Into the Hands of Fate

Chapter Five

"What did I say?" asked Sirius in confusion. He looked at the group. Lily sighed.

"Good going, Sirius, you've upset her," Gwen accused.

He grinned but there was a bit of guilt upon his face. "Then my work is done," he concluded. James shook his head and punched the boy's shoulder. "Nah uh, I've had enough punches from you. One's more than enough." He pointed at his cheekbone.

James blushed a nice shade of crimson. "Sorry about that."

Sirius just grinned and waved his hand. "I'm just kidding," he replied. "What's up with the maniac witch though?"

Lily looked to Lydia and Gwen uneasily. "Er - not sure," she mumbled.

"Is she sick?" asked Peter.

"Maybe something bad has happened," said Remus. This made the girls avert their eyes.

James grinned at how secretive they were trying to be. "Anyway, what's our first class today?"

~*~

"The - the Alloy child? But, that's just a legend," Hallie said quietly.

Rogue laughed. It is not. It is hard fact, and you have half of the Alloy Child. If you give it to me, I will leave your mind and you alone.

Hallie blanched. "You mean, if I give you the - er - half of the Alloy Child, you'll leave me alone? Forever? Just like that?"

A smile was in Rogue's voice. Yes, I'll leave you alone forever, just like that. Now, give me the half.

At this, something hit her; she didn't have the half. "Um - Rogue, what does the half look like?"

He burst into a round of wild laughter. What does it look like? Dear child, don't mock me. You know just as well as I what it looks like.

She shook her head. "I don't."

There was a short silence. The one you have is silver. It's a silver amulet of a young girl wearing a dress studded with blue sapphires. Where her head should be, there's a beautiful diamond.

"Oh, right. I knew that," she told Rogue, trying to sound confident.

Whatever you say. Hallie's face contorted into disbelief. Was that humor? Was Rogue trying to be funny?

"Can you just not talk to me for a while?" she asked him softly.

He said, I cannot. You must know I'm here, my master wants me watching over you every single second during day and night until the other half of the Alloy Child is in his hands. Give it to me now.

She sighed. "No."

No? You don't want me to leave you alone then? Perhaps I should make you do things. Things to your family. A lump jumped into her throat. Oh, right, I forgot. Master found out you don't have a father, and your mother is dead.

"Shut up!"

Maybe I should make you do things to your friends, then. Would that make you give me the Alloy Child? Her stomach turned in dread. What would he make her do? Rogue laughed. Yes, you care for them very much. You see it is not only I who is watching over you, child, my Lord is as well. And he knows many things about you. Down to your favorite color. Green.

Hallie blanched. "Green? You think my favorite color is green? What would make you and your stupid master think my favorite color is green! Practically everything I own is periwinkle! Doesn't that give you a clue?"

Rogue just chuckled. You see I learn things about you every second we speak.

She nearly choked. Smart move, Hallie, she thought to herself.

I thought so as well, Rogue said. She glared into the darkness and put her hands over her ears.

"Just shut up for about five minutes!" she yelled.

He just laughed mirthlessly. I speak only so you know I'm here, dear child, only so you know I am here. Now get up, you have classes now, I don't want anyone to think something's wrong with you.

Smiling triumphantly she said, "Well my friends already do. Lily's worried and same with the rest." She tried desperately to fight the force making her stand, but she couldn't. She felt herself moving her legs up the steps and to her class.

Ah, but don't you think I've thought about how to deal with that?

"No."

Well I have, and of course they'll think you're upset because your mother is dead.

"Shut up, I hate you."

I never said you had to like me...but I could always make you. A feeling of helplessness had lodged itself within her. Why?

Because she knew he could.

~*~

Lily saw her walk in and quickly stood up to motion the girl over. Hallie smiled and strolled over. "Hey, what did I miss?" the girl asked. Lily looked at her in slight alarm. There was something different about her today. Something was terribly wrong. Lydia looked at the two girls and smiled at them.

"You feeling better, Hallie?"

The girl grinned. "Yeah, I'm fine. I wasn't feeling to well last night and this morning is all," was the reply. Lydia looked at her and then to Lily. They exchanged a look. "What? What is it?"

"Er - nothing," said Lily. They took their seats. Lily leaned to her right where Gwen sat. "Do you see anything wrong with Hallie?"

The girl looked at her then to Hallie. "Umm...no...not really. Why?"

"Never mind. It's nothing."

Professor stood from his desk and glared around the classroom. "Get out your cauldrons," he ordered. The class did as was told.

James leaned over to Sirius and said, "Now?" he boy grinned and nodded. "Giglesroio," James muttered and pointed his wand at Snape. The boy burst into small giggles, which eventually erupted into enormous laughs. Though he was laughing, his eyes showed confusion.

"Mr. Snape, what is the meaning of this? Stop laughing this instant!" exclaimed the professor. Severus was bent over and clutching his side for he was laughing so much.

"Giglesroio," James chanted once again at another Slytherin. He did this to many other Slytherins. The other Gryffindors didn't need the giggling charm to make them laugh; they were over themselves already with laughter at the Slytherins. Professor Rosier seemed to be having trouble with controlling his class until there was a loud eruption. Remus and Peter had both made their wands make explosions with fog.

Sirius ran to the supply room behind the professor's desk. There he saw many vials. He took out the ingredients list and took the things he needed as quickly as he could find and stuff them into his bag. There were three more explosions and he grinned. His friends seemed to be having a blast scaring everyone. The girls were screaming and the Slytherins were laughing hysterically. He ran back out and took his seat.

Soon, the fog cleared. The Slytherins' laughs had died down and now they were holding cramps on their sides, gasping for breath. Professor Rosier looked as if fire would shoot from his mouth and ears. He performed the counter curse of the giggling charm and glared around the room.

"Who is responsible for the disruption of my class?" he growled. Everyone sat still. "Whoever is responsible will get of lighter than they would if I catch them and they still haven't told me they were the ones who did this. Now, who is responsible?" No one in the room moved an inch. "All right then, but I will catch you," he said looking at Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter. "Start the potion."

Sirius leaned over to James, "Why does he always look at us?"

~*~

That week, Hallie went to detentions with Professor Jenkins who had her cleaning the Trophy room without magic. She obliged happily, which was very odd to the professor, but the teacher pushed the thought aside. Rogue was controlling her thoroughly, making her do her detentions without complaint, making her say what he wanted her to say, made her tell him what he wanted to know about everyone. He posed threats of what he could make her do and what he would make her do soon if she didn't give him the half of the Alloy Child. He didn't need to threaten her on what he could do though, for she believed it from past experiences. She hadn't slept a wink all week from Rogue's voice in her head never ceased; never gave her time off to think her thoughts in peace.

That Saturday, she skipped dinner to go put her thoughts down on paper. She pulled out her book with periwinkle fuzz covering it. After undoing all the spells and curses that she and Lily put on it, she was faced with the lock. She undid the clasp of her necklace and put the key into the keyhole. Once it was open, she flipped to a clean page.

What is this book you have for? asked Rogue. She was glad he let her have this small bit of freedom. This was probably the only thing that gave her sanity through him controlling her.

"Why should I tell you?" she asked quietly as she searched for a quill.

There was another grin in his voice as he spoke. Because I'm the one letting you write in it.

"Fine. My mum gave it to me a long time ago. I write my songs and tunes in here."

Have you come up with another?

She sighed. "Yes, and this one's inspiration was you. Now shut up so I can write."

Surprisingly, he did as was told and she could tell he was reading what she wrote.

Pressure

I just need this to be all right

I can't feel this another night

Pre

I can't take this I come unglued

I might breakdown in front of you

Necessary to medicate

I'm not sleeping can't stay awake

Can't see through this

Too much pressure

Drowning in this

Too much pressure

If you need me I'll be here

Half unconscious to escape my fear.

Pre

Courtesy to Staind for "Pressure"

She reread what she had writing and felt her heart skip a beat. Where did these words come from? Was she so affected by Rogue that he was starting to change her? Sighing, she closed the book and redid the curses and spells protecting it after she locked it once more.

She heard the door open and Lily come in. "Hi, Lily," Rogue made her say in a peppy voice. Hallie knew that her best friend saw right through the charade, but she wondered if the girl would be able to put two and two together to find get to the conclusion of what was going on.

"Er - hi, Hallie." Lily paused trying to find words for what she had to say. "Look, I know you're not happy. Just look at yourself." The girl had coal black eye bags below her eyes that had lost all the life in them and were looking extremely somber. "You know you can tell me anything. We've been best friends since what seems like forever. Tell me what's wrong." She looked so concerned that Hallie wanted to scream and kick around to free herself from Rogue's hold, but she could do nothing.

"Lily, really I'm fine. I just haven't been feeling well."

The other girl looked unconvinced but dropped it. "All right, if you say so."

~*~

After dinner, the four boys got their ingredients and went to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "Hello," she greeted sulkily. "What are you doing in here? This is a girl's bathroom. You're not allowed in here."

Sirius smirked as James shot her his most charming smile. "Myrtle, we would really appreciate it if you don't tell anyone what we do in here. You see, we can't trust anyone as much as we trust you," James told her in his most sincere voice.

Sirius plastered his innocent look upon his face and nodded as he swatted at Remus and Peter who were chuckling quietly. "Yeah, what we're going to be doing in here is very important and we need it to stay a secret."

She looked around at them from behind her large horn-rimmed glasses. "Er - alright. Does that mean you'll be coming to visit me a lot?" she asked.

"Of course," Remus told her with a smile. She nodded and went back into her stall.

Sirius grinned at him and in his falsetto he said, "Of course."

Remus swatted at him but then his expression changed to one of seriousness. "Look, guys, I really appreciate you doing this. No one's every done anything like this for me before."

James smirked at him. "Whoever said we were doing this for you? Maybe I just want to be able to become an animal whenever I want." Remus swiped a blow at him playfully and broke into laughter.

"We're your friends, Remus. Friends do things for other friends all the time!" said Peter sincerely.

Remus looked around at his three best friends. "Thanks. You don't know how much this means to me." Sirius smiled another genuine smile. To see Remus so happy made it all worth it.

~*~

That night after the boys called it quits, they went back to the Gryffindor house. James sat on the hearth and told them all to go without him, but Sirius stayed back. "What do you do down here?" he asked.

James smiled and gazed into the fire. "I just stay down here to think by myself sometimes. I don't know, to just relax I guess." Sirius nodded. James' handsome face glowed with a radiance of life. Then suddenly something inside him told the boy to make 'the sign'. Not knowing what he was doing, James made arms move into the air, each hand making a half circle.

Sirius watched in bewilderment as the fire danced wildly and cackled as if laughing. James' face was one of furious concentration. Alarmingly, James words form in his mind. He chanted them aloud. "Chantebra lengorio, sepak emot! From the fire, speak within, words so dire, most unspoken. Let him learn, Seer let see, how to help determine, free the spell from thee," chanted James in a singsong voice. Then all at once, the fire erupted brilliantly and then disappeared as if smothered with a bucket of water. Only a string of smoke let be known that there was ever a fire there in the first place.

What was left of a fire was a circle of flames in the form of the circle James had made with his hands. The other boy was breathing heavily as he looked in fright at the globe of fire before the two boys. Sirius read:

So comes the night

The Seer sees

The Rogue is vanquished

The dame set free.

The star, the dog,

Set thee immune,

So chanted the song,

So chanted the tune.

Right turns to wrong,

Wrong turns to right,

Come hence it forth,

Henceforth the fight.

And then it disappeared leaving nothing behind. The fire sparked to life in the fireplace once again. James' breathing was labored as he got up to start walking to the dormitory. Sirius helped him. "You - you have to stay here, Sirius," James breathed. He was sweating with the effort to speak. "You have - have to stay." And then he went up the steps and into the dormitory leaving a stunned Sirius behind watching after him.

~*~

Hallie tried to block Rogue's voice from her mind but found she could not, like always. She was wary with sleep but because of him, she could not slumber. The girl stood and walked down the steps hoping to escape from everyone else and be alone. For some reason, she was able to act on her own accord, though; it still took a bit of strength as she fought with her will against Rogue.

With her wand in hand, downstairs to the common room she tiptoed quietly until she stood before the fire. She felt something flow from her and collapsed onto the floor when her legs gave up beneath her. Sitting up, she blinked in the dim light of the fire. Before her hovered a shadow.

"This is me, child, look at me," it said in a deep and low voice. Hallie did a double take.

"Rogue?" she asked. The shadow laughed and looked down at her. He shimmered like a ghost and he was clad in medieval clothes.

"It is I. I who have spoke to you in your mind and controlled you. You were very hard to master at first because of your fierce attitude, but I conquered in the end." He laughed again and she shivered. "Ah, but we are not alone," he said and moved what was supposedly his hand forward. He outstretched his fingers and then folded them into a fist.

Sirius who had been concealing himself in the armchair flew forward and onto the ground before Rogue and next to Hallie who looked at him in fright. "Sirius?" she asked him.

He forced a shaky grin. "The one and only, how are you?" he asked as if saying 'how's the weather today?' She just blinked at him with wide eyes, then she turned back to Rogue seemed to be grinning down at them both.

"I'm supposed to be vanquished by you?" asked the shadow sarcastically. He laughed. "The prophesies seem to have mistaken now." He quoted:

"So comes the night

The Seer sees

The Rogue is vanquished

The dame set free.

The star, the dog,

Set thee immune,

So chanted the song,

So chanted the tune.

Right turns to wrong,

Wrong turns to write,

Come hence it forth,

Henceforth the fight."

Then he laughed once more. "Vanquished, I think not! Kill him, child, kill the boy." Hallie looked at him in terror, then to Sirius who was looking back at her calmly.

"I - I -" she stammered.

Rogue loomed in over her viciously. "Kill him!" he ordered. She felt herself raise her wand and point it at Sirius. Words came to her mind. Chant the spell, child, chant it...chant it.

"NO!" she yelled and covered her ears. "Stop talking to me! I hate you! Just leave me alone!" She was forced to her feet, as was Sirius.

"I command that you kill him! Now do as I say!"

"NO!" She started to tremble with her effort to control herself. "I won't! Leave me alone!" As if on instinct, Sirius marched over and pulled her into an embrace. She shook violently. "I won't!"

James' sigil rose into the air. Sirius saw it was the sign that his friend had drawn in the fire earlier. All at once, the fire cackled again and turned to the color of midnight. Rogue shrieked wildly as if being tortured and was pulled towards the fire. "No! NO!" he screamed. His voice was sharp as knives. And then he was in the fire. It seemed to devour him and smoke rose into the chimney. The flames flickered and turned back to their normal array of oranges, reds, and yellows.

Sirius rubbed Hallie's back like his mother did to him when he was younger. "It's alright now, it's all over," he whispered. "It's over now." He felt her tears drain into his robes and felt a soft wind swirl by.

Soon after, her sobs slowed and she looked up at him. "Is he gone?"

He smiled comfortingly and nodded. "He's gone." Many expressions passed on her face. Confusion, relief, happiness, fright, and most of all, drowsiness. She sighed and buried her head into his shoulder. He helped her back to the girls' dormitory. She lay down on her bed and put her head onto her periwinkle pillow. The girl closed her eyes and he stood up to leave.

"You saved me," Hallie whispered and opened her eyes again to look at him in wonder.

He turned back around and sat at the edge of her bed. He smiled genuinely down at her. "That's what friends are for." She smiled back at him.

He kissed her forehead gently. "Sleep well, Hallie." He stood and walked out of the room.

She pulled her pillow to her. "Goodnight, Sirius, and thank you."

~*~

Sirius walked out of the dormitory. He closed the door and leaned against it with closed eyes. Letting himself slide to the floor, he put a hand through his jet-black hair. "What a night," he whispered with a grin. The shadow, what was it that Hallie had called him? Rogue, yes, that was it. Who was Rogue and what had happened? He'd have to ask her about it tomorrow. Slowly he went to his own dormitory where he got comfortable in his bed.

A voice spoke into the night. "Is it over, Sirius?" asked James quietly.

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, it's over."

~*~

That morning, Lydia woke up with a yawn. She looked around to find that most of the girls had already gone down to breakfast. Lily was still up as well as she. "Hey, Lydia! Everyone's left already," Lily said.

Lydia laughed. "Thanks, I didn't notice." Lily grinned and threw a pillow at the girl. "Where's Gwen and Hallie?" asked Lydia.

"Umm...Gwen left with Andrea and...Hallie's still asleep. Oh! Let's wake her up!" Lily stood and opened the other girl's curtain. Hallie was covered in a thick periwinkle down blanket hugging her periwinkle pillow.

Lydia followed but stopped her. "You shouldn't, she didn't get much sleep last night," she said. Lily looked at her questioningly. "She'll be fine when she wakes up."

"Nah, I'm fine now," came a muffled voice. They looked down at the girl before them as she turned over. A small smile was on her face. "Boy, have I got a story for you guys," she said with a grin.

~*~

Lydia's bright hazel/amber eyes widened in horror as Hallie told her tale. "I know! It scared me when I first heard him too! And then he kept talking and talking and saying he could make me do anything! I wanted to tell you guys, really I did, but I couldn't." She went on to finish her story leaving the other two girls awe stricken.

"Seriously, Sirius Black helped you?" wondered Lily. "And you let him? You - and him - you - and him...are you kidding me?" Hallie buried her face in her pillow and mumbled something incoherently. "What?"

"No."

Lydia smiled at her. There was a certain twinkle in the girl's eyes that seemed to say 'I know something you don't know!' "You left a bit out...something that happened a bit after he saved you," she said with an evil smirk.

Hallie glared at her. I never said he saved me."

Lydia laughed. "You sure did last night, and then he gave you a little goodnight kiss!" Hallie swatted at her.

Lily looked at them both in turn. Kiss? What did I miss?" she asked looking between them.

A crimson flush had appeared on Hallie's cheeks as Lydia laughed. There wasn't a kiss! Lydia was dreaming!" And then she swatted at the girl again. The pillow hit her square on the face. "Ha!" laughed Hallie.

Lydia just smirked again as she fixed her wavy blonde hair. After it was back in her ponytail, she sighed. I wasn't dreaming. I saw Sirius walk out last night after the incident you both had."

Hallie just glared at her. You're forgetting a major detail, dear Lydia. I hate him, remember? I don't like him! He's - he's so - so," she stammered and then made an aggravated noise. "I don't know the word, but he just is!"

Lily laughed. "You like him, don't you?"

"No."

"You like him," she sang and Lydia joined in.

"No I don't!"

"You like him!"

"I DON'T!"

Lily giggled. "You do, but let's go down and eat breakfast now." She and Lydia walked out of the room leaving Hallie to follow behind them with a scowl.

~*~

"So what happened?" asked James.

Sirius looked at him evenly. "What do you mean what happened?" he asked in a steady voice.

The other boy sighed impatiently. "You know what I mean. What happened last night? After I left?"

Sirius played with the food on his plate. "Nothing really. I just - Hallie had...I can't explain it. I don't even know what happened really." They boys saw the girls walk in and motioned them over.

Lily laughed as Hallie tried to take a seat at the opposite end of the table from the boys with Gwen and Andrea but Lydia pulled her along. "You both need to talk."

"We don't have anything to talk about."

"You do."

"We don't."

"You do," said Lily with her this time.

"WE DON'T! Now leave it alone!" Hallie crossed her arms over her chest but the other two girls prodded her along. They pushed her into the chair next to Sirius who was still playing with his food. Lily sat next to James and Lydia next to Remus.

"Anything new?" Lydia asked. Remus grinned at her and handed her a piece of toast.

"Nope, not really. How about you?"

She shook her head. "Absolutely nothing. How's your potion coming along?" she asked casually.

He blanched and choked on a sausage he was eating. She clapped on his back to help him. After taking a few deep breaths, he turned to her with wide eyes. "W-what was the question?" She smiled at him. She was the cute one of the four girls. With her sweet and kind face, she looked precious. Lily, no doubt, was the beautiful one. Her shoulder length red hair gave a fierce dazzle which was a plus for it went so well with her emerald eyes. Gwen was something like the feisty one. She was excitable and taunting. Hallie was the saintly and angelic one. Though she looked it with her large sapphire blue eyes and coal-black hair, she wasn't as good as one would think.

"The question was, how's your potion coming along?" she asked sincerely as she took a bite on her toast.

"Oh - er...it's - it's...wait, how'd you know about that?" he wondered looking at her suspiciously.

She just grinned and put her head on her hand. "Myrtle told me."

"But she said - she said she wouldn't tell!"

Lydia shrugged. "I visit her once in a while. She seems so lonely all the time that I feel sorry for her. It's all right though, Remus, don't look at me like that, I won't tell anyone." He sighed but there was still suspicion in his eyes. "I swear! And I never break my promises, right, Lily?" she asked, turning to Lily who was enraptured with the conversation she and James were having. "Never mind. But I do promise you that, Remus, I won't tell anyone."

He looked at her for a few moments out of his light hazel eyes and then smiled at her. "Thanks, Lydia."

~*~

Hallie looked at Sirius. A strand of hair fell onto his face and he pushed it away. He does look pretty cute...she thought to herself. Then she did a double take in horror at her thought and turned to look at her plate. Oh, gosh, it must be Rogue again. Rogue, is that you? There was a long silence. That couldn't have been my own thought! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! That's disgusting! How could I think these thoughts about Sirius Black! Yuck! How could I waste my thoughts on him at all? Yuck, yuck, yuck! That's disgusting! It's repulsive! It's -

"Hello...Hallie, you home?" called a voice, breaking her from her thoughts. She looked up to find a hand waving before her. She slapped it away and heard someone beside her laugh. "Good, you're back to normal." She looked at Sirius who had a small grin on his face. He pushed away the strand of hair that kept falling into his eyes. "Everyone was pretty worried about you last week, you weren't acting yourself." She just blinked at him for a moment before her mouth formed a small 'O'. He laughed. "Yeah, 'oh'."

"Did I seem all that different?" she asked softly.

His smile faded a bit. "Er - actually, yes, you seemed very different. I got kind of scared." She looked at him with a raised brow and saw his cheeks were flushed a little. "I mean to say that - um - you didn't insult me at all last week."

She grinned. "That's a shame. I suppose Rogue didn't know me as well as he thought he did then." His expression turned to one of seriousness. "What is it?" she asked.

"Hallie, who is Rogue?"

She bit on her lip. He did have a right to know..."I'm not really sure," she told him, not looking up. The girl was suddenly very interested in fiddling with her fingers. "He - his voice just suddenly started speaking to me, in my head...I thought I was going crazy...hearing voices that no one else could hear I mean. I asked him many times who he was and he just said to call him Rogue and that he was just serving his master. He said he and his master just wanted the half of the Alloy Child that I have. I told him I didn't have it but he wouldn't believe me.

"It was terrifying. He wouldn't stop speaking to me. He threatened me, saying that he could make me hurt my friends...that he could make me do things," for some reason her voice broke. Why did she have to fall into pieces before Sirius and not when she was telling the story to the girls? She fiddled with her hands more quickly. "I tried so hard to block out his voice, to control myself, but I couldn't. He controlled me and I couldn't do anything about it, and he reminded me about it so many times." Hallie blinked back the sudden wetness of her eyes and tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she shook head. "Then that night, he showed me his true self...and then you know the rest."

There was a long awkward silence but still she didn't look up. A hand large compared to her own enveloped both of hers. Only then did she look at him. He was looking at her searchingly. Midnight eyes gazed into sapphire blue eyes. "It's over now, Hallie." He grinned. "You're a tough cookie, if anyone can get over this, you can." Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Thank you, Sirius, for what you did. It means a lot to me."

He nodded and tightly hugged her back. "It's all right now. It's all over."

~*~

Lydia stopped speaking. "Lydia? What is it?" Remus asked. The girl smiled and pointed across the table. Remus dropped his piece of toast. Sirius and Hallie were hugging.

"W-w-w-" he stuttered but she put a hand over her mouth.

With her other, she put a finger to her lips. "Shh."

His eyes were wide. She put her hand down. "But - but that's - I always thought that - Lydia, that's impossible! Am I seeing things?" he asked her. She smiled. "I knew it, I've cracked. I always thought Sirius or James would crack first, but I think I have. Sirius...Hallie...hugging...you just don't put those words together! You don't put the words Sirius and Hallie together at all!"

Lydia laughed and gave him a hug. "You're fine, you're not seeing things."

He smiled. "If you says so. But I guess my predictions were right...Sirius did crack first. Or Hallie did...they're not doing anything mean to each other!"

Lydia just rolled her eyes. "Boys," was all she said.

 

~*~

It was as if the past had been erased and all that was left were the last couple of days and now. She pulled away and looked at him with large eyes. "Everything's back to normal then."

He brushed away the tears left on her face. "Yeah, I think so. But there's still the thing about the Alloy Child."

She nodded. "That's just a myth though right?" she asked him quietly.

Sirius shrugged. This was the longest time she had ever seen him act so serious. "Maybe, but I don't think so. If Rogue was just a perception, then maybe."

Hallie shook her head vigorously. "But he wasn't! He was there! You saw him!"

Sirius nodded at him gravely. "Then it must be real. Unless he was just an insane spirit...but I doubt that, he spoke the prophecy just right like James did and sounded very sure of himself." She looked at him inquiringly. "Last night, we were just coming in and James and I stayed in the common room for a while. He recited this rune or chant or something and then he went back upstairs telling me to stay there. I did and then you came and Rogue recited James' prophecy." Hallie gaped at him. He laughed and nodded. "Strange? I know."

"What now?"

The boy looked unsure. "I don't know...I guess we should try to find your half of the Alloy Child before Rogue's master does."

"But I told you, I don't have it."

He shrugged. "You probably do and don't know it. Rogue was a spirit, he would know if you have it or not, even if you don't." He paused and then clapped his hands together. "That's the next thing we have to do then: look for the second half of the Alloy Child."

"Why?"

"Because I'm afraid of what Rogue's master will do if he finds it first."

~*~

It was twenty minutes until classes would start when the group stood to leave. Hallie stayed behind to walk in back of the others so she could think to herself. No harsh comments...no mean words...something seems so different. She looked to Sirius who was talking to Peter about something or other. They both laughed. Maybe he felt her eyes on her but his gaze turned back to her and he sent a secret smile her way. This was alarming to her so she just forced a small smile back. He turned back to his friends. It's just so different.

She ran up to him. "Sirius, can I talk to you?"

He looked at her for a moment before nodding. "Sure, what's up?" he asked.

She looked at him. There was a certain knowing gleam in his eyes that she hadn't noticed before. What was it? "Er - I - I wanted to thank you again, for - for last night...well, just overall. That was a brave thing you did, something that I wouldn't have thought you would be able to do," she said to him with a grin.

He didn't grin back but just let out a small smile. "Thanks, I think. Is that all?"

She looked at him with a wondering gaze but he just looked forward. "Um...yeah, that's it."

He nodded. "All right then."

She stopped in her tracks and held out her hand. Sirius turned around to look at her for a moment. Then he shook her hand. "Everything's back to normal then?" she questioned softly.

The new gleam in his eyes sparkled noticeably. "Yeah, everything's back to normal again," he whispered. "I'll talk to you later, k, Hallie?"

"Ok." And then he walked off. She watched after him for a while before heading back to her dorm where she got her school supplies ready once again.

~*~

I guess I expected that...I mean, we're enemies...right? Or we were... Sirius shook his head. Why do I feel like something's missing...even if everything seemed to change...it still seems like something's missing.

I guess I knew that she would try to make it how it was before again...she's not used to big changes, it's new to her...but I doubt anything will ever be normal between us again. That is to say, not how it used to be, not how it was before Rogue showed up. Everything's changing though, and I guess...I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I'll have to wait for it to come, because when it does, there's no stopping it. He just sighed and ran off to class.