Learning to Love

Authors Notes: To everyone that has waited and waited and waited for this fic to be updated I apologize, it was meant to be up last year, but I landed in hospital for most of year. But now I'm back, and you won't have to wait as long for another update, I've been hit with a totally new plot for this fic and should start writing ASAP. Again apologies for not getting this up in the amount of time, but please read, and review. This also does not follow on from the books, I think it follows on from about Goblet of Fire, so assume complete AU from there.

Chapter 7

Keli and Lily were eating breakfast on Monday morning when a fifth year prefect handed them their timetables. Looking over their schedules, they noticed that they only had four lessons a day - two in the morning and two in the afternoon.

"Hey, we've got defence tomorrow first thing," commented Keli.

"Yeah, but look what we got today - Potions," Lily said, cringing.

"Well, why don't we get going?" suggested Keli, finishing her drink off.

Nodding, Lily wiped her hands on a napkin. Both of them got up and headed to their first lesson of the day: Transfiguration.

Five minutes later the two girls had found the classroom and joined the line waiting outside. During this time they began talking again, before they were suddenly interrupted.

"So you're the famous Harry Potter's child?" sneered a black haired first year Slytherin named Osric Gambolo.

"Get lost," replied Lily.

"I don't see why I should. You're a pureblood, I'm a pureblood - we'd do well together," said Osric, holding out his hand.

Looking at his hand in disgust, Lily responded coolly, "Sorry, but you're really not my type. Perhaps you didn't hear me the first time - get lost!"

"You'll regret that, making friends with filthy mudbloods won't get you anywhere," retorted Gambolo.

Lily was just about to make a snappy comeback when the door opened and Professor McGonagall ushered them all inside. Exchanging glares, Lily and Osric both entered the classroom and sat down with their friends. The first lesson mainly comprised of Professor McGonagall explaining what was what in her lessons, and by the time that they were told they could leave Keli felt as though she'd absorbed as much information as was humanly possible in one go.

After Transfiguration they had their first flying lesson, and Lily and Keli went out into the warm sunshine, headed for the Quidditch Pitch. Coming to a stop, they noticed that on the ground lay enough brooms for two houses to have one each, which meant they would also be having this lesson with another house. Keli felt her good mood diminishing when a boy standing next to her pointed out that the Slytherin first years were heading over to join them.

"Welcome, first years, to your first ever flying lesson," greeted Madam Hooch. "Now step up to the left side of your broom, hold your right hand over the broom and say 'UP!'" instructed Madam Hooch.

Everyone did as they had been told, and Lily even managed to get her broom up in three shouts of 'UP.' Keli took a little longer but in the end managed to get it up. They were then told to individually take off, rise a couple of feet, and then land again. Lily took off and rose about 16 feet before swooping back down. Keli only managed 6 feet before she decided that there was no need for humans to rise to such a height. She shakily made her way back to the ground.

They were dismissed at lunchtime and both girls were on their way to the great hall when they ran into Remus.

"Hello girls," said Remus.

"Hi, Professor Lupin," replied Lily, breaking into a fit of giggles.

"You don't have to call me Professor until you're actually in my class," responded Remus before noticing Keli was shaking. "Are you alright, Keli?"

Nodding, Keli answered, "I just realised that I can't stand heights. Flying's rather scary."

Chuckling, Remus replied, "Don't worry. Flying isn't for everyone."

"I know," Keli said. She then remembered something, and blurted it out quickly before she forgot again. "Oh, Remus, Sirius said he'd owl you sometime today."

"He already did," said Remus, smiling. "Well, Keli, I'll see you on Friday evening and you can tell me all about your first week. Bye, girls!" he added before walking up one of the large staircases, which had just moved to nearby where they were standing.

"Bye," the two girls chorused.

Entering the great hall they headed for the Gryffindor table. As they sat, they marvelled at the vast array of foods before them. Keli made do with just eating sandwiches whilst Lily had a bowl of soup with some freshly baked, crusty bread.

"Did you enjoy Transfiguration?"

Swallowing the bit of sandwich she was chewing on, Keli answered, "Yeah, it seemed really interesting. I actually can't wait to get started properly."

"Oh, I'm not really all that interested in it," replied Lily. "I'm really looking forward to defence, though."

After they finished off their lunch, they got up and headed out of the hall, and back up to Gryffindor tower. Upon entering the common room Keli instinctively guarded herself as it was packed. She knew that she shouldn't do so but it was just a natural reaction in big crowds. She couldn't really stand to be there any longer, but before she could suggest going somewhere else, Lily pulled her through the crowd and up into their dormitory.

***

Later that day, Keli and Lily were sitting in Potions, listening to what Professor Snape was saying. They were finding it rather hard to not smile at some of the things that they'd heard about him. While he pointed his wand at the board to reveal the instructions for brewing a simple sleeping draught. Then told them to get to work.

Keli wrote out the method while Lily went to get the ingredients for making the potion. As Keli looked up at the board, she caught sight of Snape walking up and down between the rows of desks, his cloak billowing out behind him.

The black cloak trigged the memory of Avery trying to kill her. She couldn't tear her eyes away. Lily saw the scared look on Keli's face and, following Keli's eyes, she realised what was happening. Keli had told Lily in the past that a Death Eater had tried to kill her, and that he had been wearing black robes. As fast as she could, Lily rushed back over to their desk and nudged Keli in the side, making her fall off her stool.

Memories were flashing before her eyes: Avery, the start of the Killing Curse, the death of her mum and Ivan. She was shocked back into reality when she came into sharp contact with the floor.

"Keli, are you okay?" asked Lily as she helped Keli back onto her stool.

"I'll be fine," Keli said quietly.

"Sorry about startling you, but you looked as if you were going to lose it," replied Lily, starting to chop up some ingredients.

"Its okay," said Keli. "I know why you did it and thanks. Now let's get working," she added, keen to shake the images from her mind.

By the end of the class, Keli and Lily had managed to complete their potion. Keli didn't have any more episodes when she looked at Snape. As they filed back into the great hall for dinner, the two girls happily discussed the day's classes. Both agreed that they couldn't wait for the rest of the week's lessons.

***

On Friday evening, Keli left Lily to do her homework in the Gryffindor tower and set off across the school to visit Remus in his office. She'd been told where Remus's rooms were and the password - 'cub werewolf.' She eventually came across the right painting.

Giving the password, she entered into a room roughly the same size as the common room of Gryffindor tower.

"Evening, Keli," greeted Remus, coming out from the small kitchen area.

"Hi," replied Keli, before launching herself at Remus and giving him a tight hug, which he returned whole-heartedly. Smiling, Remus guided her over to the sofa. They both sat down.

Pulling away, Keli said, "I missed you."

"How can you miss me?" asked Remus. "You've seen me in class and at meal times."

"It's not the same, though. I miss talking to you," answered Keli, her eyes welling up with tears. "And I miss Sirius."

Over the last two days Keli had felt incredibly homesick. Not being able to see Sirius every day, was hitting her harder than she had thought it would.

"Keli, do you feel homesick?"

All Keli could do was nod before she broke down in tears. Remus just held her tightly - he knew how much it hurt to be away from home for the very first time. After all, he'd also gone through a stage where he had been terribly homesick when he was a first year, and it had taken him a couple of days to see all the wonderful things he'd be missing if he left.

Half an hour later, Keli's cries had subsided and became nothing more than small sniffles every now and then.

"Do you feel better?" asked Remus, smoothing down her hair.

"A bit." Keli sniffed as she wiped her eyes.

"It will get better, Keli, just try to stay positive," Remus said in a warm voice, full of encouragement.

"I thought I was going to be okay, but when I saw you tonight it just came crashing down," said Keli.

Sighing, Remus asked, "How long have you been feeling like this?"

"Just two or three days," Keli said truthfully. "I thought the feelings would just go away."

"Keli," began Remus, catching her eyes, "They probably won't disappear for a while yet. Not properly, anyway."

"What am I going to do, then?" asked Keli.

"Firstly, you need to just try to stay positive and carry on, and try not to think about home too often. Secondly, if you miss Sirius that much, send him an owl! He won't mind. I'm sure he'd love nothing more than to hear from you."

Smiling slightly, Keli just nodded and hugged Remus again. She felt better now than she had before, but she still missed Sirius. Lily can help me through this as well as Remus, thought Keli. I mean, they'll both look after me, won't they? I hope so.

Sighing, Keli pulled away and said, "I've got to go now, Remus. I need an early night."

"Okay. You behave yourself, and try not to let missing Sirius get you down, okay?" replied Remus in a fatherly fashion.

"I won't. I'll see you soon, Remus."

She hugged Remus one last time, then headed out of his rooms and back through the corridors to the Gryffindor tower.

***

It was two days before the first full moon, and Keli was starting to feel ill again. She was also slightly nervous because she still hadn't told Lily about the fact that she was used to spending the full moons with Moony. In fact, she was so worried about it that she was beginning to forget taking things to her classes; she'd forgotten to take her dragon hide gloves to Herbology and Gryffindor had been docked five house points for her carelessness.

Sitting on her bed in Gryffindor tower, Keli was trying to work on a charms essay due the next day, but was finding it hard to concentrate. Sighing, she closed the book with a snap and dropped it on the floor beside her bed. She sighed again, uncrossed her legs and lay back against her pillows. The moment she closed her eyes she was instantly engulfed in a dream.

Keli was curled up with Moony beside her, fast asleep. As she looked about she noticed that she was in her bedroom, back at the house she used to live in, with Ivan and her mum. The rug on the floor had stains of blood on it from when Ivan had whipped her. Fear began to flow through her veins as she took in her surroundings. Looking over to the side, she saw the empty beer can sitting there. Ivan obviously hadn't come back in to tidy it up so that her mum wouldn't suspect anything.

A knock on the door rang through the room, and, not wanting to leave the safe presence of Moony, Keli just waited for whoever it was to enter of their own accord. And enter that person did; the door opened slowly and there stood the outline of one person - one person she didn't think she would see again.

His outline made him look like a cross between a weight lifter and a professional rugby player. Keli knew instantly who it was: Ivan Portland, her once tormentor and the man who played on her nightmares constantly.

"You poor, scared little brat," mocked Ivan. "You have to hide behind a little doggy."

"He isn't a dog," started Keli bravely. "He's a werewolf!"

Ivan's eyes darkened as he spat, "A werewolf in my house! How dare you?"

Before she knew what had happened, she'd been pulled away from Moony and taken into another room, a room with a metal cage in it. Shoving the eleven-year-old girl into the cage, Ivan said, "You'll stay in a cage alone forever without your little dog here to protect you!"

"No!" pleaded Keli.

"Wake up."

"No!"

"Wake up!"

"No!"

"WAKE UP!" shouted Lily.

Keli sat bolt upright in bed, the sweat on her face mingled in with tears. Breathing heavily, she slumped against her best friend, and Lily hugged her back.

"Keli, what happened?" asked Lily.

Lily knew Keli hadn't been feeling well, and when she first came up at he end of lunch to tell her that classes were beginning again, she had found Keli fast asleep and let her be. Lily had gone to all her lessons, and when DADA had finished. She'd been asked where Keli was. She had explained that Keli hadn't been feeling well, and was still asleep. A knowing look crossed his face before he told her to ask Keli to come and see him.

Agreeing, Lily had left the classroom and gone back to Gryffindor tower, but, as she walked up the girls' stairs, she'd heard Keli crying out in her sleep. Without thinking twice, Lily had charged into the room and saw Keli crying and thrashing around in her bed. It had taken five minutes for her to wake up, which scared Lily.

"It was a nightmare," whispered Keli. "I dreamt that... that someone took me away from Moony."

Furrowing her brow Lily asked, "Does Uncle Remus spend full moon nights in his werewolf form with you?"

She nodded. "I was going to tell you, but I was scared you'd think it was disgusting,"

"I'd never in a million years think that, Keli," replied Lily. "This is what's been bothering you these last few days, isn't it?"

"Yes," answered Keli, pulling away and wiping her eyes before changing the subject altogether. "Did you need me for something?"

"Yes Unc-uh- Professor Lupin wants to speak with you," answered Lily.

Smiling at the slip-up her friend had made, Keli replied, "Okay. I'll go and see him now. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah."

Going quickly into the bathroom, Keli splashed some cold water on her face, straightened her hair and robes and headed back into the bedroom.

"Would you mind if I borrowed your charms homework?" asked Lily, who was now sitting cross-legged on her bed.

Handing over her homework, Keli answered, "No, but don't just copy it right out. Make sure you change the sentences."

"Of course I will," replied Lily innocently. "Now get going."

Smiling, Keli just shook her head before giving Lily a quick goodbye and walking out of the room. She walked straight through the common room and out into the empty corridor.

Still with a smile on her face, Keli went towards the DADA classroom. Over the last few weeks, Keli's homesickness had subsided with the help of Remus and Lily, and she had taken it upon herself to send a letter to Sirius every two days. She fondly remembered sitting in the hall on her second week when a barn owl stopped in front of her with a rather large squashy parcel and letter tied to its legs.

Taking the owl's burden, Keli had offered it some bacon before it took off. Opening the letter, she had nearly squealed with delight when she read whom it was from.

To Keli,

I heard from a certain wolf that you were missing me and missing being at home. You shouldn't feel homesick, Keli, Hogwarts is like a big home as it is. Your roommates will become sort of like a second family to you.

But don't feel ashamed of yourself if you are. Remus was also homesick when we first met him. It took James and me a whole month before he finally admitted he'd be fine. But with Lily and Remus with you, you'll feel better in no time, I promise.

If you ever start to miss me too much again, I've sent you this package - no, I'm not telling you what's in it - to remind you that although I'm not actually there in person, I will always be with you.

Love from Sirius.

Smiling, she had handed the letter over to Lily, who then read it and smiled back at her best friend, and Keli set on opening the parcel. After taking the brown paper off, she saw that inside the parcel was a medium sized black stuffed dog, exactly the same type of dog that Sirius could transform into at will. She named the dog Snuffles, and he now resided on her bed. If she ever felt lonely or homesick she'd cuddle up to him and soon she'd feel better again.

Keli's train of thought was interrupted as she looked up to see herself in front of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Knocking once, she entered to see Remus sitting at his desk. She closed the door behind her before going over to greet him.

"Hi, Keli. I heard you weren't feeling well?" Remus said as he stood up to hug her.

"I feel a little sore, but other than that I think I'm fine," replied Keli.

"You think?" stated Remus, picking up on Keli's unwillingness to speak. "Okay, what's wrong? And don't tell me it's nothing."

"I... I...I just had a bad dream is all. Honestly," answered Keli, shifting uncomfortably under Remus's gaze.

Remus noticed that Keli had become more inattentive these last few days.

He noticed that Keli wasn't exactly telling the truth.

Sighing, Remus replied, "Keli, if you really feel that uncomfortable, then you don't have to tell me."

"Sorry," said Keli. Just as Remus was about to ask why, Keli continued. "I had a dream about him. He took me away from... from y-you. He put me in a cage and said that I'd always be alone."

"Keli, you know that that will never happen," said Remus. "Sirius and I won't ever let anyone take you away."

Remus sensed that there was something more behind the story than just her being taken away from him, which would just about crush him as it would Sirius.

Looking up into Remus's face, Keli knew that no matter how much she lied or just twisted the truth, the truth would always come out. She felt like she couldn't keep anything a secret with Remus.

"Keli what form was I in, in your dream?" asked Remus.

"Um... well... it was... your werewolf form," answered Keli, stuttering over her words.

"Right, that makes sense," commented Remus before explaining, "Keli, if you still want Moony's presence with you on a full moon, then you can."

"I can?"

"Yes, but you'd have to stay in my rooms. I don't think the Gryffindors would appreciate a werewolf in the tower," answered Remus. "Is that what has been bothering you?"

Nodding, Keli said, "I thought that now that I'm at Hogwarts, you wouldn't want me around and that I would have to deal on my own,"

"I would never, ever think that. If you still feel safer with Moony, then don't hesitate to ask to spend the full moon with him."

"Okay."

"Good. Now, since tomorrow is the full moon, I need to get this marking done, I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Right. Bye, Remus... and thanks."

Keli left the classroom, much happier than when she'd gone in. Smiling, she went back to Gryffindor tower to see if Lily had finished copying her homework.

***

Keli woke up on the day of the full moon feeling as though she'd just run a marathon; she felt tired and achy, with an awful churning in her stomach. Causing her to sit up.

Opening her bed curtains a slight bit; she looked over to Lily's bedside clock, which read seven thirty. Groaning, she grabbed some clean clothes and ambled over to the bathroom to get changed.

It was a Saturday morning and Keli was pretty sure that no one would be getting up just yet, which meant she could have the common room to herself for a bit.

After washing and getting dressed Keli walked down the stairs. To her disappointment, some other students were also up and about.

Sighing, Keli went back up to the girl's dormitory. Entering the bedroom again, Keli wrote a quick note asking Lily to make sure she didn't sleep past five. Setting the letter beside the clock, Keli settled back on top of the bed covers and fell back into an uncomfortable sleep.

Keli was roughly shaken awake after what felt like only five minutes but had been, in reality, eleven hours. Cracking her eyes open, she saw lots of red hair and someone's green eyes looking at her.

"Wha' time is it?"

"Near five," answered Lily. "You need to go to Uncle Remus's rooms, so get up,"

Throwing back the cover that had mysteriously been placed over her, Keli replied, "Thanks for getting me up."

"No problem," responded Lily.

Just nodding, Keli sat there for a couple of minutes to clear her head before standing up on very sore and achy legs.

Yawning, she pulled a nightie and some pyjama bottoms out of her trunk. With a last reassuring smile and quick hug to Lily, Keli left Gryffindor tower to go to Remus.

It only took her ten minutes to find the room and knock, hearing him telling her she could enter.

Once inside, Keli dropped her stuff on the floor and went to find Remus, who just happened to be in the small kitchen area that was provided to all teachers' room.

"Hi Keli," greeted Remus hoarsely.

"Hey. Are you okay?" asked Keli.

She could remember all the other times she'd been sitting in the living room the day before the full moon. She could tell - and somehow sense - that he was growing weaker whilst the wolf got stronger. It worried her to no end.

"If you want to go and get settled down on the bed, then I'll be in once I've transformed," instructed Remus, feeling the first pains hit him.

"Okay. Please stay safe," Keli said helplessly.

"I will. Now go!"

Nodding, Keli went back to the portrait, grabbed her stuff and headed quickly into the bedroom, where she got changed.

Keli only had to wait another twenty minutes or so before Moony strolled in and up towards her. Giggling, she patted a spot on the bed and he jumped up beside her. Keli ran her hands through his soft fur.

Smiling, Keli muttered, "I'm glad you're okay. It's been really wonderful these last few weeks at Hogwarts with my friends and... and f-f-family," stuttered Keli as Moony looked on, interested. "I just wish my mum could see me now," said Keli, a slight catch to her voice.

Moony just nudged her gently before leaning his head to the side and gave a look that clearly stated 'your mum is with you all the time.' Settling back against the pillows, Keli drifted off to sleep, still stroking Moony's soft fur.

Not long after his charge had fallen to sleep, Moony fell to sleep as well, but he always had one ear pricked up to catch anyone who would dare to disturb them.

***

"Lily, explain it again, please," pleaded Keli.

"Okay. There are four balls -- one Snitch, two Bludgers and one Quaffle, right?" repeated Lily. Keli nodded her understanding, so Lily continued: "There are two Beaters who play with the Bludgers. There are three Chasers who play with the Quaffle and there is also one Keeper and one Seeker," explained Lily.

Today was the first Quidditch game for the start of the season, meaning that Gryffindor and Slytherin were playing against each other.

Although Keli had spent the last two years in a Wizarding house, learning Wizarding things, Quidditch was still a little over her head. She had never managed to grasp the concept of the game no, matter how many times Sirius tried to explain it to her.

After her first full moon spent with Remus and telling Lily about it, Keli had become a little bit more carefree. She'd still have her moments when everything would come rushing back to her, but other than that she was a happy eleven-year-old girl.

Although she'd still flinch if she were reading and lost awareness and someone in their black school cloaks walked past her. Or if Snape's billowing robes caught her eyes. She'd start seeing memories of the Death Eaters or what Ivan had done to her. Some of the memories were worse than others.

But right now, they were waiting for the Quidditch match to start. Lily was attempting to explain it to Keli so she'd understand what was going on in the game.

"So what does the Keeper do?" asked Keli.

"The Keeper guards those three hoops so that the Quaffle doesn't get through," answered Lily.

Although Lily wasn't a Quidditch fanatic like Michelle and Stewart, she did know how the game was played and what it took to win a game. After all, you didn't have a dad that was the youngest Seeker in a century and not pick up on a few things.

"Right, and what about the Seeker?" questioned Keli. It was starting to make sense to her now, just barely.

"The Seeker has to catch the Snitch- the little golden ball- before the other team's Seeker does," explained Lily. "Once the Seeker has caught the Snitch, the game is over."

Smiling, Keli replied, "Thank you so much. It all kind of makes sense now."

"Well at least that's something." Lily laughed good-naturedly.

Nodding, Keli took another look around at the fantastic stadium that they were seated in. When the two of them had first arrived down at the Quidditch pitch, Keli had stood flabbergasted for five whole minutes, just staring at all the house colours mingled into one stadium.

"Welcome to the first Quidditch match of the year!" greeted the commentator, "I'm your commentator, Simon Weasley! Now here comes the Gryffindor team, the Chasers: Clairee, Amanda, Laura, the wonderful Beaters, Toby, and Barry. The Keeper and Captain of the team is Andrew and last but not least the Seeker Sabrina!"

A loud cheering, chanting and clapping was heard from the Gryffindor stands as their Quidditch team did a lap around the pitch, before heading to their starting positions.

"Now here comes the Slytherin team. The Chasers: Michael, Ryan, and Aaron. Their Beaters are Louise, and Abby. The Seeker and Captain is Gary. And, last but not least, their Keeper, Julian!"

A loud cheering and clapping was heard from the Slytherins, as well as some rather loud booing coming from the Gryffindor stands as the Slytherin Quidditch team did a lap before also going to their starting positions.

"Madam Hooch steps onto the pitch to release the balls."

Sure enough Madam Hooch had just sat the wooden crate down onto the grass and was just going to throw the Quaffle up when she warned, -->"I want a nice clean game from all of you!"[Author ID1: at Fri Feb 2 15:19:00 2007 ]

"And the game begins!" called Simon, "Gryffindor take possession and it's Laura zooming up the pitch tossing the Quaffle to Clairee who then passes it to Amanda wh- oh no! Slytherin Chaser Ryan has intercepted the pass and is now flying back down the other way. Passing the Quaffle to Aaron who throws it to Michael," commented Simon.

All the while Keli and Lily had been trying to see if either of the Seekers had spotted the Snitch. If Keli didn't know what Quidditch was then, she certainly did now, and now had an understanding as to why the twins loved it so much.

"The Seekers have gone into a dive! Have they seen the Snitch?" questioned Simon as the whole stadium seem to hold its breath, broken when Simon started speaking again, "oh a Bludger ran straight into their path, sent their way by one of the Slytherin's Beaters. The Gryffindor Chasers take advantage of the Slytherin's lack of focus on the game by scoring their first goal, making it ten, naught to Gryffindor!"

The game went on like that for another hour or so. Keli was still entertained, but was now growing tired. Lily had also lost interest in it and was just glancing around to see if she could see the Snitch.

"Both Seekers go into a dive..." there was a pause again, a silence as the two Seekers flew towards the ground before, "and yes the game is over. Gryffindor has won!"

The Gryffindor stands all of a sudden seemed to come to life as the students began to hug, and chant loudly. Even Keli and Lily joined in the cheering, excited that their house had won. Some seventh year called out, "Party in Gryffindor tower!"

The whole of Gryffindor tower was still laughing as they made their way back inside the castle and up to the common room. The party lasted well into the early hours of the morning before the Head of House, Professor McGonagall, turned up and told them all to go to bed or face detention. Grumbling, everyone made their up to the dorms before collapsing into their beds for the night, exhausted but extremely happy.

***

Keli and Lily were traipsing through six inches of snow as they made their way back to the castle at the end of term. They had just finished their Herbology lesson, which was their last class for the day before they officially left for the Christmas holidays. Both girls were heading home for the holidays and had made an agreement to owl each other's Christmas present.

"Are you looking forward to Christmas?" asked Lily as she banged the snow off her shoes, before stepping inside the warm castle.

Mirroring Lily's actions, Keli answered, "Yes, I get to see Sirius again. What about you?"

"Of course. I mean whoever doesn't like Christmas must be crazy or something," answered Lily offhandedly.

Keli stopped in her tracks. She could always remember dreading Christmas day, as she'd always get something special from Ivan. In fact, if she strained her memory long enough, it was a Christmas day when he had raped her. He had called it her special Christmas present, and left the room chuckling.

"Keli, are you okay? You look slightly green." asked Lily, concerned.

The sound of Lily's voice broke through the memories. Keli forced a smile on her face as she shook her head and answered, "I'm fine, sorry. Come on, let's go pack or we'll end up being late tomorrow," and Keli walked off.

-->Something definitely unsettling went through her mind just then[Author ID2: at Mon Feb 26 15:06:00 2007 ]. I wonder what happened to her? thought Lily as she followed in Keli's wake, back towards the common room, jogging slightly to catch up to her best friend.

Ever since Keli had confided in her that she slept next to a werewolf - who also just happened to be their teacher as well - Lily had wondered what else Keli was hiding and whether or not she would tell her.

***

"Lily, come on, let's get a compartment near the door," proclaimed Keli as she stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, stepping around several other students as she did so.

Yawning, Lily replied with a tired, "Okay. I'm coming, just calm down," before also stepping aboard.

Rachel, another girl that shared their dorm room, who had woken up early in her excitement of the fact that it was Christmas, had woken both girls up. Rachael had told the other three that she was staying for Christmas and was impatiently waiting to get the dorm room to herself.

Five minutes later and after a lot of side stepping and bumping into people, the two friends were sitting in an empty compartment right next to the door, and were eagerly waiting for the train to start its long journey back to London.

"What did you ask for, for Christmas?" asked Keli.

"Just a couple of books, clothes, nothing special. What about you? What did you ask for?" said Lily as she pulled off her gloves, now that she was inside and warming up.

"Um... I didn't really ask for anything," replied Keli quietly. Truthfully she had felt uncomfortable asking for anything, so neither Sirius nor Remus had brought the subject up again.

It was a couple of minutes later when the train suddenly lurched forward, startling the two first year girls. Smiling at each other, they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

Already, after half a year away at school, Keli realized that the more she was away from the house she'd spent two years in, the more she started to think of it as her home. When she had begun thinking of the house as her home she never knew, but there was still that tiny bit of attachment to her old house, the one where she'd grown up and been tormented.

Several hours later, the two young girls had lugged their cases out of the train and down a bit of station platform. They were now loading up two trolleys with their baggage.

"Okay, Keli, I'll owl you your present on Christmas Eve so it gets to you for Christmas day," commented Lily; leaving her trolley for a moment to give her friend a tight hug.

Smiling, Keli hugged her friend back before replying, "And I'll send yours back with Hedwig. Enjoy your Christmas, Lily, and I'll see you in the New Year." She let go of her.

"You, too," responded Lily, also letting go. Taking hold of her trolley, she headed over to her family.

Waving one last time to Lily, Keli turned her back and began pushing her own trolley through the crowds of parents and students.

She had only been weaving in and out of people, smiling at the odd student she recognized and looking for Sirius for a couple of minutes before she caught sight of him standing near the barrier, looking the other way.

A mischievous smile - one she'd picked up from Sirius - spread across her face as she strolled over to him, making sure she stayed out of his line of sight.

Coming to a stop beside him, she asked quiet innocently, "Are you looking for someone?"

Sirius jumped literally two feet into the air at the soft voice that sounded to the right hand side of him, before turning to face a giggling Keli.

"I suppose you think that is funny? Making me jump," mock-scowled Sirius, but his voice clearly held an amused note.

"Sorry... couldn't... resist..." said Keli, still chuckling.

"Hmmm.... I bet you couldn't," replied Sirius, smiling at Keli as she tried to calm herself down, "come on. Let's get going."

Nodding her head, Keli pushed her trolley towards the barrier that separated the magical world from the Muggle world.

Re-entering the Muggle world, Keli spotted a black London taxi waiting for them at the side of the road. Sirius and Keli loaded up the boot of the car before climbing into the back seat. Sirius gave the driver the address to the house and they were on their way. Keli watched as the scenery flashed by.

Twenty minutes later, Keli turned from watching the flashing trees and broke the silence by asking, "Is Remus already at home - I mean your house?"

"No, he won't be back for another two days. He has some things to finish," answered Sirius, he noticed the near slip up that Keli made, but chose not to comment on it for now.

The driver pulled up on their street half an hour later and stopped outside numbers eleven and twelve. The taxi driver couldn't actually see number thirteen as there were protection spells on it and only people that had magic in their blood could find it.

Stepping out of the taxi, Keli took a look around the familiar street; nothing had changed, which she was pleased about. The sound of the boot of the taxi closing made Keli turn around. Smiling, she went over to help Sirius as they each grabbed one end of her trunk and carried it up to the house, then up the stairs and into her bedroom.

"I'll let you unpack," said Sirius as he moved towards the door, before looking over his shoulder and asking, "would you like something to drink?"

"Could I have some tea, please," answered Keli, smiling at her guardian.

Sirius nodded his head before leaving Keli to unpack the stuff in her trunk.

Keli smiled as she looked around the bedroom. Nothing had been moved, which made her happy. It meant it still felt like it was hers. Opening up her trunk, two main things sat on the top of the pile of clothing; one was her wand, which she made sure to pocket, as she had gotten used to carrying her wand around with her at all times. The second thing was the soft black dog Sirius had sent to her at the start of the second month of school.

Carefully running her hand over the soft toy's ears, she took it out of her trunk. Getting up from the floor, she went over and sat herself down on the edge of the bed and clasped it to her chest tightly. I really don't know how I would have gotten through the term without him, thought Keli as she felt her eyes welling up with unshed tears.

With a sudden bout of melancholy, Keli jumped to her feet and bounded down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen, where Sirius was sitting. Sirius looked up as the kitchen door swung open, and before he got the chance to even utter a word, he had a lap full of crying eleven-year-old girl.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Sirius as he brought his arm up to rubbing soothing circles on her back. He didn't get an answer, just more sobbing, so he tried to ask again. "Keli, what's wrong? Please talk to me. I can't help you if you don't tell me."

Shifting her head to the side so she could talk, Keli mumbled, "I missed you" before turning her head back and trying to stop her cries.

Sirius just smiled softly at that before placing a tender kiss to the side of her head, continuing to rub her back in small circles, and making nonsense sounds in a soothing tone every now and then.

Keli wasn't sure how long she had been sitting on Sirius's knee and weeping into his shoulder, but she did know that she felt safe in his arms, the same type of feeling that she got when was being comforted by Remus. Slowly her tears stopped flowing, and her cries began to subside into small hiccups every so often, until she was finally just sniffling.

"Are you feeling better, now?" enquired Sirius softly, still rubbing gentle circles on the girl's back.

Keli pulled her head off of his shoulder and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve before answering quietly, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry all over you like that."

"You don't have to be sorry, Keli," responded Sirius, taking hold of Keli's chin and looking into her eyes. Smiling, he added, "Go on, go wash your face and then we'll see about having something for dinner."

"Okay," agreed Keli, wiping her eyes again with her sleeve.

Getting off Sirius's knee, Keli made her way into the bathroom. Filling up the basin in there, she set about washing the dried tear tracks off her face. Once she was done, Keli emptied the basin and lumbered back into the kitchen.

Taking her own seat at the wooden table, she took her mug of tea and began sipping at it, letting it calm her stormy emotions. They still seemed to be on a roller coaster, and the tea soothed her aching throat, which was gravelly after all the crying she'd just done.

Sirius was standing in front of the cooker. The house had a normal Muggle cooker because both Remus and Sirius liked to try cooking on it, trying to make what Keli hoped was some chips and burgers for her, but it seemed he was having slight difficulty starting up the grill the normal way.

"Sirius?" asked Keli, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"I understand Quidditch now, did I tell you?" asked Keli, not remembering if she had written it in one of her letters to him or not.

Leaving the grill still turned off, Sirius turned to face Keli and answered, "No you didn't tell me. Who explained it to you? Was it Remus?"

"Nope, Lily did, we were watching the first match," explained Keli animatedly, her hands doing a tiny bit of gesturing as she talked, "So I asked her to tell me how it is played."

"Did you enjoy watching the match?" asked Sirius, abandoning trying to cook the Muggle way and conjuring up a large bowl of chips that they could share between them.

"Yes, it was fun. But... I couldn't actually play the game." there was a slight pause before Keli admitted shamefully, "I'm scared of heights."

Noticing the tone in Keli's voice, Sirius replied earnestly, "Keli, being scared of heights is nothing to feel ashamed of. Everyone is scared of something. Anyway, at least now you understand the game, which is more than what most people can say."

Shaking her head, Keli reached out and stuck her hand into the rather large bowl of chips and pulled a handful out. She then consumed the ones she had in her hands, explaining and going on in detail, around mouthfuls, about her first term at Hogwarts, and what she and Lily had been up to.

Sirius listened with rapt attention to all the things that Keli was telling him about. He felt pleased that Keli was now confident enough to talk to him like she did with Remus. The two of them sat for most of the evening, just talking to each other about everything and anything. Keli was finally forming a bond with Sirius, something she had thought she would never be able to do.

By ten that night, the two of them had fallen into a comfortable silence, a silence that was only broken by Sirius speaking. "Right. Come on, Keli, bed, it's already ten."

Yawning tiredly, Keli tried to protest. "Do I have to? I'm not t-t-tired," but she failed as she yawned right in the middle of a word.

"Of course you're not, that's why you're yawning so much. Go on, to bed with you,"

Deciding not to protest any more, Keli got up from the sofa, said goodnight to Sirius and ascended the stairs before heading into her bedroom. Once she was undressed, Keli gathered up Snuffles and clambered into her downy bed, getting herself cosy for the night. Just as she was slipping into the blackness that was sleep, one single thought drifted absently across her mind that made a soft smile appear on her face. In two days, we will be a family again.

***

Keli sat at the kitchen table two days later, doing her assigned Potions homework. She had needed something to do, to keep her mind off of the fact that Remus was due back later on in the evening.

Sirius was upstairs, gathering up the Christmas decorations from their loft. He had been trying to help Keli with her homework, but he kept getting side tracked by the fact that Snape was still the Potions Master. He had started making some rather colourful comments that Keli was sure she shouldn't have heard.

She had only managed to get one paragraph written with Sirius trying help her, so she had asked quiet innocently but firmly whether he had something else he could be doing, rather than trying to help her with her boring homework assignment.

Sure enough, he had taken the hint that she wanted to do it herself. He had left her to it ten minutes ago. Unfortunately, even without him there making the comments, Keli still couldn't concentrate on the task in front of her. Somehow along the way she had forgotten which ingredient to put in next. She had thought of sending an owl to Lily, but she didn't have an owl there, and Hedwig wasn't expected for another day or so, so she scrubbed that idea.

Keli sat staring out of the kitchen window, watching as the snow fell onto the ground outside, covering everything in whiteness. I really can't concentrate. I wish someone would help, thought Keli miserably as she let out a huff of breath. I suppose I could ask Sirius, but he'll only end up commenting on how ugly and greasy Professor Snape is.

Diverting her eyes back down to the half written essay that lay on the table, she sighed in frustration and slammed the book closed with an audible thump, making her quill jump a few inches off the table's surface before it settled back down again.

Scraping her chair back across the hard floor, Keli got to her feet and went over to flick the kettle on. I wonder what Sirius is up to? thought Keli, as the sounds of his rummaging around the loft had stopped some time ago.

Looking up towards the roof, her curiosity got the better of her. Abandoning what she was doing, Keli headed out of the kitchen, leaving the kettle to boil on its own. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Keli reached out a hand to take hold of the banister but had a split second hesitation. Maybe he wants to hit me, thought Keli, immediately diverting back to her old self.

Although Remus and Sirius had never hit her over the two and a half years she had lived with them, she could always find her thoughts drifting back to Ivan and his sort of 'caring' when they asked to see her alone, or if she walked into a room and only one of them was there. It was a defence mechanism that she didn't know how to break at the moment.

Shaking off the thought, Keli told her self to stop being silly and forced herself to place one foot on the bottom step of the staircase, then bring up her other foot to join it. Soon she was climbing the stairs.

Coming to the top of the stairs, where it led off onto the landing, Keli noticed that Sirius wasn't in the loft, as the hatch to the loft was shut, but neither were the Christmas decorations, which sat in a box. Noticing that her guardian's bedroom door was ajar, Keli softly made her way over to it and took a peak inside. She smiled at what she saw, for there sitting on the bed was Sirius. He had his legs crossed and in front of him was a large dusty box of what looked like newspapers, photos and just general memorabilia. Keli smiled slightly and tapped on the side of the door, which immediately got Sirius's attention.

Looking over towards the open door, Sirius smiled and asked, "Aren't you supposed to be doing homework?"

"I couldn't concentrate properly," answered Keli, pushing the door open wider. "I just wondered what you were doing?" she added timidly.

"Just looking through some old photos of when I was at Hogwarts," answered Sirius before he waved her inside saying, "come on, don't just stand in the doorway. Come and sit down."

Pushing the door open further, Keli walked into the room and sat Indian style on the other end of the bed, facing Sirius. Looking at the stuff that was spread across the duvet, Keli spotted a picture over to the right. Leaning forward slightly, she picked up the picture. The picture was of two young looking men who were looking anywhere but at each other. They both seemed to be turning a shade of red.

"When was this taken?" asked Keli, frowning for a moment as she tried to see if she could determine how old they were in the photograph before handing it over to Sirius.

Taking the photograph from Keli, Sirius took a glance at it, a smile lighting up his face. "In our sixth year," explained Sirius. "We had just shared our first kiss and James thought it would be funny to take a photo of us."

A small giggle escaped from Keli as she took the photo back and replied naively, "It's sweet."

Her giggling only increased when she looked up at Sirius and noticed the blush staining his cheeks, before he also let a small chuckle escape him.

"Thank you, Keli."

Her giggles subsiding, Keli placed the photo back in its respective place and asked, "Will you help me with my Potions homework, please? Then we can put up the Christmas decorations."

"Come on, then," Sirius sighed, getting up. It wasn't that he didn't want to help his charge, but more the fact that Potions really was not his strong suit. "The sooner we get it started, the sooner it will be done."

Replicating Sirius's actions, Keli also scrambled off the bed and followed him out of the bedroom, back downstairs and then back into the kitchen, where the kettle just clicked off as they entered.

Sitting back down in her seat, Keli asked, "Sirius, will you promise not to make any comments about Professor Snape just while you're helping me out?"

"Okay," answered Sirius quickly. At Keli's disbelieving look he rolled his eyes and added, "I promise I won't call Snape anything until you have finished all your homework."

"Good."

The two of them spent the rest of the day finishing off Keli's assignments. Once the homework was all out of the way, they then began putting the tree up and placing presents underneath it.

It had been two weeks before Christmas break when Keli had seen what she wanted to get both Remus and Sirius for Christmas from the magazine that Lily had been reading. The problem came when it came to retrieving such items, as the closest shop that sold the stuff she wanted was in Hogsmeade, and first years were not allowed into Hogsmeade. Lily had spoken to Claire about what Keli had wanted, and the older girl had agreed to go into Hogsmeade and get them for Keli. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about sneaking out to get them, as it was the final Hogsmeade weekend, that weekend.

Keli was curled up on one of the chairs, just settling in to read a book when she heard the back door go. Assuming that it was just Sirius going outside, she carried on reading, not paying attention to anything except the novel in front of her. That was, until Sirius called her into the kitchen.

Marking her place with a bookmark that had fallen out when she'd taken the book off the shelf, Keli got up and made her way into the kitchen. Stepping into the kitchen, she was pleasantly shocked to see a very cold looking Remus standing there. A smile spread widely across her face before she ran towards him and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.

"Hi, Keli," greeted Remus as he returned the hug.

Letting go, she took a few steps back before replying, "Hi, did you come by the Hogwarts Express?"

"No, I Apparated from the Apparation points," answered Remus, shrugging off his coat and draping it across one of the chairs.

"Keli, do you want another cup of tea?" interrupted Sirius.

"Yes I'll just go grab my cup. I left it in my...uh...the bedroom," answered Keli, exiting the kitchen quickly and hoping that they didn't notice her slip up.

Sitting down in one of the chairs, Remus asked, "How has she been?"

"Seems fine, she did have a good cry when she first arrived back home, and she keeps referring to things as specifics and not her own things," explained Sirius, as he set about making three cups of tea.

"What did she cry for?" questioned Remus curiously.

Shrugging his shoulders Sirius replied, "Said she had missed me," as he finished up making the tea.

Just as Remus was going to ask something else, the door was pushed open again and Keli walked in with a cup clutched in her hand.

"Thank you," said Sirius, taking the cup from her outstretched hand

Sitting down, Keli replied, "That's alright."

"So what have you pair been getting up to these last few days while I've not been here?" asked Remus, taking the offered mug and taking a quick swallow of the hot liquid. "Thanks."

"Not much,"

"Doing my homework," put in Keli from her side of the table. "And looking at a photo."

"A photo of whom?" asked Remus, curious as to what Sirius had been showing the young girl.

Keli broke into a fit of daft laughter as she answered, "You and Sirius."

At the surprised look on Remus's face, Keli quickly stopped her giggling and waited for Remus to do or say something. She had always hated thinking that she had upset Remus in any way. She cast her eyes downward, all of a sudden finding her tea the most interesting thing in the world.

Noticing Keli's downcast look, Remus looked to Sirius and asked, "Which year was it taken in?"

"Sixth year," answered Sirius.

"I didn't think you still had that photo," replied Remus, turning a shade of pink, just as Sirius had done earlier.

"Keli, you have done nothing wrong," assured Sirius, noticing that the young girl still hadn't spoken or looked up from her tea.

Looking up, Keli asked cautiously, "You aren't mad?"

"No," smiled Remus. "Just surprised is all. I didn't think that photograph was still here."

"Oh," said Keli, also breaking into a smile.

The three of them then spent the evening catching up with each other. Keli explained that she couldn't get her potions homework done as Sirius kept commenting on the Potions Master instead of the work. Sirius told of how he had stumbled across the box of memorabilia while he'd been looking for the Christmas decorations and how he had sat and looked through it. Remus had said that quite a few of Gryffindors were staying at school that year and he had had to stay an extra two days to finish off some marking.

Keli went to bed that night content. She had both her guardians under the same roof again.

***

Christmas Eve dawned bright, early and crispy cold,[Author ID1: at Wed Feb 21 20:32:00 2007 ] even though the sun was shining low in the sky. Keli turned over in bed for the third time in the last five minutes; she had woken from the weirdest dream ever.

She had dreamt that her dad, her real dad, Thomas, had never been killed and that they (her, her mum and dad) were all living together. Keli had started Hogwarts and he dad was sitting next to her telling her all about it. But her dad had been a Muggle, and had never attended Hogwarts. As the dream progressed, her dad had seemed to take on a similar look to someone she knew, but before the outline could come into focus, she had woken up.

Sitting up, Keli propped the pillows up against the headboard, then leant back against them, letting the strips of sunshine cast light in the bedroom. Soon, though, Keli was getting irritated by just sitting there and by the quietness. She tried to remember if she had brought her book into the bedroom with her last night or left it out on the living room table.

Letting out a sigh, she glanced up at the wall clock, which read half past eight. Knowing she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep and not having found her book on her bedside table, Keli pushed the covers off her body and gathered up her clothes to begin to get dressed for the day.

Pulling a t-shirt and a thick woollen jumper over her head along with slipping into a pair of deep purple jeans, Keli left her chestnut brown hair down. Finally she fastened her watch to her wrist. Opening her door, Keli stepped out into the living room when she noticed there was a light on in the kitchen, shining out from underneath the door.

Ambling over to the door, she entered and ended up getting the shock of her life. Sirius and Remus were practically making out on the kitchen table.

Keli suddenly remembered where she was and bolted out of the kitchen, the kitchen door slamming with a bit of a bang. She ran back into the bedroom, slamming that door as well. She wasn't against them being in love with each other, but she remembered, when she was younger, when she had accidentally walked in on her mum and Ivan kissing like that.

Ivan had managed to break three of her ribs in the beating that had followed. He had told her that it wasn't her house, that she didn't have any rights to be wandering in and out of each room, and that she was to knock every time she entered a room with him in it.

The slamming of the kitchen and Keli's bedroom door brought Remus and Sirius back to the real world with a bump. Looking where Keli had been standing only moments before, Sirius swore under his breath, then sat down heavily into one of the table's chairs.

"Shit! She's probably scared out her wits seeing us kissing like that," said Sirius, raking his hands through his hair.

"We'll have to go and reassure her that we aren't angry with her," replied Remus, still staring at the kitchen door as though he could see through it.

"I think she needs time to calm down," responded Sirius. He wasn't sure how much Keli would take in if she was angry or upset.

"Keli isn't angry just... scared," answered Remus.

Sighing quietly, Sirius climbed back to his feet and replied, "Okay, but I still think we should leave her for a bit."

"No, leaving her could make things worse. Come on,"

Both of them left the kitchen and headed towards Keli's bedroom. Knocking once, they slowly opened the door and stepped into the room. Keli was sitting with her knees tucked into her chest and her arms folded around them.

Looking up at her guardians, Keli muttered, "I'm sorry."

"What ever for?" asked Remus, striding fully into the room and taking a seat facing Keli, while Sirius sat the other side of her, watching her carefully.

"I shouldn't have just walked in," answered Keli, inaudibly.

"Keli, you've been walking into rooms since you arrived here, without ever knocking before. Besides, how were you suppose to know we would be in there," explained Remus logically.

"But I still should have knocked," mumbled Keli, before adding without thinking, "Ivan always told me to knock."

Sirius eyes flashed dangerously at the name of her tormentor, before he replied calmly, "Keli, we don't expect you to knock on the door every time you enter a room. He didn't know what he was on about when he talked to you!"

Turning her head to face Sirius, Keli responded, "Then why didn't you just lock the door?"

"Well... ah... you see... we kind of got caught up in the moment," stumbled Remus.

"Oh, right. But I am still sorry, I should have just left quietly," Keli said, fretting.

"Don't worry about it," responded Sirius before he changed the subject to get her mind off of what had transpired. "Now come on, breakfast time."

Smiling, Keli took hold of Sirius's outstretched hand, pulled herself off the bed, placed Snuffles back on the bed, and then followed the two men out of the room and back into the kitchen.

***

Keli, Sirius, and Remus were sitting on the living room floor that was covered in coloured Christmas paper. Sirius, ever the prankster, had woken her up at seven in the morning, telling her quite loudly that it was Christmas day.

He did it every year, knocking on her door and bounding in as Padfoot to wake her up. Once he was sure she was awake, he would change back and tell her to hurry up, get dressed and head into the living room so they could open their presents.

This year she had received a watch with a picture on the face of it of a dog and wolf sitting under a full moon. On the strap, it alternated between a dog and wolf all the way around.

She had also got an assortment of casual clothing, some deep coloured short-sleeved t-shirts. Keli had realized that she could indeed wear t-shirts in the summer, as long as they weren't transparent and were a deep colour like blue or purple. That way, no one would know about or see the scars that littered her back.

Lily had gotten her a leather-clad diary that could be password protected by a simple charm. Which she would show Keli how to do when they met up again, at school.

Keli had given Lily two things. One was a piece of thick black cord with a metal trinket on it. It was supposed to keep her safe wherever she wore it. The second thing she had sent her was a framed picture photo of both of them smiling, laughing and talking, from their first Quidditch match. Claire had snapped the picture, while they had been walking back to the tower. And She had then given two to Keli, one for herself and one for Lily.

Keli had given Sirius a small box of Fred and George's inventions and a book on crosswords, as she had noticed that he had always done the ones out of the Daily Prophet, but he only got halfway through before he put it down somewhere and forget where he had put it.

Remus had gotten a couple of new chess pieces for his chess board and three new books that he had been after for a while. All in all, all of them enjoyed the day thoroughly and Keli was certain she would remember it fondly.

***

Keli had just dropped her trunk at the bottom of her bed in Gryffindor tower when she heard the door open. Looking towards the door, she saw Lily come in and do the exact same thing.

"You're back! When did you get here?" asked Lily as she went over to Keli and hugged her.

"Remus and I flooed here early this morning," answered Keli, smiling as she hugged her friend back.

"Wow, it's so good to see you," replied Lily, stepping back to study her friend. "You look loads better."

"Thanks. I think seeing Sirius again helped me overcome some leftover homesickness," explained Keli with a shrug of her shoulders.

The two girls continued chatting energetically as they made their way back down into the Gryffindor common room, where other students were just entering from arriving back at school, and others were greeting there friends. Keli realised that she didn't guard herself anymore, not whilst in the common room. No one had tried to hurt her in any way - in fact, they had done nothing but try to make them feel welcome.

Sitting in a chair beside the window, Keli watched as Lily sat in the one that was in front of her. Both of them sat in comfortable silence for a minute before they began talking again.

"So, tell me everything that happened over the Christmas break?" questioned Lily, eager to hear about her friend's Christmas.

"Okay, then. Do you remember when you got that letter that I wrote, where I walked in on Sirius and Remus?" asked Keli, knowing full well she hadn't explained anything in the letter.

"Yeah. Come on, spill, what happened?" asked Lily, intrigued, nudging Keli with her foot.

Lily had always been one for listening to gossip. She wouldn't ever spread any of the gossip she heard, but she was definitely one for listening to it.

"Well they were... you know... kissing," answered Keli quietly.

"But why did you bolt out of the room?" asked Lily, a smile stuck on her face.

"Because... I didn't want to watch," lied Keli. She didn't want to tell the truth.

Both girls shared a look before bursting out into a fit of laughter. To them, kissing boys was certainly something they weren't worried about... yet, but seeing anyone else kiss would always make them laugh, although neither knew what they were laughing at.

"O-o-okay I'm calm," gasped Lily, regaining her composure. "So, did you get my present?"

Stopping her giggling, Keli said, "Yes I did, thank you. I've already stuck a photo on the inside cover. What about you?"

"They're lovely. I'm wearing the bracelet," answered Lily, rolling up her sleeve to show the cord tied tightly around her wrist.

"It looks good on you," commented Keli, taking hold of her friend's arm and looking at the bracelet, "And you can add more to it if you want to."

"Hey, you two first years, it's teatime," called a seventh year, interrupting the eleven-year-old's conversation.

"Coming," Lily called back, "come on."

Nodding her head, Keli stood up, straightened out her robe, and then both girls left the warm common room and started to head down to the Great Hall. Entering the hall, they noticed that the tables were already full of delicious looking food. Still sniggering at a joke that Lily had told her, the two of them moved over to the Gryffindor table and started on tea.

***

It was a week before the end of Keli and Lily's first year. The weather was hot and sticky, the Quidditch season had ended several weeks ago, and several students were still doing detentions.

The last week the two girls had been having their end of year exams. Which were supposed to have been frightful, but once they had taken one they realized they weren't. They weren't as bad as everyone had made them out to be.

At that moment in time, the two girls were sitting on a bench in the courtyard, studying for their History of Magic lesson that afternoon. They were watching some older students going into Hogsmeade for the last time before they had to leave for the summer.

"Going anywhere nice this summer?" asked Lily curiously as she turned a page over in her book.

"Not that I know of," answered Keli with a shrug. "Sometimes you never know if they want to go out or not. What about you?"

"I think we are heading to the East coast for a week," answered Lily unsure.

Keli just nodded. What she wasn't telling Lily was that she was thinking of asking to go back to her home to collect some more of her things. Apparently it had never been sold and no one had taken anything from the house. According to the authorities the mortgage and bills were still being paid on the house, but Keli had no idea how, as both her mum and Ivan were dead. A dull outline fell across the two girls' book. Looking up they saw the face of Gambolo, a Slytherin first year. Neither of them got along with him

"Yes?" asked Keli politely.

Although her confidence had been boosted and she could now stand up to people and ask questions, she would guard herself, and she wouldn't pick a fight.

"Shut it, Mudblood," sneered Gambolo. "I came to see if Potter has changed her mind?" holding out his hand again.

Wow! He is really trying to become Lily's friend, thought Keli as she closed the book she had been reading, waiting to see what Lily would do.

Rolling her eyes, Lily closed her own book before answering, "And as I said before, Gambolo, I don't think you're my type of friend."

"So you'd sooner hang around with Mudbloods?" questioned Gambolo, intentionally knocking Keli's book from her hands.

Keli was surprised at Gambolo and how close he had gotten to her. A memory came flooding back to her. She had been sitting in the garden when she was six years old, reading. Ivan staggered home, drunk as usual, and smacked the book from her hands before smacking her head, followed by several curses.

Before Lily could do or say anything Keli had jumped up to her feet, fear flashing across her face. She then took off, back towards the castle. Lily hadn't missed the fear in her best friend's eyes, but Gambolo obviously hadn't noticed anything strange and was standing laughing at Keli's retreating back.

"That... she is... it was... only a book..." gasped Gambolo, bent double by now.

Taking her wand out, Lily pointed it at Gambolo, "Keep laughing and I won't hesitate to hex you!"

"You can't. You don't know any hexes," snapped Gambolo, straightening himself up. "Besides, even if you could, you aren't that clever. They'd never work for you,"

"Gambolo," threatened Lily quietly. "My dad took on the most powerful dark wizard when he was just eighteen. Don't assume that I'm not as powerful as he is, because I am."

Although Harry had told Lily not to flaunt the fact that she was probably as powerful as he was, he had said that if any trouble accrued, she shouldn't go over the top, but shouldn't stand for any nonsense from anyone.

Gambolo's face drained of colour as he bent down to pick up the book. Then, shoving it into Lily's hand, he took off.

Sighing, Lily looked down at Keli's History of Magic book. Keli, why did you run off? thought Lily as she headed into the castle to find Keli. It was only a book he hit, not you. Keli, you really know how to get upset at someone as stupid as Gambolo.

Lily came to a stop at the library. I wonder... Pushing open the door, Lily stepped into the quiet library. Throwing the librarian a small smile, Lily started to weave her way through the tables until she came across a girl sniffling quietly, trying hard not to cry out loud.

Squatting down next to her, Lily asked, "Are you okay?"

"No," choked out Keli before more tears leaked out her eyes, and down her cheeks.

"Keli, tell me why you ran off?" asked Lily, trying to see if she could coax some information out of her.

Looking into Lily's green eyes, Keli just shook her head before sobbing, "I can't."

Lily felt her heart constrict. When Keli had looked into her eyes she saw pain, fear, and something that looked like she had had a flash back. What to do? thought Lily, at a loss for what to do and how to help her friend. She won't tell me, Sirius is back at his house. There's only Rem- of course.

"Keli, come on," said Lily softly, holding out her hand.

"Where?" asked Keli between sobs.

"To see Uncle Remus," replied Lily quietly.

Taking hold of her best friend's hands, she felt Keli tense, but without another word Lily had pulled Keli to her feet and was drawing her out of the library and down the corridors to Remus's rooms. Coming to a stop at the correct portrait, she gave the password and pulled Keli inside.

"Uncle Remus!" called out Lily as the portrait closed behind her.

Remus had been sitting at the desk in the large bedroom, just going over some last minute marking when he heard Lily call out. Getting to his feet, he left the bedroom, and stepped into the living room area. He was surprised to see Lily standing there with her arms wrapped around Keli, who had tears running down her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" asked Remus.

"Uncle Remus," began Lily, guiding Keli over to him, "it's Keli. Gambolo knocked a book out of her hand and she hasn't stopped crying since. I don't know what to do,"

"Keli, what's wrong?" asked Remus as he led Keli away from Lily.

"Thought... hit..." mumbled Keli between her cries.

Lily didn't hear what she had said, but Remus had. Sitting Keli down he turned to Lily and said, "Lily, would you let Keli's professors know that she won't be attending the afternoon classes, and that if she does she'll be late?"

"Of course. Please help her, Uncle Remus. I hate seeing her like this," said Lily before leaving the rooms.

Sitting beside Keli, Remus just wrapped an arm around her to let her know she was safe and no one would hurt her. Keli sat crying for a half hour before her cries started to turn to hiccuping sniffles, then tuning to sniffles and finally stopping altogether.

"What happened, Keli? It isn't like you to turn up here crying." asked Remus, concern etched into his voice.

The only other time Keli had sat next to him and cried was the past September when she'd been feeling homesick. She didn't even cry when she had a particularly bad nightmare, which seemed to have dissipated since she had started Hogwarts.

"Lily and me were out in the courtyard reviewing for History of Magic when a shadow fell across us," explained Keli quietly. "I looked up to see Osric Gambolo towering over us. He asked Lily why she was hanging around with me. Lily just answered saying 'you aren't my type of friend.' He must have gotten angry because he knocked my book out of my hands. That's when I remembered 'him' doing the same thing when I was six."

"Keli, I don't think Osric would have actually hit you," reasoned Remus.

Sighing, Keli replied, "I know. I just panicked. I shouldn't have, but I did."

"Keli, you can't stop yourself from panicking, especially if someone lashes out at you. It will always be a natural reaction, especially with the circumstances surrounding you. Just remember to go away, calm down, then carry on," explained Remus.

"I'll try to remember," replied Keli, glancing at her watch. "Oh no! I'm late for History of Magic. I'll see you later, Remus."

Without waiting for a reply, Keli jumped up and left the room, then went to the rest of her afternoon lessons. She told Lily it was just the shock of someone knocking the book out of her hand that had upset her.

Lily had bought it. For some reason she knew there was more to the story then just that, but she also knew that if she asked Keli about it, the other girl would just clam up. So she just went back to her work with a reassuring smile at Keli.

***

Keli and Lily were sitting in the Great Hall in their best Gryffindor coloured robes and pointed black hats.

They were waiting for Professor Dumbledore to make the end of year announcements. The hall fell silent as Dumbledore began speaking. "Another year gone, and with it we lose our seventh years. All I can say is to each of you good luck in your chosen career. Firstly, the house cup needs awarding. In fourth place is Slytherin, with 295 points. In third place is Hufflepuff, with 298 points. In second place...is Gryffindor with 300 points. Which means in first place is Ravenclaw House, with 401 points." A loud cheering resounded around the hall. As it died down, Dumbledore carried on. "Yes, well done, Ravenclaw, well done. Secondly, the Quidditch Cup goes to Slytherin. Thirdly and lastly I must say... tuck in."

Again the great hall was alive with noise. Lily and Keli were talking about the upcoming summer when the Weasley twins joined in. The four of them spent the feast talking with each other.

***

"Keli, come on, get in, the train's going to leave," protested Lily from the doorway of the carriage.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," responded Keli.

Jumping onto the train, Keli went into the compartment that she was sharing with Lily and, surprisingly, Michelle and Stewart. Sitting next to the window, Keli watched as Hogwarts got smaller and smaller until she couldn't see it anymore. Tearing her eyes away from the window, she turned to the others.

Keli commented, "I'm definitely going to miss Hogwarts,"

"Yeah, me too," added Lily.

"And us three," chorused the twins.

Smiling, Keli said, "Everyone got plans for the summer then?"

The compartment came alive with them all talking at once. No one noticed that Keli withdrew herself from the conversation. She was content just to listen, for now.

Definately looking forward to the next year, thought Keli, smiling. Who knows, I may not get homesick. This summer is also going to be different from the last.