Lupin's True Love

September 2, 1972

Early the next morning, Veronica climbed from her four-poster bed and glanced around the room at the other First Year girls. Each gave her a tentative smile, as they got dressed. Veronica grabbed her robes and her red bag and hurried into the bathroom. She was showered and dressed as several older girls walked into the bathroom. She pulled her brush through her hair as she listened to the girls giggling. She pulled out a simple black hair ribbon and tied her hair back from her face.

"That's not very attractive." Lily stepped up behind Veronica and pulled the ribbon from her hair.

"Lily!" Veronica turned around and gave Lily a hug. "Could I have my ribbon back?"

"Only if you let me do your hair." Lily laughed as Veronica nodded. Hand me your brush."

Veronica watched as Lily dragged the brush through her hair and proceeded to braid it. She noticed that Lily rummaged through her own hair ribbons and extracted a scarlet red ribbon and a gold ribbon. "What are you doing?"

"You're a Gryffindor so you must wear Gryffindor colors." Lily wove the ribbons through Veronica's hair and stepped back. "Perfect."

"Looks great, Lily." Patricia stepped up from behind them. "Time for some makeup."

"I'm not allowed to wear makeup yet. Mother says that it will make me look like a hussy." Veronica tried to move away from Lily and Patricia.

"Your mom is wrong." Lily rummaged through her own makeup bag and withdrew a tube of lip-gloss and a tube of mascara. "I heard about Remus' reaction to your look on the train.

"How?" Veronica's widened slightly.

"James and Sirius. They told us thank you for helping you out." Patricia dabbed the lip-gloss onto Veronica's lips.

"Now hold still." Lily carefully applied the mascara to Veronica's eyes. "You can keep these with your stuff and we'll teach you how to apply it."

"Thanks." Veronica tilted her head slightly as she gazed into the mirror.

"Wait for us and we'll go down to the Great Hall together." Patricia walked toward the showers.

"Sure." Veronica flipped the braid over her shoulder. "I'll be in my dorm room getting my books together."

"Sure." Lily followed Patricia to the showers.

Veronica entered her dorm room and noticed that the other First Years were staring at her. "What? Is my hair sticking up in the back?" Veronica rushed over to the mirror.

"No. We wanted to tell you that we're here if you ever want to talk." One of the girls walked over to Veronica. "My name's Jennifer Holmes. This is Brinkley Coulter, Catherine Sherbrooke, and Brooke Johnson."

"Veronica Croft." Veronica smiled softly as she nodded to each of the girls.

"We heard what happened on the train and we'll always be here is you need us." Brinkley fiddled with her blonde hair.

"We're going down for breakfast. Want to come?" Catherine picked up her bag from beside her bed.

"No, thank you. I'm waiting for Lily and Patricia."

"Aren't they in Second Year?" Brooke sank onto her bed and stared at Veronica.

"Yeah. So are James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin." Veronica took everything out of her bag and placed her stuff on her bed.

"Wow! You're here one day and you're friends with the most popular kids." Jennifer laughed lightly. "Will you introduce us?"

"Sure." Veronica turned as the door opened.

"Ready, Veronica?" Lily and Patricia stepped into the dorm room.

"Just a minute." Veronica finished putting her books into her bag. "I want you to meet Jennifer, Brinkley, Catherine, and Brooke. Girls, these two are Lily and Patricia."

"Nice to meet you." Lily extended her hand to each girl.

"Hope you enjoy being in Gryffindor." Patricia waved to the girls. "We'd best get going or James and Sirius will eat all the food."

"Not like you wouldn't just love that." Veronica ducked as she rushed down the stairs in front of Patricia.

Patricia ran after her as Lily followed at a slower pace. "You'll pay for that! Maybe I'll let Remus know how you feel about him."

"Don't even joke about that." Veronica whirled around and glared at Patricia. "If you tell Remus, I'll tell James."

"You wouldn't." Patricia slid to a stop.

Veronica smiled and shrugged. "Maybe I would and maybe I wouldn't."

"I give." Patricia raised her hands in surrender. "You win."

Veronica laughed as all seven of the girls made their way out of the common room. As they made their way to the Great Hall, Peeves the Poltergeist pushed over a suit of armor. Veronica did a back flip to avoid it as the other girls screamed and ran beyond it.

"Oh...an ickle firstie can avoid my tricks." Peeves hovered above Veronica as she glared at him.

"I might be a first year but I can avoid most anything you can throw at me." Veronica's grey eyes flashed violet as Professor Flitwick made his way down the corridor.

"Peeves, today isn't the day to make a mess here as Mr. Filch is already in a bad mood." Professor Flitwick waved his wand and the armor bounced back into place as Peeves floated through the nearest wall. "Are you ladies alright?"

"Yes, Professor Flitwick." Lily straightened her bag and cloak.

"Now, Miss Croft, that was very impressive. Not may first years would be able to avoid a heavy suit of armor and stand up to Peeves." Flitwick picked up Veronica's bag and handed it to her.

"Thank you, Professor. My mother insisted that I take gymnastics for years. She said that it would help me avoid things." Veronica lifted her bag onto her shoulder. "I guess instinct took over when I saw that armor fall. Besides Peeves was asking for it." Veronica smiled as Flitwick laughed loudly.

"You girls had better be getting to the Great Hall before the food is gone. I believe Potter and Black have been down there for nearly an hour already." Flitwick walked away from the group as they started down the corridor again.

"How did you know to do that, Veronica?" Lily followed the other girls into the Great Hall.

"I don't know. Like I told Professor Flitwick, it was really instinct that caused me to react." Veronica slowed down when she saw Remus. "Lily, did I mess up my hair or anything?"

"No. You look fine." Lily grabbed Veronica's arm and dragged her to the Gryffindor Table.

"Hey, Veronica. Is Patricia telling the truth? Did you really tell off Peeves?" James passed Sirius a platter of sausages.

"Sure did." Veronica snatched a sausage from Sirius' plate.

"Hey! That's mine!" Sirius handed the platter to Veronica.

"Shouldn't be so slow." Veronica piled several sausages onto her plate as Remus passed her the eggs. "Thank you, Remus."

Sirius tried to snatch as sausage from Veronica's plate and Veronica slapped his hand. He shook his hand as Professor McGonagall made her was down the Gryffindor Table. She handed a piece of paper to each of the students as she passed them. Veronica took her schedule as Sirius tried to look at it.

"Mr. Black, perhaps this year you could pay attention in my class." Professor McGonagall handed Sirius his schedule.

"What do you have?" James tried to take Veronica's schedule.

"I'll read it to you." Veronica cleared her throat and began to read aloud. "Double Charms with Ravenclaw, Defense Against The Dark Arts, Double Potions with Slytherin, and Transfiguration." She looked up from her schedule. "What about you?"

"Transfiguration, Double Potions with Slytherin, Double Herbology with Hufflepuff, and History of Magic." Sirius growled low in his throat. "The most boring day except for maybe Transfiguration."

"There could be more boring classes." Veronica sipped her orange juice. "I'll see you guys during break."

"Aren't you going to tell us what Professor Dumbledore told you last night?" Remus looked up from his schedule.

"Not right now. I'll tell you guys tonight." Veronica made her way from the Great Hall with the other Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws.

Veronica shook hands with several of the Ravenclaws. They made their way toward the Charms corridor.

"Did you really do a back flip to avoid a suit of armor?" One of the Ravenclaw boys stared at her in awe.

"Sure did, Blake." Veronica held out her bag. "Let me show you how to do it." Veronica quickly did a back flip and landed onto her feet. "It's just like second nature."

Blake Gebhardt laughed as he handed Veronica her bag. "Could you teach us?"

"Sure." Veronica laughed as they entered the Charms classroom.

"Hey, Croft!" Veronica turned to another Ravenclaw. "Aren't you friends with Potter, Black, and Lupin?"

"Yeah. I met them at the train platform yesterday." Veronica extended her hand. "I never got your name."

"That's because I never gave it. I'm Fabian Prewett." Fabian took Veronica's hand. "My brother is Gideon Prewett. He is in second year Ravenclaw. He knows the guys too."

"It's good to meet you." Veronica turned to the door as Flitwick entered the room. "I guess we should get to our seats."

"Yeah." Fabian sank into one of the seats as Veronica sank into the one next to him. "Time for class to start."

Veronica giggled as Flitwick climbed onto the books behind his desk. He cleared his throat as the rest of the class made their way to their seats.

"Very good." Flitwick took role quickly and turned back to the class. "Usually we begin with learning how to move your wand but I thought we would ask Miss Croft to show us some moves from her past gymnastics classes." Flitwick turned to the blushing Veronica. "Would you please demonstrate for us, Miss Croft?"

"Yes, Professor. I'll need a bit more space."

"But of course." Flitwick waved his wand and all the desks moved to the perimeter of the room. "Anything else?"

"No, sir." Veronica proceeded to stretch her muscles. "The first thing I'm going to do is a simple cartwheel. You start with your hands over your head. Bring them down to the ground and your body follows into a handstand. Finally you bring your feet down and return to a standing position." Veronica quickly demonstrated the cartwheel. "Now I'm going to do a series of moves. Most I don't remember the names of so please bear with me." Veronica took a running start and proceeded to flip and twist her way across the room. Finally she was standing at the opposite side of the room. Suddenly she began doing several flips and twists back across the room. "That's about all I remember."

"Thank you, Miss Croft." Flitwick was clapping with the rest of the class. "The reason I asked Miss Croft to demonstrate is because I watched her avoid a suit of armor by doing a back flip. These may be skills that you will need later in life. Now we will begin our lessons."

Veronica sank gratefully into her seat and began to take notes. Veronica jumped when she heard the bell ring an hour later. She shoved her quill, ink, and parchment into her bag. "Goodbye, Professor Flitwick."

"Just a moment, Miss Croft." Flitwick waved goodbye to the rest of the class. "I noticed that you could answer every question that I asked today." Veronica started to speak but Flitwick raised his hand and stopped her. "Let me finish. I would like for you to perform a Levitating Charm."

"Wingardium Leviosa." Veronica watched as a feather floated toward the ceiling.

"Good. Now I'm going to break this cup and I want you to repair it." Flitwick broke a teacup.

"Reparo." The pieces of the cup jumped back together.

"Okay. Now for the Unlocking Charm." Flitwick locked the door with a wave of his wand.

"Alohamora." The lock on the door clicked open.

"Miss Croft, I'm sorry to say this but you don't need to be here with the rest of the First Years. You are ready for Second Year work. I'm afraid you would be bored in my class before too long." Flitwick smiled broadly. "I'll speak to Professor McGonagall this evening."

"Yes, sir." Veronica slung her bag over her shoulder. "May I go to my next class?"

"Of course." He wrote a quick note. "Just give this to Professor Reinhardt. I'm sure he'll understand."

"Yes, sir." Veronica rushed down to the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom. She pushed open the door and the class turned to face her as she stepped into the room. "Sorry I'm late, Professor Reinhardt, but Professor Flitwick wanted to see me for a moment. He sent a note." Veronica handed Reinhardt the slip of paper.

"Of course, Miss Croft. Your classmates were just telling me about your flips and such during Charms. Perhaps you would demonstrate while I throw several curses at you?"

"Sure, Professor." Veronica placed her bag beside her desk.

Reinhardt started throwing jinxes and hexes at Veronica as she flipped and twisted around the room. Finally she was five feet from Reinhardt when he sent a stunner at her. She did a flip over his head and brought her foot around his leg as he tried to avoid her.

"Where did you learn that?"
"A couple years of karate lessons." Veronica blushed slightly as she stared at Reinhardt.

"Good moves." Reinhardt quickly wrote something down. "I want to speak with you after class."

"Yes, sir." Veronica sank into her seat and slowly regained her composure.

The class took notes for the rest of the period until the bell rang for lunch. Veronica slowly gathered her things as Reinhardt approached her.

"Miss Croft, I believe you would indeed benefit with some dueling lessons, especially after your attack on the train. What I saw here today showed me that you really should be in the second year." Reinhardt sat on one of the desks as he watched as Veronica nodded. "I'll speak with Professor McGonagall at lunch."

"Thank you, sir." Veronica rushed down the stairs and into the Great Hall. She located James and Remus. "Hey, James, Peter, Remus. Where's Sirius?"

"Getting his first detention of the year." James snickered into his stew. "What took you so long?"

"Professor Reinhardt wanted to speak to me." Veronica ladles some stew into her bowl as Sirius stepped into the Great Hall. "Well if it isn't the local trouble maker? Want some stew?"

"Give it here." Sirius took the bowl from Veronica. "I lucked out. No detention but I do have a three foot essay for Tilbelt due no later than tomorrow afternoon."

"It wasn't your fault. That idiot Dorian Knight started it. He messed up your potion on purpose." Remus ladled more stew into his bowl.

"Tilbelt didn't want to hear it." Sirius laid his spoon down. So, Veronica how was your first day?"

"Pretty good. Professors Flitwick and Reinhardt wanted me to show them my gymnastics moves. I also surprised Professor Reinhardt with a simple leg sweep move from karate." Veronica broke her roll in half and buttered it. "It was fun."

"Don't expect fun in McGonagall's or Tilbelt's class." James climbed to his feet. "We still have enough time for a walk outside before class."

"Not now, James." Veronica glanced toward the Staff Table. She watched as Reinhardt and Flitwick both spoke with Professor McGonagall. "Please let her say yes."

"Let who say yes?" Remus' eyes followed her gaze. "Are they asking Professor McGonagall if you can teach them gymnastics?"
"No. They're asking if I can be moved up. I hope she says yes." Veronica turned back to her stew.

"Be kind of neat if you were in Second Year with us." Remus placed his spoon beside his bowl. "Let's go outside with James and Sirius."

"Okay." Veronica picked up her bag and followed Remus from the Great Hall.

They stood on the steps and chatted as other students walked in and out of the front doors. Suddenly the bell bounded. James sighed and rolled his eyes as several Slytherin First Years made their way back into the castle.

"Be careful with the Slytherins." James started down the steps as Remus turned to Veronica.

"Don't let them bother you too much." Remus followed James as Sirius ran sown the steps after them.

Veronica sighed softly and walked back into the castle. She found the other First Year Gryffindors and together they made their way down the stairs to the dungeons and their Potions class. The First Year Slytherins were already standing in the corridor. Veronica heard the snickering from the crowd.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Miss Croft. Let's see if she'll do something absolutely amazing for us." Anthony Abernathy smirked to his friends.

"I just might but then it would make you happy, wouldn't it, Abernathy?" Veronica flipped her braid over her shoulder.

"You tell him, Veronica." Brinkley slapped one of the Gryffindor boys on the shoulder. "I told you that you would like her, Patrick."

Patrick Patil shrugged as the door to the Potions room opened. The Gryffindors and the Slytherins quietly entered the room. Veronica joined Brinkley at one table while Patrick and Catherine sat at the table next to them. Professor Tilbelt came into the room and stalked to his desk.

"Many of you won't think that making a potion is real magic but it is some of the most dangerous that you will ever find." Tilbelt gazed around the room. "We will begin by making the simplest of potions and slowly move on as you have mastered each one." He waved his wand at the board and a recipe appeared on the board. "There is the recipe and the ingredients are here." He waved his wand at a cabinet and the door flew open. "You may begin."

Veronica studied the recipe as she began writing it down. Tilbelt watched as she slowly began her potion as the others were still writing. He watched as Anthony threw something into her potion. She raised her hand once she noticed that something wasn't quite right with the potion. Tilbelt moved to her desk and stared down at her.

"Excuse me, Professor. But have I done something wrong to my potion?" Veronica motioned to her cauldron.

"No, you haven't. You have done everything perfectly. It seems that Mr. Abernathy has put something in your potion so that you would fail." Tilbelt turned to Anthony. "Five points from Slytherin for tampering with someone else's potion, Mr. Abernathy. Five points to Gryffindor for discovering the mistake, Miss Croft." He moved back to his desk. "I would like to speak to you after class, Miss Croft."

Brinkley gave Veronica a big smile as Anthony smirked at them. Suddenly the bell rang. Veronica cleared her station as the rest of the class left the dungeon. She made her way to Tilbelt's desk.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Veronica stared at her feet.

"How did you know that something was wrong with the potion?"

"I think it was because the color wasn't right. Since it wasn't in acid green color, I thought I might have added something to it that might have changed the color to lilac, sir."

"You are very attentive to your surroundings. I would like to speak to Professor McGonagall about moving you into my Second Year class. I'm sure Mr. Black and Mr. Potter would benefit from your presence in class." Tilbelt wrote something onto a piece of parchment and handed it to Veronica. "Give this to Professor McGonagall once you get to your class."

"Thank you, sir." Veronica took the parchment and calmly walked out of the room. She rushed up the stairs and into the Transfiguration classroom. "Sorry I'm late, Professor McGonagall, but Professor Tilbelt wanted to speak to me. He sent this note." She handed the parchment to Professor McGonagall.

"Very well. Take your seat." Professor McGonagall read the note quickly. "I would like to see you after class."

Veronica nodded as she sank into her seat. Suddenly Professor McGonagall put notes on the board and Veronica quickly took notes. They were put to the task of changing a toothpick into a needle. Veronica concentrated very hard and was rewarded a minute later with the toothpick disappearing and a needle sitting on her desk in its place. Professor McGonagall was surprised by the turn of events. When the bell rang, everyone, except Veronica, had to do an essay. Veronica slowly gathered her things and approached Professor McGonagall's desk.

"You needed to speak to me?" Veronica fidgeted with the handle of her bag.

"I have been approached by no less than three different teachers telling me of the things that you are able to do." Professor McGonagall watched as Veronica nodded. "I can't tell you how surprised I was when you were the only one to manage to change the toothpick completely. Transfiguration is extremely difficult but you seemed to have mastered it thus far. Tell me what you think about moving up into next year."

"I'm not sure if I have learned enough to do the work but if you and your fellow professors think I can then I'll give it a try." Veronica stared into Professor McGonagall's eyes.

"I will speak to the Headmaster this evening at dinner. Once I have spoken to him I will send for you." Professor McGonagall sank into her seat. "You may go on to your common room."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." Veronica made her way to the door.

"Well. What did she want?" Brinkley grabbed Veronica's arm worriedly.

"Nothing much." Veronica smiled softly.

"What?! You've been kept after every class today. What is going on?" Brinkley followed Veronica up the flights of stairs.

"It's nothing." Veronica stopped in front of the Fat Lady.

"Password?"
"Fairy Lights." Veronica stepped through the portrait hole as Brinkley followed her. "Let's start our essays."

"You don't have an essay." Brinkley sank into one of the chairs around a long wooden table and pulled out her books.

Veronica pulled out an inkbottle and a quill. She began to write on her parchment as Brinkley scowled at her once more. Suddenly the portrait door opened and James, Remus, Peter, and Lily stepped in. James fumed as he threw his bag onto the floor beside the table. Brinkley squeaked and gathered her things. She threw a furious look at Veronica and rushed up to their dorm room.

"Stupid. I shouldn't have let it happen." James slammed a book onto the table.

"How was your day?" Veronica smiled sweetly as James glowered at her.

"What are you so happy about?" James flipped the book open and began to write.

"Nothing. What's wrong?" Veronica looked over at Remus who shrugged and tried to hide a smile as he sat beside James.

"I have an extra essay to do because Sirius decided to poke me during History of Magic class and I yelled out loud."

Veronica giggled as James threw her a dirty look. "I was lucky I guess. We only had one essay today and I got out of it."

"Lucky you." James continued to write furiously.

"Well excuse me." Veronica turned to Remus and Lily. "How was your day?"

"Fine except for James and Sirius fighting." Remus ducked as James took a swing at him.

"Do you want to know what Dumbledore said last night?" Veronica half-turned as Sirius stepped through the portrait hole.

"Did I miss anything?" Sirius sank into the chair beside Veronica.

"Other than James being a pain...no." Veronica laughed as Lily climbed to her feet and made her way to the dormitory stairs. "I was about to James and Remus what Dumbledore said last night."

"Go on." Remus held his quill ready to begin taking notes.

"He said there is an ancient prophecy that tells of a girl whose eyes change colors with her emotions. She will either help defeat a Dark wizard or she will help bring him to full power."

"How?" James looked up from his essay.

"I'm assuming marriage. But there's more. I'm that girl."

"No way." Sirius placed a hand over Veronica's hand.

"That was my reaction too. But think about it. I was the one that was attacked on the train. My eyes change to violet when I get angry." Veronica smiled at James, Sirius, and Remus. "These were his exact words: 'You are the exact description of the girl. A quiet determined young lady who has grey eyes that change colors with her emotions. She will stand up for what she believes in. She will care for all things and people. She will only love one man for the rest of her life. Her true love.' I don't want to think about the prophecy too much or I'll drive myself batty."

"You're true love? Who's that?" Remus laid his quill on the table.

"Don't know. There is one other thing." Veronica looked down at the table.

"What?" James closed his book.

"The guy that tried to kidnap me must have a master somewhere." Veronica looked up into James' grey eyes.

"He'll have to get through us first." James climbed to his feet. "Let's go to dinner."

"Sure." Veronica placed her things into her bag as Sirius climbed to his feet.

"You're not taking your bag, are you?" Remus watched as Veronica slung the bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah. I thought I would do some studying while I eat." Veronica followed Remus, James, and Sirius.

"Why?" Sirius turned to face Veronica. "Why study when you don't have to?"

"Because I want to keep up my grades." Veronica stuck her tongue out at Sirius.

Sirius laughed as Veronica sank into the chair beside Remus. Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore passed the four Gryffindors. Professor McGonagall stopped beside Veronica. Veronica turned to face Professor McGonagall.

"Professor McGonagall?" Veronica stared into Professor McGonagall's eyes.

"I would like to see you after dinner tonight in my office." Professor McGonagall waited until Veronica nodded before she moved onto the Staff Table.

"What was that all about?" James turned to Veronica.

"Nothing." Veronica smiled sweetly. "Pass me the shepherd's pie, please, Sirius."

Sirius watched as Veronica quietly ate her supper. He kept glancing at the Staff Table. He leaned over toward James under the pretense of reaching for the salt. "Something's up."

James handed the salt to Sirius and nodded. "How do we find out?"

"Remus will know." Sirius glanced at Remus.

James shook his head. "He'd never give her away. How about Brinkley?"

"That first year in her dorm room?" Sirius watched James nod. "She would protect Veronica with her life."

"I guess you'll find out when the rest of the school does." Veronica gathered her bag and climbed to her feet. "I'll see you guys back at the common room." She waved as she made her way from the Great Hall.

Veronica managed to keep a straight face until she reached the stairs going up to Professor McGonagall's office. She giggled until she reached the office. She knocked on the door and it swung open. Slowly she walked into the inviting office.

"Oh, Miss Croft." Dumbledore motioned to the desk in front of Veronica.

Veronica sank into the seat. "Professor Dumbledore." She fiddled with the front of her robes.

"Miss Croft, do you remember what I asked you earlier today?" Professor McGonagall sank into her chair behind her desk.

"You asked me if I thought that I could do Second Year work." Veronica clasped her hands in her lap.

"And you're answer was that if the professors thought you could do it, then you would try." Professor McGonagall pulled out several pieces of parchment and placed them on her desk. "Professor Dumbledore and I both agreed that you should take your first year exams and if you pass you will be moved into the Second Year classes."

Veronica sat up straighter as Professor McGonagall placed the parchment onto the desk in front of her as Dumbledore left the room.

"Good luck, my dear." Dumbledore closed the door as Veronica began to write the answers to the questions on the parchment.