate.

Romina had chosen to forget about what happened at The Three Broomsticks–well tried to. If she replayed the image of Dahlia’s hands trailing up and down his chest she’d spiral, and she didn’t need the added stress. Besides, Delancey had told her in Ancient Runes that Sirius had been ignoring Dahlia in the corridors ever since. Apparently, Dahlia hadn’t taken it well and spent a few afternoons crying in the girls' bathrooms. Romina didn’t care, not really, but the smug smile stuck around longer than it should have.

She slid into the seat beside him, leaning in close, “Boo!” she whispered in his ear.

Sirius turned with his usual grin. His grey eyes flickered down to her.

“I was wondering when you would come and beg for my attention,” he said.

Romina laughed, “Aren’t you full of it? I actually brought you a gift.”

He raised a brow, visibly thrown. Sirius wasn’t used to receiving gifts.

“My mum heard from Remus that you were interested in motorcycles,” Romina pulled the magazine from behind her, with a small smile. “So she sent you a motorcycle magazine,”

Sirius took it, more hesitantly than he meant to. He flicked the magazine open, skimming through it, “I love your mum.” He said almost too quickly.

“Why does he get a present? I like things too,” James piped from over Sirius’s shoulder.

“You like things?” Romina asked, biting her lip to not laugh. “Remus didn’t mention you liking things to my mum, however, what he did mention to her was my detention.”

Romina whipped her head at her brother, narrowing her eyes at him. He froze like a deer in headlights and hid his head behind his own letter.

“I obviously didn’t want mum to know!” She whisper-shouted across the table.

Remus still didn’t meet her eyes. “I thought they should know. It’s not like they can do anything about it.”

“He also told your mum about you throwing your Astronomy book out the window,” Peter admitted, grabbing more toast.

Remus whipped his head to Peter with a look of betrayal in his eyes. “Shut up.”

Romina’s jaw tightened. “You are such a mama’s boy!”

James and Sirius grinned as Remus and Romina continued to argue. Spitting jabs, pointing fingers, and bringing up mistakes from the past.

As Romina opened her mouth to retort to her brother's comments, someone tapped her shoulder. She spun and met Henry’s eyes.

Oh. Right. They were supposed to walk to class together. She had totally forgotten. He stood with a goofy grin on his face, ignoring the evil eye Sirius and James were giving him.

“Are you ready?” he asked, holding out his hand.

Romina hesitated before she took his hand. His hand was warm– but the scar her wand had given him was still etched on his palm. She gave a small smile. “Absolutely.”

Henry and Romina left The Great Hall together, hand in hand. Henry whispered in Romina’s ear– most likely something sweet– but she waved him off, not really paying attention to him.

“Guessing the date went well then,” James said, in a mocking tone.

Sirius didn’t bother to reply, he just rolled his eyes– leave it to Henry Inkwell to ruin his day.

The library was quietly cold, the kind that Romina could feel seeping into her bones. The glow from the fireplace didn’t reach the table where a group of fifth years sat huddled over books and parchment. Lily had set up a study session with Snape–but naturally all her friends had invited themselves along. Snape had groaned when he saw Alice, Marlene, Romina and Remus follow Lily towards his table. Five minutes later, Snape let out another groan, when Romina had waved Delancey and Dorcas over.

“Romina, what are you doing? Meadows doesn’t need to be here,” Marlene hissed, with crazy eyes.

“She’ll sit on the other end of the table. You don’t even need to look at her,” Romina spoke through a smile.

Delancey and Dorcas sent waves as they sat next to Remus.

Only the gentle rustle of pages turning and quills scratching disturbed the silence. Romina stared at her parchment, trying to finish her essay on the Cosmic Ages. The longer she stared, the more she wanted to rip her hair out.

“This is going to kill me,” Romina sighed.

“It’d be easier to do if you hadn’t thrown your textbook out the window,” Remus whispered, not looking from his book.

Romina shot her head up. “Shut up,” she hissed.

“You know what’s gonna kill me. Meadows here acting like a bloody saint,” Marlene huffed, slamming her book shut.

Madame Pince sent glares over to their table.

Dorcas shook her head in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Marlene retorted, leaning over Remus.

Remus remained unfazed as Marlene got closer and closer.

“Obviously I don’t if I had to ask,” Dorcas shot, her eyes bored into Marlene.

The table stopped their study to watch the pair of them argue. It was definitely more interesting than studying.

Marlene rolled her eyes so hard, Romina thought they’d pop out of her head.

“You act like such a saint. Everyone acts like you’re this angel– but I know better,” Marlene’s voice was rising in volume with each word.

A loud ‘shhh’ was sent by Snape but no one seemed to notice.

“What do you know Marlene? I’ve never been mean to you,” Dorcas had a lip curled in confusion. The moment of realisation was evident. Her eyes went wide and her lips thinned. “Is this because of that rumour I made up?”

“Ding ding ding,” Marlene sassed.

Dorcas huffed, rolling her eyes. “That’s what you’ve been mad about for years? I apologised to you.”

“That doesn’t take away the memories of being called ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ for a whole year!” Marlene shouted, standing up to lean over the table. “Peeves still calls me Sugar Plum Fairy. He whispers it whenever I’m near!”

Lily closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. She already began to gather her things.

Dorcas stood to match her. “Do you want me to get a Timeturner?”

Madame Pince appeared at the end of their table. “GET OUT! ALL OF YOU!”

That was always bound to happen. They packed up at record speed. Dorcas and Marlene glared at each other as they stormed out. Dorcas and Delancey strutted down the stairs to the dungeons. Marlene was already miles down the corridor, Alice ran to catch up with her. Snape and Lily had broken off from the group to find somewhere else to study. Leaving the twins to travel alone.

Remus and Romina walked in comfortable silence. Their footsteps were the only sounds heard, until they turned down the corridor leading to The Great Hall; laughter roared from inside. The Lupin twins met each other's eyes, shrugging their shoulders in unison. Peering around the corner, they saw a group of Slytherins tied up with green snakes. Romina gasped in horror when she recognised who was tied up. Henry was on the floor with Mulciber and Avery. The trio tried wiggling free but the snake's grip wrapped tighter. Lounging on the benches, stifling barks of laughter were James, Sirius and Peter– wands still tightly gripped in their hands. Romina couldn’t believe them, they were continuously proving how immature they were.

She hoped Remus had nothing to do with it but when she whipped around to face him, he didn’t seem as shocked as she did. He nervously cracked his knuckles. Her jaw tightened.

“Did you know about this?!” She snapped, scanning his face, hoping it would give her a reason not to explode.

Remus stood like a statue, eyes wide at the scene before him, “No. I had no idea.”

She wanted to believe him. But, right now she didn’t trust anyone to be telling the truth.
Romina huffed and barged his shoulder. The back of her neck burned, her fists clenched. They needed a hobby that wasn’t cruelly pranking people.

By this time, McGonagall had entered the hall, her robes billowing like a storm rolling in. She flicked her wand, letting Henry and his friends go. Her glare was as sharp as a blade, set on James, Sirius and Peter. McGonagall could barely contain her fury as she beelined for the Gryffindor boys.

Helping Henry up from the floor, Romina studied his face. There weren't any cuts or bruises but her heart ached like he’d been cut open.

She brushed a hand over his cheek. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Henry held his head, “I don’t know. One minute I’m laughing with the boys and the next minute I’ve got a snake wrapped around my chest.”

If she could rip the smirks off James and Sirius she would.

Romina led him out of The Great Hall, holding his side like a shield. He stumbled every couple of steps, but she always caught him. She tried to calm herself down but seeing the smug grins plastered on James and Sirius’ face as McGonagall sternly disciplined them, wasn’t helping.

As they reached the courtyard, her skin started to heat up. The smell of charcoal drifted around the air but Romina dismissed it– Peeves must have lit fireworks earlier. A faint buzzing sound filled Romina’s ears, like a phone that wouldn’t connect. She opened her mouth to ask Henry if he heard it too, but decided against it. No need to sound crazy, at least not yet. They sat in silence watching the falling of the leaves. The moment felt fragile, as if one wrong breath could fracture it.

She had warned Sirius, James and Peter about their pranks. Snape had been the line. That was before Henry. Henry was now the line they couldn’t cross. They could play all the pranks they wanted on Avery, Mulciber, Rowle, Wilkes and Rosier, the people who were dark spell casting jerks. Just not Snape and Henry.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get them back,” Romina muttered, staring down at her shoes.

“What are you talking about?” Henry flicked his eyes over at her.

“You’ll see,” she said, with a faint smile.

Not a threat, just a promise.

Chapter Text

Romina laid in the grass cloud-watching by the Forbidden Forest. She felt that the soft hum of the forest and the fluffiness of the clouds were great for thinking. After yesterday she needed to think of a prank to play on James, Sirius and Peter. A prank that poked fun, but wasn’t cruel. She wasn’t having any luck, every idea she had was either needlessly cruel or it wasn’t hard hitting enough.

As the sun started to hover over the mountains, Romina decided to head back to the common room. Maybe she’d get some inspiration on the way back.

Muttering the password she entered the common room. A group of fourth years crowded the lounge by the fireplace, gossiping loudly about a Ravenclaw boy who had received a Howler from his parents in the middle of lunch.

It hit her like a rogue bludger. A Howler. Something everyone hoped they’d never receive. Romina smiled to herself, climbing the steps two at a time.

Her friends were relaxing in their shared room when Romina happily came through the door. Lily glanced from her book with a soft greeting and Alice had enchanted her wizard chess to play against her. It was a Thursday afternoon so Romina knew that Marlene would be at Quidditch practice, but there wasn’t any chance Marlene would say no to this prank.

“What are you scheming?” Lily questioned, her eyes darting around her page.

Romina pouted, “How did you know?”

“You have that sparkle in your eye, and a sly smile on your face,” Lily answered, grabbing her bookmark. “I’ve only ever seen it a few times before.”

The smile on Romina’s face grew. She grabbed Alice’s hand pulling her over to Lily’s bed.

“I figured out to get back at the boys for that snake prank they pulled on Henry,” Romina shared, glancing between Lily and Alice. “What would be so embarrassing if it happened in The Great Hall?”

“Vomitting,” Lily replied, flatly.

“Yes,” Romina agreed, “not what I had in mind.”

The silence lasted a minute before Alice opened her mouth excitedly.

“A Howler.”

Romina nodded enthusiastically. “I was thinking of sending those nitwits embarrassing Howlers,” Romina exclaimed, jumping up. “We could even get Dorcas and Delancey in on it because they have always wanted to prank them.”

“Yes! We could enchant them to be impossible to ignore,” Lily marvelled, giving Romina a high-five.

“And, if we send them for tomorrow at dinner instead of breakfast more people will see and hear it,” Alice considered, jumping up to meet them.

As they walked down to dinner, the girls were so wrapped up in their planning they had turned at the wrong corridor.

Marlene marched through the doors, sitting next to her friends with a tired sigh. She studied how her friends' eyes followed James and Sirius strutting towards the table, sly smiles spread across their faces.

“What’s up? Because I never thought I’d see Lily look at Potter with anything other than disgust,” Marlene asked, eyebrows raised.

Romina waved Marlene to huddle in. Following in curiosity, Marlene listened to the plan described to her. A snort left Marlene’s lips as she pulled away.

“That is kinda genius,” Marlene remarked.

“I was also thinking of asking Delancey and…” Romina trailed off, finding her dinner more interesting. She knew Marlene wouldn’t approve.

“The next name better not be Meadows,” Marlene snarled, pointing her fork at Romina.

Lily scoffed, “Who else would it be? Those two are a package deal.”

The cutlery clattered, as Marlene dropped her fork. She angrily shook her head. “I don’t want her anywhere near me.”

“Marlene, you are acting like a petulant child!” Lily cursed, her nostrils flaring. “Dorcas apologised for the rumour– that was made in first year– and has never done anything like that since. You need to get over this grudge because Dorcas is a good person and a great friend, and I’m sick of hearing your complaints when you’ve never tried to get to know her! ”

The air thickened with tension and awkward silence. Marlene was stunned, her eyelids drooped. Romina’s chicken was shredded from her cutting it so much. Sometimes Lily had flashes of anger. They were like a solar eclipse: rare, and something you didn’t dare stare at unless you wanted to go blind.

Alice coughed, breaking the silence. She never liked awkward silence, once saying it makes her stomach bubble.

“It’s okay if you don’t like Dorcas, but I truly think she would be useful for this prank,” Alice said softly.

A grumble was all Alice got from Marlene. The gears were turning in her head, you could see it through her eyes. Marlene knew Dorcas would help and be useful, so she reluctantly agreed.

Romina was grateful. Hopefully this prank would have James and Sirius choose their victims a little better. Because if they didn’t the pranks would only get worse but, she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Lily led Dorcas and Delancey through the portrait door of Gryffindor common room. Their lips curled at the red and gold furnishings as well as the orange cinnamon candles. No one seemed to notice that they weren’t supposed to be there, except nosy James Potter. His ears perked when he heard Lily’s honey-like voice.

“Hey!” James exclaimed, throwing himself off the armchair and stumbling over the rug. “They can’t be here.”

Sirius and Peter’s heads rolled to see who he was talking to, while Remus’s eyes stayed glued to his ‘Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts' book.

“I’m Prefect and I say they can,” Lily argued, crossing her arms, tilting her head in a way that said ‘don’t try me’.

“Well Evans, good thing there’s another Prefect here,” James retorted, crossing his arms and tilting his head to match Lily.

“You can’t be– sorry, I tried to care, but I just don’t,” Remus piped, still not looking up.

Lily smirked, flipped her hair, and left for her dorm. Delancey followed close behind, but not before sending a wink to James. Sirius studied Lily and Delancey in quiet conversation. At dinner, he’d spotted Romina whispering to Lily, Alice and Marlene with nervous glances to her left. Later, he saw her pull Dorcas and Delancey into an empty classroom. And, twelve minutes ago, she casually asked for her Advanced Charm book back. And, now Lily waltzes in with Vinson and Meadows trailing behind. He knew something was up.

“Poor Potter– two snakes in your den of lions, and you can’t shake either of them,” Dorcas teased, striding off to the girls’ dormitory.

James slowly turned, eyes narrowing at the door to girls’ dormitories. “I know that look, I’ve given that look. Those girls are up to something.”

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” Sirius said, deadpan, flicking lint from his sleeve.

In the fifth-year girls’ dormitory, the noisy chatter had faded to a gentle hush. The prank was planned to perfection — sharp insults polished to a gleam, charms layered so cleverly that James, Sirius, and Peter didn’t stand a chance. Snacks sprawled across beds and blankets as the girls drifted into gossip.

“Delancey, how do you even know that?” Alice questioned, snatching up a chocolate frog.

Delancey cast a glance around the room. “People get sloppy with their secrets when they think you’re quiet and reserved. Your secrets are best kept with yourself.”

Romina could relate to that. Her deepest, darkest secrets lived in the corners of her mind– untouchable to everyone.

“Don’t tell that to Lola Clarke and Cassian Dawson. I’m currently living for their drama,” Lily said, hanging upside down on Marlene's bed–seemingly choosing to move past their dinner argument– her face as red as her hair. “I hear them in the library and it's been making studying with Severus a little more interesting.”

"Why d’you still hang ’round ’im?" Marlene asked, through a mouthful of Butterbeer Fudge.

All eyes gazed upon Lily, eager for her answer. They knew how Snape was, but everyone saw a different snippet of him compared to Lily. Her silence was deafening.

“Because he’s my friend. I don’t turn my back on friends,” Lily finally said. “But, I will admit, he does have his quirks.”

Lily’s words hung in the air, stirring an odd mix of agreement and unease. Romina caught Dorcas’s expression– the smallest flicker of a warm smile– before she looked away. Like the rest of the girls, she held loyalty dearly.
Back in third year, Dorcas had left her wand in the library. When she had gone to retrieve it, two fifth year boys cornered her. They sent jinxes and hexes that never reached her– thanks to Alice, Lily and Romina who swiftly intervened. The Gryffindor girls retaliated with their own jinxes and spells, forcing the boys to retreat. They grabbed Dorcas’s hand, dragging her away to the girls’ bathroom, where the four hid for the rest of lunch. From that afternoon on, Dorcas carried a certain sweetness for the three Gryffindor girls who had stepped in. A loyalty to them that wouldn’t ever break.

All throughout the next day, Lily, Alice, Marlene and Romina cast wicked glances towards James, Sirius and Peter. Silent clues– that they were too oblivious to notice. As dinner rolled around, the six girls sat at the Gryffindor– close to the boys but not close enough to arouse suspicion. The hall was full, teachers and students alike chattering away in joyful conversations.

Alice checked her watch and whispered: “Three, two, one.”

Three Howlers flew at light speed into The Great Hall. Chatter stopped as everyone watched the spectacle. McGongall’s eyes closed and she let out a deep breath. The three Howlers flew to the Gryffindor table, hovering in front of James, Sirius and Peter. Sirius rolled his eyes and looked down the table to the girls. He guessed this is what the girls were up to and why Meadows and Vinson were now sitting at the Gryffindor table. Nudging James, he whispered in his ear– most likely about his detective work.

Peter reached out to grab the Howler addressed to him. As his fingertips grazed, the Howler screamed: “Peter Pettigrew! Everyone has seen you kiss your chocolate frogs before you eat them. Do you snog with all your snacks or just the amphibians?” Marlene’s fake deep voice boomed, rattling the glass. “Do you even know who you are without Potter and Black’s approval?”

A flush of deep pink crawled up Peter’s neck. His hands hid his face, while The Great Hall erupted into laughter. Remus supportively patted Peter on the back.

The Howler, addressed to James, burst open emitting a shriek. “Potter! It’s almost impressive how you manage to be so loud and so clueless. And, Merlin forbid you pass up on a chance in the spotlight!” It was Dorcas' voice mimicking an old woman.

There was another rupture of laughter; the Slytherin’s were deliriously loud. James pushed his glasses up his nose and ruffled his hair to show he wasn’t bothered. He even sent Sirius a proud smile.

Sirius knew the last Howler was for him. It opened with a screech: “Sirius Black, the boy who would flirt with a troll if it winked at him. You may call it confidence but we call it an allergic reaction to self-awareness. And, maybe one day you’ll realise you don’t need to act all tough to get people’s approval.” Delancey’s impression of Dumbledore voiced his Howler.

As the laughter roared, Sirius scoffed, running his tongue over his teeth. He’s heard worse insults.

The Howlers ripped themselves into a million pieces, landing on Peter’s plate. The girls high-fived each other with proud smiles. They managed to prank the ‘prank masters’, as James had once– without an ounce of sarcasm– called himself and his friends.

“So that’s what they were planning,” Remus stated, stunned as he watched his sister and her friends giggle and gossip.

“Honestly, it was pretty good for their first time,” James applauded as he held up a piece of the ripped Howler.

“Are we going to prank them back?” Peter finally asked, mashing his roast potatoes with his fork.

“Maybe,” Sirius replied, he knew they wouldn’t.

He turned to look at Romina, their eyes locked. She gave a teasing wave accompanied with a smile that could haunt the bravest soldiers. The churning in Sirius’s stomach forced him to avert his gaze from her.

Sirius trudged to the common room, James by his side, Remus behind still comforting Peter about what the Howlers had said.

“It’s just them getting back at you. They didn’t mean anything by it, just a bit of fun,” Remus reassured, thinning his lips. “And, if you just left Henry and Snape alone, this wouldn’t happen.”

A loud belly laugh echoed in the corridors. Romina stood close to Henry. He twirled her hair in his finger while she spoke. They were talking about the Howlers, Sirius could hear them. Henry seemed to think it was the funniest thing in the world.

Mulciber, Rosier, Wilkes and his brother, Regulus, arrived at Henry’s side. Romina started fidgeting with her bracelets, glancing at the walls and tightening her lips; she was obviously uncomfortable. Her polite conversation was lost on those idiots as they looked at her as if she was filth. She finally gave up, planting a kiss on Henry’s cheek before shuffling off.

Whatever she saw in Henry was lost on him.

Chapter Text

Fog rolled in over the limestone cliffs that stood a hundred meters in the sky. The wind howled violently. Waves hurled against the shore with ballistic force. Ravens circled above the sea as if they were mesmerised. Whispers of an ancient language swirled in the wind. Standing on the shore was a woman. Her dark hair sailed elegantly with the wind, eyes closed as she gripped a silver necklace around her neck. Robes wrapped around her body like armour. Her blood ran hot as she muttered ancient incantations. Lightning struck the ocean with such vigour the ground shook.

Another flash of lightning, and Romina awoke in her room.

Sweat covered every inch of her skin. Her hands shook and her breaths came in ragged gasps. The smell of sea salt was in her hair. Romina concentrated on breathing trying to focus on happy memories. It was the same dream she’d been having for weeks. Only this time the woman had appeared and she was familiarly haunting.

Silver light cast shadows over her friends soundly sleeping. It was the early hours of the morning. Soon the golden rays would repel the shadows. Romina laid staring at the ceiling, begging her mind to fall back asleep. She struggled to close her eyes, because she wanted to know who that woman was and what she was doing.

The morning seemed to drag on like a boring class. Eventually, Romina found herself at breakfast with her sketch book. She decided weeks ago to draw every dream that she could feel in her bones. The pencils curved over the page with precision, the shoreline and the woman were soul-stirring.
As she remembered the dream a soft ache burned in her sternum; she grasped her chest to try and relieve the pain. The ache burnt out as Romina thought of calming memories. She thought of her mother’s lullabies, her fathers bedtime stories, the sound of waves in the summer.

She quickly shut her sketch book as her friends arrived at her side. Curious peeks were sent to her closed book but Lily, Alice, and Marlene knew not to ask about what she had been sketching. Peter Pettigrew, however, was oblivious enough to ask.

“Hey Romina, whatcha’ drawing?” he asked, peeping over the table.

“Nothing that concerns you,” she said, flatly.

Peter held his hands up in defence, leaning back.

A loud round of applause echoed from the end of the Gryffindor table. James Potter and Sirius Black strutted down the length of the tables in their Quidditch gear. James fluffed his hair and sent a wink at Lily. She shook her head and scoffed. James stumbled as he passed her while Sirius gave sly grins to girls as he passed. This is exactly what they needed, an ego boost. Remus trailed behind, wearing a quidditch badge in support.

“You know Sirius was caught in a broom cupboard with Emma Vanity,” Marlene whispered, wiggling her brows.

“Was she held there against her will?” Romina replied, her tone laced with annoyance, fingers wrapped tightly around her sketchbook.

Marlene choked on her juice. “Wake up on the wrong side of your bed–did ya?”

Romina rolled her eyes. There were sigils hidden in the skies of her dreams. Cliffsides and shorelines with howling wind that she could feel against her skin. The smell of sea salt that clung when she’d wake. It was terrifying her and maybe she was taking it out on everyone.

The light chatter abruptly stopped when Henry walked over to Romina. His green robes were an eyesore in the sea of red and gold. He didn’t seem fazed by the glares that were sent his way as he sat next to his girlfriend.

“Are you ready to cheer me on?” he asked her with a goofy smile.

Romina gave a small smile. “See, I don’t know if I can cheer for green. I don’t love the colour.”

“Maybe instead of cheering then, you can just flash me your beautiful smile when I score the winning goal,” he lazed back against the table, arms popped up as he flicked his hair out of his eyes.

“You’re as likely to get the winning goal as mermaids are to walk on land,” Sirius shot, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Romina glared at him. Nothing worse than an eavesdropper. “Don’t you have a broom cupboard to lock yourself in,” she shot.

Sirius gave her a lazy grin. He always loved when Romina was in a foul mood, and sometimes it was almost too easy to push her towards the edge. Back in third year, Romina had a particularly awful day and Sirius may have said something innocuous– or not so innocuous– and it had been met with a sharp, biting comment, and a cold glare. He liked that her anger stripped away her composure; what stared back at him was something real — not the facade she’d so perfectly created.

“Only if you come with me,” Sirius retorted, still grinning.

Sirius’s eyes didn’t even flicker at Henry shifting uncomfortably. He didn’t care if he was dating Romina -– Henry didn’t know Romina — not like he did

Romina grabbed a muffin and hurled it at his head. He caught it effortlessly, a lazy smirk tugging at his lips. “Thank you. I love blueberry muffins.”

“I hope you fall off your broom,” she whisper-shouted across the table, not caring about the eye rolls from their friends.

“Will you be there to tend to my injuries if I do?”

Her gaze frosted over as she stared at him. She mouthed ‘I hate you,’ but Sirius’s smirk only grew.

“I’ll hex you both if you don’t stop it,” Remus warned, his spoon raised like a wand.

James snorted. “Why are you trying to stop my morning entertainment?”

Sirius opened his mouth to fire back, but Henry cut him off. “I’m gonna go. See you later,” he said, squeezing Romina’s hand before heading to meet his team. She held on a heartbeat too long, then let go, her gaze followed him until he was out of sight. She could feel Sirius’s stare like heat on her skin, and was determined not to catch it.

“Romina! Your boyfriend is setting off my aura for this game. There is a ritual,” Marlene shared, tapping each finger on the table.

Romina rolled her eyes, muttering an apology. Her face contorted as she repeatedly stabbed her bowl of porridge.

Lily and Alice exchanged a glance.

James pulled the Gryffindor team from breakfast, instructing them to follow him to the pitch. Marlene muttered while she followed, careful not to step on the cracks in the floor.

“What’s going on with you today?” Lily questioned, crossing her arms leaning forward. “Its not just because Pettigrew was being nosy was it?”

Romina shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. You threw a muffin at Sirius and you‘ve stabbed your porridge like a hundred times,” Alice’s voice was soft and comforting.

Romina wanted to yell about the dreams. She wanted to tell them about how she was becoming fluent in an ancient language. The temptation of wanting to visit the cliffside was unbearable, like being pulled to the spindle. But, Romina had convinced herself that they would fear her if they knew the truth.

“It’s really nothing. I must be getting my period tomorrow or something,” she lied too quickly.

Alice and Lily accepted her answer. Guilt crawled up her back. They should know what was going on with her, they could probably help. But, Romina thought they might believe she was crazy. No one who was completely all there heard things or had the same recurring dreams. It was easier that way;

Lying was always easier.

A couple minutes later, Snape came over to Lily. His dark greasy hair hid his face. He was slouching as he whispered something to Lily. Snape paid no attention to Romina and Alice, not even a polite greeting.

“Sorry girls, Severus just reminded me that I promised I’d walk to the pitch with him, but I’ll obviously save you some seats,” Lily said, as she stood from the table.

Romina and Alice nodded as she left with Snape.

“Bye Snivellus!” Peter called out.

Remus shook his head while Lily sent a glare.

Peter had a look of satisfaction adored on his face. He was bound to tell James and Sirius all about it after the Quidditch match. Romina rolled her eyes, James and Sirius weren’t even here for him to get their approval. She wished for the day he didn’t treat them like Merlin reincarnated.

“Are you ready to head?” Romina asked.

“Yeah,” Alice replied. “But could we maybe go to the bathroom first?”

“Of course.”

Romina and Alice left The Great Hall at a quick pace. They didn’t want to miss any part of the match. It was the first game of the year, Slytherin versus Gryffindor. James had been raving about his strategies every night for the past month. He was so confident he was going to win, but Henry had been telling Romina all about the Slytherin trainings, and she didn’t know if Gryffindor would win. The Slytherin’s were training three days a week for hours, their strategies were significantly better, and Regulus Black was a much better Seeker than Rolland Harrington.

Alice and Romina made it to the girls' lavatory. Romina stood facing the mirror playing with her hair, as Alice discussed her predictions for the match.

“I think James will score the most,” Alice said, “and Marlene and Dorcas will bicker about the match tomorrow at breakfast.”

Romina gave a wry laugh, turning from the mirror. “I can’t believe they aren’t friends, they have so much in common.”

“Merlin! Can you imagine all the conversations about quidditch if they were friends,” Alice replied, exiting the stall. “Maybe one day we might have to sit them both down — in a calm environment — and get them to talk about their feelings.”

Romina went to reply but, out of the corner of her eye she caught something in the mirror; a woman.
She had dark blonde hair curled by ocean waves. Her skin was sun-warmed yet pale, the colour leeched away by too many years. Amber eyes glinted beneath the fringe and stacks of silver and gold necklaces covered a faded scar on her neck. She wore a burgundy lace dress that reached her ankles and a long black coat draped over her shoulders.

Romina froze. She tried to brush it off — just a trick of the light. Her heart hammered against her chest. A buzzing echoed in her ear and she felt her head tighten. The woman in the mirror gave a wicked grin that bared all her teeth before fading away.

“Hey Romina, are you feeling okay?” Alice asked, placing a hand on Romina’s shoulder.

“Totally fine,” Romina replied, spinning to face Alice.

She readjusted her mask, sending Alice a smile, grabbing her hand to leave for the pitch. Romina was determined not to throw one last glance to the mirror. They weaved carefully through the corridors, to avoid Peeves' echoing cackles — running into Peeves was the last thing either of them wanted to do.

At the pitch Alice and Romina managed to find Lily and Snape in the perfect spot. They could see every angle of the match. Alice was telling Lily all about her theories on the strategies the teams would use, while Snape glared at the floor with his arms crossed.

“Hello!” Kevin Killian’s voice boomed through the speaker, startling a few birds from the trees “Welcome to the first game of the season! Gryffindor versus Slytherin— the only game anyone really cares about.”

A wave of laughter rippled through the crowd.

“Mr Killian!” came McGonagall’s stern voice.

“–Sorry to Ravenclaw and my fellow Hufflepuffs,” Kevin apologised with a grin, “all games are, of course, equally as thrilling.”

With unnecessary dramatic flair, Kevin shuffled his notes. “Here come the teams! Captain James Potter leads the Gryffindor team joined by his side is partner-in-mischievous crime Sirius Black. Marlene McKinnon, Dirk Cresswell, Sturgis Podmore — who’s still a bit salty about missing captaincy, I hear — and the new additions, Frank Longbottom and Rolland Harrington following behind.”

McGongall sent Kevin a deadly side-glare.

“And, now, the Slytherin team,” Kevin went on, unbothered, “Led by captain Emma Vanity — who seems to be staring at Sirius Black. I know we’ve all heard that story — followed by Lucinda Talkalot, Henry Inkwell, Dorcas Meadows, Mulciber, Avery, and last but not least Regulus Black,” Kevin finished.

The crowd cheered and clapped for the teams.

“A family reunion on the pitch,” Kevin added, cheerfully. “Let’s hope it ends better than last time — though, let’s be honest the Black brothers do know how to put on a show."

James and Emma shook hands at the centre, the crowd buzzing with anticipation. Madam Hooch’s whistle gave a loud blast and the players kicked off into the sky.

“They’re off! Potter catches the Quaffle right out of the toss— flying down the pitch with Mulciber hot on his tail. Look out Potter! Mulciber’s Bludger is coming straight for you. Oh! Wait! Black smashes it straight back! Nice save! Potter passes to McKinnon— McKinnon weaves through heading for the goals— oh, Meadows hits the Bludger — McKinnon drops the Quaffle! Inkwell catches it. Slytherin is in possession!”

Kevin was leaning over the rail as he commentated, face flushed from shouting himself hoarse.

“Inkwell passes to Vanity— she dodges Podmore’s Bludgers, nice reflexes — Vanity passes to Talkalot— Talkalot is closing in on the goals! Inkwell flying ahead, pushing past Cresswell and Potter— Talkalot back to Inkwell– he catches— he throws— Longbottom dives— misses! SLYTHERIN SCORES!”

A roar rolled through the Slytherin crowd. Henry circled the pitch, revelling in the crowd's cheers. From the stands, Romina blew him a kiss— and his cocky grin faltered to a hard gaze.

“Oh, watch out! Black has sent a Bludger towards Inkwell — he narrowly dodges — Cresswell flies the Quaffle down the pitch — obviously no sign of the snitch, as we can see the other Black brother and Harrington not doing anything— Cresswell passes to McKinnon — Vanity closing in — Podmore smashes the Bludger— OH! OH NO! Vanity has been hit — Meadows making a dive to catch her — but no time to worry because McKinnon passes to Potter who throws — Avery dives and misses by inches! GRYFFINDOR SCORES!”

Another roar of cheering rolled through the crowd. James circled the pitch giving his team high-fives.

“OTHER BLACK BROTHER HAS SPOTTED THE SNITCH! HARRINGTON CLOSE BEHIND! BLACK AND PODMORE SEND BLUDGERS— OH WAIT, INKWELL BLOCKS OTHER BLACK FROM BEING HIT— AND HE’S GOING DOWN! THAT’S TWO IN ONE GAME— AT NEXT TRAINING, SLYTHERIN MIGHT WANT TO FOCUS ON HOW TO STAY ON THEIR BLOODY BROOMS! THE SEEKERS ARE NECK AND NECK— HANDS STRETCHED OUT— AND MERLIN’S BEARD! REGULUS BLACK HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! SLYTHERIN WINS THIS INCREDIBLY SHORT MATCH. Better luck next time, Gryffindor.”

Romina gasped as she watched the Bludger strike Henry in the chest. Her hands flew to her mouth as he spiralled downward. She muttered every spell that could stop his descent. Relief flooded her stomach when Lucinda dove and caught his arm meters from the ground.

Without a second thought, Romina bolted down to the pitch. She ran past the Gryffindor team— James was already in the middle of a pep talk. She paid them no mind as she ran.

“Henry!” she called, breathless. She stood close enough for him to hear her but far enough that his teammates’ sneers wouldn’t reach her.

He limped to her. Avery tried to stop him, and for a second Henry hesitated before he muttered something to Avery, and continued to limp over. She scanned his face for cuts and bruises, but he pulled away.

“You shouldn’t have come running over here, Romina. You’d see me later,” he said, irritated.

“Are you okay?” she asked, grabbing his hand, choosing to ignore his comment.

Henry looked back at Avery, then gently pulled his hand free. “Fine. Maybe tell Black to watch where he’s sending Bludgers.” His eyes glanced up at Sirius, who was laughing with James, Peter and Remus.

Romina narrowed her eyes, fidgeting with her bracelets. “He’s playing the game. You flew in front of it.”

“Inkwell! Get over here!” Mulciber shouted. “Now!”

Henry rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you soon,” he said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

Romina stood frozen in the middle of the pitch, her hand aching from his rejection. She tried to reason with herself— maybe the Bludger had injured his hand, maybe he was just shaken from the fall — though she knew deep down in the pits of her stomach she was making excuses.

A hand grabbed Romina’s arm pulling her away. Marlene clicked her fingers to get Romina’s attention. Romina blinked, hard.

“Sorry you lost,” Romina murmured.

Marlene shook her head. “I’m sure we’ll win the next one but that doesn’t matter right now. What is Merlin’s name was that?” she asked, pointing to Henry.

“You saw that?”

Marlene nodded, thinning her lips.

Romina looked back at Henry. “I have no idea who that was.”

The girls began walking off the pitch. They spotted Alice talking to Frank and Lily hovering off to the side. Lily spotted them and ran over.

“How’s Henry? He took a pretty nasty hit,” she asked, falling into step beside them.

“He was rude and distant,” Romina said.

Lily frowned. “What do you mean? Like he didn’t seem like he wanted to talk to you?”

“Yep,” Romina replied, quietly.