Child of the Moon

Chapter IV

Ris was left alone with her thoughts for multiple hours until her drapes were suddenly pulled apart. Ris' eyes widened in surprise. She moved her legs out of Kat's way as she promptly sat on the end of the bed.

"Moping around for this long is simply not healthy," Kat informed Ris. "So when they informed me that you had been been up here for this long, I insisted that we had to save you from your reservoir of thoughts."

Ris pushed herself into a sitting position as Shannon and Renée joined them on her bed. She looked to each one of them in turn, shocked at their demand to make her stop mourning. They each looked at her expectantly.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, clearing her throat. "I guess I have been here awhile."

"And missed supper," Shannon said handing Ris an apple. "It's not much, but it was the best we could do; it's hard to transport most of the stuff you eat. Kat can get you more food if you really want it."

"No, no, this will be fine," Ris said shaking her head. "Thank you."

"Want to talk?" Renée asked with a concerned look on her face.

"I-" Ris started, hugging her knees to her chest. "I don't know."

"When my parents separated," Shannon shared, "I never really felt better until I just unleashed all my feelings on my sister."

Ris sighed again, her eyes downcast. "It was just so sudden. We were so close, much closer than I was with my mum. It's just been really hard without him."

The girls nodded in sympathetic understanding and waited expectantly for her to continue. Ris looked at them all again and bit her lip, a nervous habit of hers.

"Did Jer tell you what happened?" Ris asked nervously.

"No, he said that he just knew that it happened, no details," Renée answered.

Ris breathed a sigh of relief, but kept her relief hidden well enough that the other girls did not notice. "Well-" Ris started, trying to think of what she really wanted to say. "I-" she started again but stopped and placed her forehead on her knees. "I'm sorry, that's all I can say right now."

"That's alright," Kat said, "you take your time. However, there is a game of Exploding Snap occurring downstairs and I rather much think that watching a humorous game is just what you need."

All three of the girls then proceeded to grab some part of Ris' arm or back and then pushed or shoved her accordingly off her bed. Ris was slightly exasperated at their adamant resolve to make her go downstairs, but she knew that it really would be best for her. So, she willingly followed them downstairs into the common room. She could instantly tell where the game was taking place as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

They worked their way over to the commotion to see that Jer had taken the liberty of showing Alex how to play the game. Though it seemed that Jer may have been leaving out some rules as Alex had soot all over him while Jer was pristine. After watching a few moves, Shannon felt that she needed to intervene.

"I think Alex needs to play with someone that won't cheat," Shannon interjected as the other three girls found seats and attempted to stay out of the argument Shannon was starting. The two boys looked over, hearing Shannon's voice, Alex looking slightly embarrassed and Jer had a look of mock shock on his face.

"Are you accusing me of cheating, Bollard?" he asked her.

"Indeed I am, Rosenberry," Shannon challenged.

"Well then," Jer countered, "if you think my teaching is sub par, than feel free to take over." Jer stood and gave a mock bow to Shannon. He then wondered over and sat down in an empty space next to Ris, looked over at her meekly and whispered, "Sorry."

Ris just smiled and shook her head. "No, you were fine, it just took me by surprise."

"I felt like an idiot," Jer admitted. "I should have realized sooner so I could've kept my mouth shut."

"You're fine," Ris reiterated. "Honestly, I feel a little guilty; I had totally forgotten about meeting you when we were younger."

Jer's eyes widen. "Oh, yeah, we did. See no reason to feel bad." He laughed. "I forgot too."

"That makes me feel a little better." Ris laughed slightly. "It was a long time ago, though. I only went the once to any of the big parties. My dad took my mum, but it was a Pureblood party, so a lot of them were not pleased. After that I think we had a dinner at your house, but then my mum got the job at West End and my dad refused to go to any fancy dinners without her."

Their conversation was interrupted by Shannon suddenly shouting, "I win!"

"Oh, good job, Bollard, you beat the Muggle-born!" Jer smirked.

"Oh? What was that?" Shannon asked turning to face him. "Get up here and I'll beat a Pureblood too."

"We'll see about that," Jer said playfully as he sprung up to take Alex's place. Alex in turn filled the seat next to Ris. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of him - he had ash all over his face. He looked at her meekly, smiling, as he was certain that he did look ridiculous. Ris reached into an inside pocket of her robe and pulled out a handkerchief.

"Here," she said offering it to him.

"Ah, thank you," he said, taking it graciously. "It's a fun game, even if I lost horribly and losing makes you look ridiculous."

"Yeah, it is," Ris said with a laugh. "I used to play it with my dad, and he'd lose on purpose just so he'd looked like that." Alex look at her nervously for a moment. Ris smiled and shook her head, interpreting his look. "I'm fine," she assured him. He nodded and the conversation lapsed for second as he wiped his face.

"So, your mum must be a pretty good musician," he said.

"Yeah, she really is quite good," Ris said, nodding.

"Did she ever give you lessons?"

"Actually, she did, it was our little thing," Ris said with a smile. "Since she couldn't share anything magical with me, she shared music with me, which she always said was just as magical."

"Really? What did she teach you?" Alex asked, his interest peaked.

"Flute," she answered. "Her main instrument was saxophone, but being a professional woodwind player, especially for pit orchestra, means you play all the woodwind instruments."

"That's cool, I started playing the trumpet last year," Alex shared.

"Oh, really? I wasn't sure I'd meet another instrumentalist at Hogwarts," she said.

"Yeah, me neither," he said with a nod. "I was kind of put out when I found out that Hogwarts didn't really have any sort of music program."

"Yes, that was one of the things my mother resented about the wizarding community," Ris sighed. "That's why she started giving me lessons so early. She believes that music is very important."

"I can't disagree with that," Alex said. Their attention then turned back to the game. Apparently, Shannon had indeed beaten Jer, as was apparent from the ash on his face and slightly annoyed look. Though, currently, Shannon was playing Renée, who was also losing.

"Why can't I ever beat you at these games?" Renée cried, frustrated.

"Because I'm just that awesome," Shannon answered as she won the game.

"Alright, I challenge Ris to this game!" Renée declared.

"What?" Ris responded in surprise.

"Since when did the loser get to pick their challenger?" Shannon pointed out.

"I do not care!" Renée continued. "I shall face Ris!"

Ris rolled her eyes and got up to take Shannon's place. Unfortunately for Renée, she still lost, but she managed to make it an amusing game all the same. They continued playing for several more hours, everyone taking turns playing everyone else. At the end of their run of games, it was decided that it was in fact Ray who was the best at the game, followed by Kat, and then Shannon, who was convinced that they were only better due to more years of experience.

They all then headed to their respective dormitories in hopes of getting well rested for their second day of classes. Ris couldn't help but go to bed with a smile. Despite the slight bumps in the day, she still was convinced that she had made the right choice.

***

The next morning was very similar to the previous morning. Ris got out before all the other girls, but in stead of reading her book, this time she filled out the planner she'd gotten in Diagon Alley. She filled in her class schedule, then on the last week of the month she put very small 'P's in the corner of the squares, and on the last day of the month, a small 'X'. Ris shut her planner quickly when she heard her friends coming down the stairs and joined them to walk down to breakfast.

Kat showed them to the staircase that lead down to the dungeons for Potions, but didn't lead them the whole way as she had Transfiguration that morning and didn't dare show up late. They made their way down the hallway, following the sounds of chatter and soon saw a group of first years standing in the hallway.

"This is a double class with the Gryffindors," Renée read off her ever present schedule.

"Least we don't have Potions with the Slytherins," Shannon stated. "That'd be double the fun with Snape as the teacher."

"I keep getting more and more excited about this class," Renée said sarcastically.

"'Bout time you weren't excited about something," Shannon said with a nod.

As they joined the group gathered around the door it suddenly opened on its own and they all filed in nervously. The girls sat in a row at one of the long tables, and Jer and Alex rushed in and took the seats in the row behind them.

"Glad you could join us," Shannon smiled mischievously at them.

"We had a late start," Jer answered, rolling his eyes.

They had made it just in time, as Professor Snape emerged from the back room, quickly and sternly demanding their attention.

"I am Professor Snape, we will begin with role," he said dryly. Shannon was first on this list, which prompted her to curse her last name more than usual. Ris tried to memorize all of the Gryffindor names as they were called. "Cameron, Miranda; Carlyle, Jacqueline; Coote, Richard; Frobisher, Victoria; Galinsbroke, Skylar ("That's such a cool name!" Renée whispered); Myers, Casey; Phillips, Arthur; Vane, Romilda; Wilson, Christian; Zurcher, Brian."

Professor Snape finished calling role and rolled up the scroll that the names were written on. He then came from behind his desk and stood in front of them, looking over each of them with a stern eye.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he told them in his quiet, dry voice. "As there is little foolish wand-waving used in potion making, some of you may not even consider it magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even how to put a stopper in death. That is, if you aren't a bunch of dunderheads that I am usually stuck teaching."

Ris' eyes grew wide, surprised by that last remark. Renée stiffened slightly in her seat and she could see a look of disbelief on Shannon's face. Snape then launched into a lecture on a potion used to cure boils and then split them into pairs to attempt to make it. He divided them by alphabetical order by last name. This paired off Shannon with Theresa, Renée with Jer, Alex with the Gryffindor Victoria Frobisher, and Ris with another Gryffindor, Skylar Galinsbroke.

After getting settled and introducing themselves to each other, Ris and Skylar started on the assigned task. They double-checked everything against what was on the board compared to what was in their notes before doing anything. They seemed to be making good progress and it seemed that they should be able to make a successful potion. As they progressed, the class was distracted slightly by a slight shriek from both Shannon and Theresa. Alarmed, Ris looked over to see their cauldron emitting green smoke in the shape of a mushroom. Snape swept over to the two girls and examined their potion.

"You forgot the porcupine quills," he said nastily. "That will cost you a point from Ravenclaw."

Shannon looked livid and was on the verge of challenging Snape as he walked away, but Theresa stopped her from an irrational decision. However, Renée's hand shot up into the air. Ris was slightly shocked, as she didn't think Renée would ever challenge a teacher. Professor Snape soon noticed her hand.

"Yes, Miss Smith?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"I believe we're done, sir," she said. The whole room was shocked. Most people were, at most, three quarters of the way done with their assignment and there were still twenty minutes left in the class. Snape sauntered over to Jer and Renée's cauldron and looked it over.

"That'll be a point for Ravenclaw," he muttered after finding no fault with potion.

Shannon looked slightly cross and commented on it as they left the class to head to Charms. "Of course the two brilliant people get paired up, not fair is what it is."

"I didn't even do anything," Renée said, casting an annoyed glance at Jer.

"What are you talking about?" Jer asked innocently. "You follow directions very well."

"He was completely unjustified to take points away for a simple mistake, especially on your first day," Ris added.

"Snape is just a cross teacher," Jer said in attempts of justifying Shannon's lost point to Ravenclaw. "I'm sure you've heard of him from your brother or sister."

"It wasn't even my fault," Shannon interjected. "I told Theresa to put the quills in, not my fault she didn't."

Shannon then crossed her arms with a huff and brooded quietly the rest of the way to Charms.

Ris was excited for this class. Professor Flitwick was their head of house and he seemed like he would be a fun teacher. They chose their seats and waited patiently for the class to start. The other five Ravenclaws entered shortly after them - Ris caught Theresa sending an apologetic glance to Shannon who ignored it - and finally Professor Flitwick entered the room. The tiny Professor levitated himself up a short distance and placed himself on a stack of books so he would have a better view of the class.

"Good morning, everyone," he greeted them cheerily. "As I'm sure many of you know, I am not only your Charms professor, but I am also the head of the Ravenclaw house. That being said, all of you are free to come to me with any problems or concerns that may arise. Now, let me do a quick role call so I can put some names with faces." He proceeded through the role quickly as there were only ten people in this class.

"Today," Professor Flitwick said after he finished the role, "we are going to start learning the most basic, and the most important, component of charm work: the swish and flick."

They then spent the rest of the day working on getting the precise wrist movement that was required for spell casting. They also took a few notes on that and a few other basic things. After class, they headed back to the Great Hall for lunch. This time, Ray and Faith were able to join them, but Kat was not.

"So, how are classes going?" Faith asked.

"Snape's a prick," Shannon answered hotly.

"Ah, he's working his charm already I see." Faith smiled.

"Pretty much." Shannon sighed.

"Charms was fun though," Renée chimed.

"Yeah, I'm glad we have a good class to follow that nightmare," Shannon said gloomily.

"How are classes for you guys?" Renée asked to distract Shannon from her moping.

"Not as fun as usual," Ray answered glumly.

"Oh?" Renée said, surprised by that answer.

"What my brother means is, classes are a lot harder this year because we have to prepare for our O.W.L.'s," Faith explained.

"Owls?" Renée questioned.

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," Faith answered. "They determine if we continue on in Hogwarts, and if we can pursue the career we want."

"Oh, that does sound like it would be rather difficult," Renée said.

When they were done eating, Faith agreed to show them to their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ris was very excited for this class. She hoped that Professor Lupin would be a good teacher, and she knew there would not be any hints to anyone being a werewolf. The other group of Ravenclaws had actually beat them to this class, and they filled in the seats around them. Professor Lupin soon entered the room and started class.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he greeted them. "The goal of this class will be to teach you some basic defensive magic and cover some of the dark arts and creatures. However, like any magic, you need to understand it before you can use it. So, take out your books, some parchment, and a quill, and if we get through the notes, we'll try and put some of the spells into action."

With the promise of getting to do spell work, they went through their notes quickly. Professor Lupin smiled at them when they had finished their notes.

"All right, you get to learn a spell, as promised," he said. "Now, it may not seem like the spectacular spell, but it is fairly easy to perform and has its uses, making it a wonderful starting spell." With a swish of his wand the lights in the room extinguished themselves.

"Lumos!" he said firmly. The tip of his wand suddenly illuminated and gave off a pleasant light, not too bright, and was enough to light anything in the immediate vicinity of the person using the spell. Ris heard Renée whisper "Brilliant" in reaction to the magic.

"As I said, not the most spectacular, but it has infinite uses," Professor Lupin informed them. "Now, everyone, wands at the ready and say, 'Lumos!'"

The class did as he said and the room was filled with light. Ris looked around and saw that most everyone had gotten the spell to work, though there were a few, including Alex, whose light kept flickering. Ris also noticed that the light was almost a subtle rainbow effect. None of the light that any of them produced was a pure white light, but was slightly tinged and the color varied from user to user. Ris found this a fascinating aspect of magic, even with the same, simple spell, the user still showed through.

"Excellent!" Professor Lupin complimented the class. "To extinguish the light, simply say, 'Nox!'"

The class echoed their professor and the room was once again dark which Professor Lupin fixed with a wave of his wand.

"Well done, today has been a successful first day and now we are out of time. I will see you all on Thursday, and we'll work on a few more spells then."

They left the class, all rather happy with it. Even Shannon seemed to have forgotten Potions with the fact that she was able to successfully perform the Lumos spell. They started heading back to the common room, but as they passed some windows, Shannon stopped walking to stare at the grounds.

"Hey, guys!" she called at them. "Lets go lounge outside." She pointed out the window to the various students roaming the grounds. "No reason to waste away the beautiful day inside this stuffy castle all day."

"Good idea," Jer said, nodding his consent. Everyone else agreed as well and they headed outside.

Shannon scanned the grounds when they got there to pick a good spot for them. She eventually lead them off to one of the lone tress there were scattered across the lawn. It was a large hazel tree that provided an nice area of shade for the five of them to sit in. They placed their bags in a pile at the base of the tree and sat in a circle on the grass. Shannon shed her black robes showing her short-sleeved white shirt and sweater vest sporting the Ravenclaw colors. She lay down on the grass with her arms flung out.

"It's so nice out," she declared again. "Why didn't we think of coming out here earlier?"

"Because the common room is so amazing?" Renée suggested, also taking off her robe. Jer and Alex followed suit, but Ris convulsively rubbed her right arm and left her robe on.

"Did anyone else noticed how pretty the room looked with all the different Lumos spells?" Renée asked.

"It was like a rainbow," Ris said.

"Yeah, it was brilliant," Shannon chimed in. "I think I'll like Professor Lupin's class, he's a good teacher."

"And he didn't give us any homework on the first day," Jer added.

"Oh!" Ris gasped. "We have to read for McGonagall's class tomorrow." There was a collective groan from the group.

"Well, why don't we read it together?" Renée suggested. "We can all take turns, make the reading more enjoyable."

"That sounds like a good idea," Ris agreed.

"Also gives those of us that don't understand it a chance to ask questions," Alex added.

"See? It's a win-win," Renée said with a smile.

They all went to grab their books from their bags. Having to move, Shannon noticed that Ris had not taken off her robe.

"Aren't you warm?" Shannon asked her.

"What?" Ris asked, surprised by the question. "Oh, no, I'm just naturally cold most of the time." She sighed inwardly at how easily the lies were starting to come. In truth, she was rather warm, though not uncomfortably so. However, she had gone at great lengths to make sure no one saw her right arm. There was the scar from where the werewolf had bitten her, and a scar like that would easily reveal her condition.

"If you say so," Shannon said in response. Ris was grateful that her friend let the subject drop and that no one else picked it up. However, Jer did give her an odd look, but he looked away from her so quickly that she could not be sure if she just imagined it.

They then began to read aloud, taking turns reading paragraphs around the circle, but Renée's ever wondering mind distracted them all for a time.

"You know," she said at the start of one of her turns, "I normally like forests, but this one kind of creeps me out. It's beautiful, yet kind of scary at the same time."

"That's why it's called the Forbidden Forest," Shannon said, sounding exasperated at Renée's continual demonstrations of how little she knew of the wizarding world.

"It is?" Renée asked. "Don't remember that."

"My brother told me about it," Shannon explained.

"Why is it forbidden?" Renée continued her questions. Ris started subconsciously rubbing her right arm again.

"'Cause there's lots of nasty stuff in there," Shannon replied simply.

"Oh, like nasty magical creatures?" Renée chimed, sounding all too excited about dangerous creatures.

"Yeah, there's centaurs in there for sure," Shannon replied, "and some say there's giant spiders, and even werewolves!"

Renée and Alex both gave the desired reaction that Shannon was going for, thankfully distracting them from Ris' downcast look and her bright red face. However, when she looked back up, Jer was giving her that knowing stare that disappeared before she fully recognized it.

They went back to their reading after Renée's tangent and finished just in time for supper. After supper they went to the common room where the spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games.

When they headed to bed, Ris' thoughts once again traveled to the full moon that would be happening in a few weeks time. She shook her head forcefully to rid those negative thoughts from her head. She had friends at the moment, and she should enjoy it while it lasted. And who knew, maybe if they became good enough friends, being a werewolf wouldn't matter to them.