Just To Say I Love You

Hidden Souls 01- Letters and Lies

Remus
CRASH! A large screech owl just flew right into the towering plate of toast.
Taxi, as James might say. The toast has gone flying everywhere and the plate
has smashed in two. Practically everyone is laughing and cheering. The
Slytherins are jeering and making catcalls because, well, they're
Slytherins. One question that everyone wants to know the answer to is, whose
letter is it? Peter picks up the dazed owl and pulls the letter off of its
limp leg.
'Who the hell is Wolf Artiste?' demands Peter. No one is really taking this
seriously though and James and Sirius have almost fallen over their bench in
laughter. The Slytherins are jeering and laughing still. Peter's fumbling
hands are trying to slit open the envelope. I snatch it off of him.
'You don't read other people's mail!' I say fiercely.
People are staring and the teachers are watching the situation warily,
knowing it could erupt into riot any second. Dumbledore is surveying the
scene over his porridge and smiling. He's the only one who is. I slide out
of my bench and start walking out of the Great Hall.
'Where are you going?' calls Sirius and the hall holds its breath.
'To repost the letter!' I yell back, feeling frustrated and annoyed at him.
When I reach the top of the stairs a small grey owl flies into my hand with
a scroll wrapped carefully around its tiny leg.

Ha, close call Wolf Artiste.
Peter Pettigrew almost read my letter to you, as I'm sure you noticed. I
swear, I was going to have a heart attack if he read it. Thank God Remus
Lupin went off with it. I loved your last letter. Why didn't you tell me you
were a poet? Although, I might have guessed from your name. I want to see
one of your sketches or paintings. Can you send me one? I think it's about
time for a new Revealer Challenge. Any ideas?
Love Swinging Needle.
PS. I just realized, Remus Lupin probably read the letter and is having a
good laugh about us.

I almost smile but I can't, I feel too worried about this. I'm sure she'll
take one look at me and say: 'Uh oh, big mistake- see you later!' She'll
hate me if she finds out who I am. Remus Lupin. Who? Oh, yeah, that kid who
hangs around with Potter and Black, clutching a camera.
I can feel a thrill of fear rush through my blood. And it's the full moon
soon.
The bell rings and I make my way to Mondays first period: Herbology. Yippee.
I do not have a hope in hell of convincing the Marauders that my strange
mood is entirely due to the fast approaching moon.

Jenna
The bell is ringing for break and us Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs have
just come out of our second period class: Herbology. Who needs double
Herbology first thing on a Monday morning? Certainly not me. We are all
heading to the nearest bathrooms to wash off the caked on mud and dragon
dung. We meet the Ravenclaws and Slytherins on the way and they are covered
in burns, bites and cuts. Looks like they had a bad double Care of Magical
Creatures class. Great, now whatever mad creature they had is all fired up
for us. After five minutes of hard scrubbing and a spray of perfume later I
leave the bathroom, smelling nice and looking clean. Sitting down in the
sunny courtyard, something small and fluffy hits the side of my head. After
taking the letter out of its beak the small grey owl sits on the top of my
head. It hoots indignantly when it realises I'm not going to give it another
job to do soon. It scrapes my head taking off again and ruins my hair.

'Stupid owl,' I snap and use my free hand to smooth it down. Sitting in the
sunny courtyard, I read the shortest and strangest letter Wolf Artiste has
ever sent me.

Swinging Needle,
He did but he didn't laugh.
Love Wolf Artiste.

'Hell will freeze over before Remus Lupin sends me poetry,' I say firmly to
myself.
I drop the letter and swear, a little too loudly. People's heads swivel
round and I have to use a special talent I have acquired, to become sort of
invisible, less noticeable and uninteresting. The people give up and chatter
amongst themselves.
The bell goes and I have to drag myself reluctantly to a double period of
Care of Magical Creatures.

James
I hate Professor Kettleburn. I also hate the moron who bred such creatures
as Blast-Ended Skrewts. Professor Kettleburn says they are our latest
"project" and he has given us homework already- a detailed diagram of a
Skrewt. Yippee.
Thank God there is something good for lunch, Sirius is in a bad mood enough
as it is. He's such a jerk if he doesn't get a good meal.
I enter the Hall and sit beside Sirius, opposite Remus and Peter. Sirius is
staring down the table. Remus is stabbing his chicken moodily and ignoring
his vegetables. Well it is full moon soon, as he reminded me angrily in
Herbology this morning. Sirius is wolfing down as much chicken salad as he
possibly can while still staring at a girl sitting quite far away.
The girl has straight brown hair, that's all I can really see of her. It's
hard to properly look at her because she seems good at making herself
inconspicuous and my attention keeps wandering elsewhere. I give up and ask
Sirius why he is looking at her.
'She's pretty OK looking,' he replies through a mouthful of chicken, which
he's eating in a rather dog like way. 'She's staring at Moony.'
I squint through my glasses to see. She is looking at Remus as though he's
the best thing since a Nimbus 007. She talks with the person next to her and Sirius lets out a groan.
'What?' I say scanning the hall for Lily Evans.
'Just when I thought she was perfect. She has a brace,' says Sirius with a
grimace. He concentrates on shoving chicken salad into his mouth, still
eyeing the girl every now and then.
Lily isn't in the hall. Wonder where she is? Remus throws his fork down on
his plate and it hits the side with a clatter. He ignores us when we ask
where he is going and stomps out of the hall. The girl is alerted by the
noise and sees Sirius staring at her. She starts and gets off the bench as
though she's been electrified. Sirius is busy gulping down pumpkin juice but
when I turn to tell him, I glance at where she was sitting. She's already
gone.

Jenna
I sit by the lake on my own. Sirius Black just spotted me. How did he do
that? Most people don't notice me. I hope he didn't see me looking at Remus
Lupin. What if he did, and tells him? And how the heck can I be in love with
a guy who I've never met and with Remus Lupin at the same time? It seems so
bad even admitting it to myself. There's Remus over there. He looks quite
worried. I wish I could go over and give him a hug. If I was Lily, I would.
Over-confident bitch.

Remus
It's never taken this long for Swinging Needle to reply. Don't get me wrong,
its not as though I'm sitting alone by the lake, waiting... I don't mind if
the time drags by. In fact, I'm quite happy for it to drag as slowly as
possible. Saturday is the full moon. It seems to be looming ever closer. I
don't want to get to Saturday. I'm scared. So scared. My last scars have
only just now started to heal.

James
These last few days have been pretty uneventful.
Monday: Sirius spies Pretty Girl 1.
Tuesday: Someone scrawls 'Professor Forge has a tattoo on his...'on one of the
Defence Against the Dark Arts desks. Professor Forge is not a happy bunny.
Wednesday: Sirius spots Pretty Girl 2.
Thursday: Mark Evian, a Gryffindor sixth year, gets into a fight with Derek
Flint. He punches him on the nose and gets busted by Filch.
Friday: Sirius spies Pretty Girl 3 and Pretty Girl 4.
Saturday: Peter and me dare him to ask Pretty Girl 3 out on a date for the
next Hogsmeade trip. I do not know what he said but he has a date and I
don't. Not fair. Where's Lily?

Lily
Severus Snape. Not at all what you'd expect. He's thoughtful and charming.
He's Intelligent and sexy in a twisted Slytherin sort of way. Oh, and one
hell of a good kisser. We are in a small indent behind a tapestry depicting
Eve being tempted to eat the forbidden fruit by the serpent.
I suppose I am Eve right now. I was tempted so I am kissing the forbidden
fruit. Stuff the Gryffindor-Slytherin line. The hate line. No one is
supposed to cross the line. We are so different. I sometimes wonder if we
can pull it all off. Put on an act and keep it secret. God, that sounds so
bad.
Severus feels me stiffen and we pull apart.
'What?' he murmurs in my ear. I don't answer; I just lunge for his neck. I'm
getting carried away and I know it. So is he. We'll figure out how to hide
the love bites later.

Remus
Oh, god. My head hurts. I can't move and I feel so heavy. Last night was my
worst transformation ever. They didn't come. I can't believe they didn't
come. I can't remember much about last night. All I can remember is screams,
blood and claws. And the cold. I never forget the cold. I open my eyes
slowly because I'm afraid of what I'll see.
I'm covered in bandages and there are tubes wrapped all round me, twisted
and stuck. I can hear the whirring of an orb near me. I try and
breathe but it's the hardest thing in the world right now. I gasp and the
world slows and blurs.

Jenna
I hear voices. They're whispering to me but I can't understand a word. I
hurt all over. My eyes are tight shut but I can see a hooded figure gliding over to me, its mouth glistening silver...
'Who are you? Who are you!' I scream and then I lose sense of the world.

Remus
I wake up and I can breathe again. I draw it in and it's the sweetest thing
ever. I am about to go back to sleep when the hospital wing door opens with
a creak and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall enter behind Madam Pomfrey.
They all look tense and grave. Professor Kettleburn limps in with a girl in
his arms. I feel my stomach clench. The girl is incredibly beautiful but
somehow surreal. She is covered in silvery blood and shiny white hairs. She
moans and suddenly screams, twisting and thrashing away from some tormentor
only she can see.
'Who are you? Who are you?' she screams before Professor Kettleburn casts a
quick Silencing Charm. The girl fights harder than ever before gasping and
wheezing for air. Madam Pomfrey places a mask over her mouth. The
girl gives a shuddering sigh and falls still.
I watch sadly as Madam Pomfrey picks off the white hairs and hands them to
Kettleburn. He nods and leaves, limping. She cleans the blood and McGonagall
wheels over a strange orb on a trolley. Madam Pomfrey sticks tubes in
the girl and attaches them to the orb. With a tap of her wand, it comes
to life, whirring and flashing.
When she reaches the girls left leg, she frowns and drags a long arrow out
of her leg. McGonagall gasps and Dumbledore frowns.
I want to watch more but I can feel sleep pressing on all sides so I relent
and give in to it.