Harry Potter 1. Ride

Mac was a rather unconventional young woman to the untrained eye; or if you were just staring at her. With her long, slightly curled, bright blue, purple and hot pink colored hair, bright ocean eyes, perfectly level cheek bones, bubble gum lips, 5'8" height and athletically developed frame, she is seen as a beautiful vixen. Her fair skin was sun kissed just enough to give her an ethereal glow in the light which had many mistake her as a rather large fairy; even with a constant impassive pout upon her face. This misinterpretation of her being often angered the girl, to which then people would see something flare within her hypnotizing eyes that petrified them.

A pop of lime green bubble gum caught the attention of about three people who then tugged at the attention of the people next to them to watch the person walking by. Bouncing, strangely colored curls swayed to the heavy steps of black slouch buckle boots that covered purple stripe thigh high socks. Black fingerless gloves wrapped around the lime green and yellow strap of the letter messenger bag slung over bare shoulders. Two sparrow tattoos and a tribal glyph were exposed because of the leopard print lace up corset which lead to a skinny studded belt and plain jean skirt. The jingling of dog tags hung from around the naked neck of this person as black rimless shades covered their eyes. This body carried itself to a brick column where the mismatched curls spun around to have their back face the pillar as they watched while they slipped through the concealed platform opening. One last pop of gum and to the other world they were gone.

The stares continued even within the platform of the enchanted train, as if seeing someone with oddities was new to them. Standing in a corner, away from the mass amounts of people, the black leather bound fingers gripped the zipper of the bag and pulled it open. Reaching one hand into the bright green bag and the other into their back pocket, a hand full of tiny luggage was barely seen, even by the one who had cast the charm. Pulling out a bone white wand, the luggage was set on the ground and with a wave and a whisper the luggage enlarged to normal size. It wasn't long after, that a large black owl with a single white spot over its left eye screeched in its decent towards the strangely dressed teen. The iron door to the owl's cage opened and it gracefully swooped in to perch on the lone swing.

"Good of you to join me Axiom," a smile finally crossing the pouted lips of the girl who held the voice; her voice of speak holding an obvious, but slight, American tone to it. The owl hooted in response, giving a slight flap of its wings before settling comfortably into its cage.

Placing her wand back into the back pocket of her skirt, she zipped up her shoulder bag and hauled her stuff towards the train to place it in storage. After doing that, she and her owl boarded the train, taking an unoccupied compartment and getting comfortable in her seat. Throwing her bag beside her, she opened it up and pulled out a few things to keep her entertained on the long ride to her destination. She place two ear buds into her ears and turned on the music player that instantly began blasting music into her inner ear and drowning out the sounds of everything else. Dropping her boot clad feet onto the seat in front of her, she dragged a book out of her bag and onto her lap and began reading.

A tug from the train told her that they were moving down the tracks now. Even with the sudden jolt forward, she didn't stop reading as her head bobbed to the rhythm of her music. The only time she moved from her comfort was when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the glass door slide open. Three teens her own age were standing at the mouth of the door for a moment before they shuffled in. In response to this, Mac removed her booted feet from the seat in front of her; the soles thumping loudly against the wooden floor. Not caring who they were, she didn't make a move to even try and know; not even bothering to look at them. She couldn't hear anything with the music blaring against her mind and only knew to turn down her music when her eyes caught a glimpse of them staring at her, through the tinted glass of her rimless sunglasses.

She cocked a brow at the staring before resting an arm onto her open book and taking out one ear bud, "What?"

"Um…" one of the two boys started with a nervous lick of his lips. She watched them look between each other before the red headed boy looked back at her, "Who are you?" he asked finally.

"What's it to you?" she asked back as her answer to his question, a slight hint of suspicion in her tone.

The other boy spoke up, "Nothing, just curious," he replied with a slight shake of his head. She noted his round glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose just a bit after this action. Behind her glasses her eyes flickered up to the strange scar on this boy's forehead, before looking back between the lot of them.

"Hn," was all she replied with before placing the ear bud back into her ear. Leaning back in her seat, she took back to reading and ignoring the trio and their animals. They seemed to feel slightly awkward about her, which she didn't care about.

To Mac it seemed to take days to finally get to the station before heading to the 'prestigious' Hogwarts School of Wizarding. She didn't understand what was so great about it. Of course, she didn't grow up in London which is of course why she wouldn't have known. Stepping onto the platform, now dressed in the standard girl's uniform, she began to make her way to the crowd of kids when she was stopped by a giant of a man with a bushy, graying wiry beard. Having taken off her sunglasses now that it was dark, her enchanting blue eyes looked up at him and his lantern. There was a gruff sound beside him and her eyes quickly turned to a wrinkly mastiff dog sitting beside his large leg. She cringed slightly at the mass amounts of slobber, her nose twitching a bit.

"Um, can I help you?" she asked, looking back at him and having to crane her neck back to see him properly.

"Yeh be Mackenna Vale?" his booming voice asked her as he peered down at her over his bushy beard.

"Depends on who's asking," she replied with a guarded tone.

"Oh," he seemed to jump slightly in his spot as he grinned down at her, "I'm Rubeus Hagrid an I'll be takin ya special to the castle."

Mac's face contorted a bit to the way he spoke of how he would take her to the castle, "Uh…" she droned, her eyes shifting around before settling on him, "Okay…"

She walked with this Hagrid for god knows how long! What she did know was that her feet were hurting and now all she wanted to do was go to bed. The flat shoes she was wearing weren't good at supporting the feet. With a groan and roll of her eyes, she continued to follow this giant oaf on his long 'stroll' to the massive castle. When they finally made it to the Great Hall, she could hear voices coming from inside the large oak doors. Following behind the large man, he opened the doors to hundreds of students sitting at four different tables and the teachers sitting at the head of the room. A moment after they began their walk down the middle of the room, hundreds of eyes were on her and the Headmaster stepped up to a podium.

"If I could have your attention please!" he bellowed and instantly all eyes were on him. Hagrid left the girl for the teacher's table and her attention turned to the aged man standing in front of them all, "We would like to welcome a student from our American brethren at The Salem Witches Institute to Hogwarts!" He motioned towards the stool sitting in front of the podium and the old patched up hat sitting on the said stool.

With a heavy sigh, Mac walked up to the stool and picked up the hat, placing it on her head as she sat down, "Ah!" it spoke, delving deep into her psyche. She could feel it twist against her head, "Hmm, yes, I see…" it twisted a few more times, "You're a very intelligent witch, a very smart witch indeed, but your courage is something I've never seen before! Maybe you're just bullheaded…" Mac scoffed in agreement to his observation. "A very loyal and hard working one and extremely resourceful. But the bravery and sheer nerve that you posses is simply astounding!" he paused she sighed again, "Gryffindor!" the hat finally exclaimed.

At this announcement the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers and clapping hands, with the occasional whistle. Headmaster Dumbledore spoke one last time before the beginning of the school year feast began. The tables were soon lined with chatter from friends seeing each other again and people trying to make new friends. Mac however, while sitting quietly between two girls, wasn't participating in the festivities. Surrounded by food, a certain smell caught her attention. Ignoring everyone around her, she sniffed the air to try and find the location of the smell, with her eyes dancing around the large hall. She could hear people try and get her attention to make friends with her and ask her pointless questions, and when she wouldn't answer she could hear them sneer at her for being rude.

She scoured every inch of the room before finally her eyes rested upon a man sitting at the teachers table. He looked absolutely defeated and tired, with shaggy brown hair hanging just about his eyes, dulling blue eyes, a thin mustache the same color as his hair, neat but very worn in clothes covering his thin frame and the slightest sight of scratches across his face. When she finally met his eyes she noticed that he was staring back at her. Something in his eyes caught her attention and unnerved her, causing her to look away from him slowly as if she were nervous that he was looking at her. When she no longer felt the penetrating gaze of the older man, she ventured another glance and this time earning the look of the Headmaster and the darker teacher sitting next to the one she was looking at. At this sudden reacting of her stare, she turned back to her table and carried on with the feast.


	2. Restless

**A/N: Thank you to my reveiwer, that was very nice. I obviously don't own anything but Mac, Axiom and the plot; everythign else is J.K. Rowling's. Please enjoy this next chapter.**

The feast had been over for a few hours and now Mac was getting situated into her new home. Following her classmates to the Gryffindor common room, she met The Fat Lady painting and, along with the rest of the Gryffindors, was granted access to the common room. Finding her room, she found all of her stuff had been brought to her bed and Axiom was hooting happily at seeing its master. Her impassive pout left again as she smiled at her friend and unlocked her cage to stroke the black owl's feathers. Flopping onto her bed, Mac sighed as she stared up at the wood ceiling, her arms spread out wide on her sheets. She wondered what her life here would be like.

A few hours later, the sound of girls chatting caught her attention and she twisted her neck just enough to watch those that came through the archway. Out of the four girls, the only one that stood out to Mac was the sandy brunette that she had seen on the train. She had been sitting with the two boys in the same compartment with her. Big hazel eyes were complimented by the tame brunette curls and womanly figure that was hidden by the school robe. The pack of girls looked at her and she turned away, sitting up on her bed and pushing to her feet. It was obvious that it would be uncomfortable for all of them to be in the room together, so Mac left for the common room. Her currently bare feet, quietly padded against the stone steps and became silent the moment she touched the carpet. Well it was obvious that she wasn't going to have any quiet time. Sitting on one of the common room couches, by a fading fire, was a boy. From behind, she couldn't tell who it was until she made a bit of noise; by accident.

Whirling around, the boy was now in open view of her eyesight. With messy, dark brown hair, green eyes, round glasses and that strange scar, Mac knew that this was one of the boys from the train. She wondered if all of them were Gryffindors.

"Oh, it's you," he spoke up suddenly, which slightly caught Mac off guard.

"Hn, yeah…" she replied stiffly and flopped in a chair. He could probably sense her hostility because she made no notion of trying to hide it.

In an attempt to lighten the mood the boy continued to try and hold a conversation with her, "You never told me your name."

Her astoundingly bright blue eyes shifted over to look at him, "So?" came her quip response.

"Well, I'd like to know it," he replied, his eyes widening just a bit, "I'm Harry Potter," he added.

Having dressed into her pajamas when she reached her room, she slid down a bit in the oversized chair, bringing up one leg and resting an arm atop her knee with a long and heavy sigh. "Mac," she finally said with her lips pursing slightly after her introduction.

"Just Mac?" he inquired.

"Yeah," she replied quickly and slightly annoyed.

"Hm, well it's nice to meet you," he paused for a while and went back to looking at the open fire pit. He looked back at her, "I guess I'll head to bed, first day is usually one of the hardest after summer.

Mac watched him leave without saying a word to him and once he was gone, she turned her attention to the fire that he had been staring at. Finally she was alone and not surrounded by anyone when sleep began to take over. When she wanted to be alone, her body wanted to deny her the right. How freakin typical! With a begrudging groan, she got to her feet and began to walk back to the stairs that lead to her shared room when another new scent caught her senses. No, this scent wasn't new, she had smelled it earlier. Dressed only in her pitch black tank top and loose pajama pants with electric blue flames printed on them and white wand tucked within her waistband, she silently snuck out of the Gryffindor common room to investigate the smell. By the strength of the scent, the one who left it had passed by around the beginning of her conversation with Harry.

Sticking her head out of the painting, she took a quick sweep of the immediate area before stepping out onto the cold stone. A small shiver ran up her spine from the soles of her feet. She could understand it of course, being almost winter it was going to get cold at night. Quickly she descended the stairs and followed the scent down hallway after hallway. The hunt seemed to go on forever. Always just another hallway. This was becoming a fruitless search for nothing and she was about to turn back around. Eyes traveling the many paintings and their sleeping inhabitants, she didn't notice a teacher rounding the corner to the hallway she was currently wandering. She didn't notice of course, until she ran into him.

"What are you doing wandering the halls?" came the droll and sneered question from the dark teacher she remembered from the Great Hall.

Mac's blue eyes looked at the illuminated tip of his wand before looking up at him, "Sorry Professor, I sleep walk and when I woke up I got lost trying to find my way back to Gryffindor," she lied.

He gave her a suspicious look, "Turn out your pockets," he ordered.

"I don't have pockets," she replied as she pulled her wand free and raised her hands for him to see.

He didn't quite believe her, but running the light across her body to make sure, he did finally believe her, "Very well. Go back to bed Vale."

"Yes sir," she hissed through gritted teeth at the mention of that name. A vicious spark flared in her eyes as she gave her professor one last look before turning from him.

Severus Snape contemplated the look that he had seen in her eyes for that brief moment before she turned away. What had it been? Something, animalistic perhaps. He wasn't quite sure, but what he was sure of were the scars that he had seen on her. Though light and probably normally hard to see, he was able to notice them, if only just. With an annoyed grumble from the paintings, he ventured down the hall inquiring to himself about how she acquired such horrible scars. Sneering at his own train of thought, he quickly forgot about the new student and went back to patrolling the hallways for wandering students.

Mac crawled through The Fat Lady painting quiet as a mouse and snuck up to her bed, where she set her wand on the nightstand beside her pillows and laid back against the sheets. There was a soft, choked hoot from Axiom as she perched the side of the table and stared down at her with brightly glowing yellow eyes. After sliding under the blankets, she turned towards her friend and gently ran the back of her fingers along her head, earning Mac the bird equivalent of a purr. Stroking the soft feathers of her owl, Mac's eyes seemed to quickly grow heavy and it wasn't long before the back of her hand crashed against the wood of the small table and she was out cold; sleeping.

The next morning Mac was awoken by rays of sunlight burning through her eye lids. With a low groan, she turned her back to the window and threw the covers over her head. It wasn't until the incessant nagging of Axiom, did she finally wake up and scramble to get ready for her first day of class at her new school. Dressing out of her pajamas, she rushed to put on her uniform and bolt out the door all at the same time. As she ran down the halls, she finished buttoning her shirt enough to be comfortable and threw on the gray sweater vest, nearly running into a wall while it was sliding over her head. Skidding around a corner, she threw on her robe and placed her messy hair in a ponytail before throwing the door open to her Charms class. Panting, she flopped into a nearby seat, whispering her apologies.

After skipping breakfast and having to very long morning classes, she was finally given a break to relax just a bit. Lounging in-between a windowless open, she stared at the sunny sky through her sunglasses. Her bag hung beside the wall by hanging from her leg and an arm was placed behind her head for comfort. Occasionally she turned to watch students walk to their classes and interact with each other, but spacing out was more her thing at the moment. Closing her eyes, she was going to take a quick nap when a voice snapped her into focus.

"Hey there Mac," the cheerful sound of Harry Potter's voice greeted her ear drums.

Twisting her head to face him, she gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, "Hey." That's when it just had to happen. It appeared that some sniveling Slytherin had heard Harry call her name and decided to make fun of her.

"Beat it Malfoy," Harry warned on her behalf. Mac made no attempt to stop him, or even really move, other than to look in his direction.

"Oy, standing up for your new boyfriend eh Potter?" Malfoy teased with a greasy smile sneering across his face. He called her a boy? There was a long enough pause while the pack of boys laughed at the joke where Mac dropped to her feet.

Cracking her fingers as she got closer, she pulled out her wand and pointed it straight at Malfoy's heart and a terrifying glint of hatred in her eyes, "And what are you doing eh?" she mocked, "Getting your ass handed to you by a girl?" Quickly dropping her wand, she threw a right hook into his jaw and took a swift step back, "Avis Oppugno!"

A flock of birds poured from the tip of Mac's wand and rapidly flew for the group of boys trying to act superior. Each of the birds let out an angry caw as they attacked them, chasing the group away. Some students watched in awe at the guts she had displayed in not only physically attacking Draco, but then making it worse by attacking him with a flock of birds. Jerking her head a bit, her purple bang moved out of her eye and she noticed the teacher from the Great Hall feast standing opposite the grassy yard in which she still stood. Behind her she felt the trio come up to her and praising her, but she ignored it as she locked eyes with the professor. He had been watching her, she could tell. She couldn't quite explain it, but something about him was different; severely different and it seemed to bother her. When Harry got into her view did she finally break the connection and look at the trio of friends.

"Mac that was amazing!" he said with a slight grin.

"Oh, thanks," she muttered softly, shaking her head a little. Turning from them, she walked back to her bag; but they followed.

"This is Ron and Hermione," he introduced as he came up beside her.

Mac swung around, "Look, I don't know what kind of idea you got from our little chat last night, but I don't need any friends!" she retorted in annoyance. Whirling back around, she walked away from them without looking back; even when feeling one of them glare at her back.


	3. Impulse

**A/N: Thank you very much PaintMeIntrigued, your comments are very uplifting. Anyhow, enjoy.**

She was a good student, but was obviously lazy as from the constant whacks to the back of her head during Potions to wake her up. She hadn't been getting a lot of sleep and Professor Snape was just a boring person. If not a little uppity also she found out. He had this evil sneer about him all the time and she didn't really care for it. Of course, he was like that with everyone, especially Harry and his friends it seemed. Why, she didn't know, didn't care but found it kind of amusing. What she didn't like the most about him, was his sudden interest in her dress code. She came to his class with an untucked shirt, a few buttons unbuttoned, tie loosely hanging around her neck and her skirt shorter than the rest of the girls. He chalked it up to her being new, still casting the spell that would fix her attire, but she still made herself comfortable again after she had sat down for his class.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a different story though. The moment she walked into the classroom she knew something was different; off. It seemed as if the kids in her same class knew it too because all but Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed a bit weary of him. Now that she was so close to him, she could see just how tired he was and the long scratches across his face. Seeing such a sight, even for her, saddened her; of course, without showing it. For this class, she stayed awake and alert, trying to figure out why it was he was giving her such a strange feeling. It wasn't just a feeling of danger and exhaustion, but for some odd, and creepy, reason there was a feeling of attraction. Mac watched intently as he taught the class about the Confundus Charm and using it on a small creature to show it could be used against someone. He said that it could be used for a quick second to temporarily confuse enemies. Even though she was taking extensive notes, she almost never took her eyes off Professor Lupin throughout the entire class.

It seemed that Lupin was feeling her constant staring and, while flawlessly teaching his class, stared back at her. She got the impression that she was making him uncomfortable, but he seemed to get through class without a single slip up. It was impressive actually, but then again what could she expect from an experienced wizard such as himself.

Now she was sitting in the Great Hall, by herself as usual, eating lunch. Okay, well she was just snaking really, while she lounged on the wooden bench, reading. She wasn't a big studier when she didn't need to be, the book was pure entertainment. Just a random book that had caught her eye and so she had bought it; a few of them actually, by the same author. They were American books, so no one in London would know about them. The one she was currently reading was called _Tricks_ by Ellen Hopkins. She had already read two of the woman's other books; _Crank_ and _Impulse_. This author seemed to really speak to her, which was why she loved her books so much and bought all her six or seven books. _Tricks_ was about five teens trying to find love. You might think it was just another love story, but it was far from it. Ellen Hopkins always had a dark spin on her stories; always telling about the darker side of anything. Maybe that was why Mac enjoyed them so; or maybe she could just relate a little to each story told.

Looking up from the pages of her book to find her cup of pumpkin juice, she found a few eyes staring at her. Even though she was looking back at them with a curious glare, most of them didn't look away. With a roll of her striking eyes, she closed her book on her index finger, grabbed her stuff and left the Great Hall for a quieter place to read and enjoy her lunch. They had about an hour lunch and she didn't want to spend it annoyed and being stared at constantly. It was like they had never seen a person before! Her multicolored hair swayed against the back of her neck as she walked out into the hall.

Walking outside for some fresh air, she found a peaceful and secluded place by the Black Lake to sit and read. Leaning against a tree, she threw open her book, crossed her legs over one another and went back to reading.

"Mrs. Vale?" a voice came from beside her.

Mac growled, slamming her book shut, "My name isn't Vale; it's Mac, just freakin Mac!" she shouted whipping around to see Professor Lupin standing a few feet away. It didn't seem to bother her that she yelled at a teacher because she didn't bother apologizing to him for her outburst.

"Forgive me then," he apologized courtly, giving a slight head nod as an apologetic bow, "Mac, may I ask what you're doing out here by yourself and not with friends?"

A strange feeling came over him as he continued to stare at her. Granted, since she came into the Great Hall nights ago he had the same strange feeling overtake him. He couldn't place his finger on it, but something just felt off about her; and it wasn't just her strange hair color choice. Looking her over further, he caught sight of a red scratch along the side of her neck. It was faint, hardly noticeable at all, but she had turned her head enough for him to see it. There seemed to be a slight awkwardness between them, even though they didn't know each other as he notice her pause a long while before coming up with her answer to his question. While she continued to remain quiet he was able to grab the scent in the air that he had focused on at the beginning of the school year. Without even bothering to think about it until she spoke again, he found that this girl was the one causing it and what was so strange was that it was so attracting.

"I don't have friends," Mac finally spoke up as she turned back to him with her strikingly bright as the sun blue eyes. Even in the dismal weather, they seemed to shine. She turned back to her book, "I don't need them," she mumbled.

Lupin seemed to laugh at this answer, "Everyone needs friends!" he stated with a bemused smile.

"No, they don't," she replied bitterly as she began packing up her stuff once again. Standing, she walked around her Professor, turning and walking backwards as she talked to him, "Sorry Professor, but I have class." Turning back around, Mac walked back up to the castle for her next classes.

Skipping her class, she walked straight to the enormous, bronze eagle statue that lead to Dumbledore's office. Saying the password she picked up from some teachers, she walked up the steps that continued to appear until she was standing outside his study. Knocking on the door, she was allowed in by his voice and pushed open the door. It was the first time she was entering his office, and she had to admit that she was thoroughly impressed by it. Walking further into his study, she continued to look around at all the moving paintings, the phoenix and all the little knick knacks scattered everywhere. It reminded her of her room back in America at her aunt and uncle's house. The walls were covered in shelves of different items and anything that caught her fancy, with some lively photos of her and her family. Her aunt was a witch and her uncle was a Muggle but her cousin was a witch just like her. She was beginning to miss them.

"Ah Mac, what can I do for you?" came Dumbledore's voice, breaking her train of thought.

Walking up to his desk, she sighed, "Listen Professor, I don't think I'm a right fit for Hogwarts."

"Hm, whatever to do you my dear?" he inquired with a slight cock of his head to the side and his curious gaze looking at her through his half moon glasses.

"I just don't think I should be here anymore. I'm not much of a fit with everyone else; in fact I hate just about everyone else here. Plus I'm dangerous and you know it!" she replied, slamming her hands against his desk. "I don't bother making friends with anyone, even the girls in my own dormitory or the people I sit by during meals; matter of fact I'd rather punch them all in the face," she added with an aggravated sigh and pushing off his desk to walk around in circles and throw her hands in the air.

With a contented sigh, Dumbledore stood up and walked over to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, "My dear, you are new here, things take time to adjust. You haven't been back in London in many years; give it time. You will make friends eventually. And I believe you to be a perfect fit in this school."

After excusing her, Mac walked back into the now crowded halls of Hogwarts with her robe's hood hanging from her head. It wasn't common for students to throw up their hoods, but what about Mac was common? Stalking through the many corridors, she heard a familiar squeak. Looking up, she saw Axiom flying towards her with something attached to her leg. The owl perched itself onto an arm as Mac removed the parcel, she then settled herself onto Mac's shoulder. Turning the parcel over and over in her hands, she stuffed it into her pocket and continued down the hall, stopping when she heard the voice of Draco Malfoy sneering with his posse. Slipping behind a corner, she peered around it to see what they were doing. It seemed like nothing, until she saw Harry and his friends walking towards them.

Pulling her wand from her pocket, she ran from her hiding spot, Axiom squawking angrily at the sudden loss of perch, and skid to a stop in front of Harry and his friends. With her bone white wand in hand, she thrust it up and back handed the spell as it shot towards them, "Finite!" she shouted as the enchantment Draco tried to cast was blocked. Quickly placing her wand at the ready again, with evil intent in her eyes, the trio of rule breakers quivered in fear and ran away, "Hn, that's what I thought," she sneered in triumph.

"Wow, thanks for that," Harry breathed in appreciation.

Twirling her wand in her hand before putting it away, she shrugged, "Eh, no big deal."

"No, it was," Harry said coming around to face her with a smile, "We never would have seen it coming if it weren't for you!"

"I saw them from around the corner, thought you might need the help since they were hiding and all," she replied nonchalantly and another shrug of her shoulders.

"Look, I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot before, but would you like to sit with us at dinner tonight?" he asked, a bit of hope in his voice.

For a moment Mac stood there staring at all three of them, thinking about his offer and all the ways she could tell him no, but then she thought about what Dumbledore had told her just moments ago. Her mind then wandered onto the possibility of having friends and what dangers it could mean. With a heavy sigh she finally answered, "Yeah, sure, I guess."

Mac wondered though, if it was a good idea to take Dumbledore's words to heart.


	4. First

**A/N: Yes, I am posting two in the same day. I was able to just finish this one and thought since it's done, why not!**

It was getting closer to the holidays now. Only a few weeks until Christmas and kids would be leaving the grounds to go home and spend time with their families. Mac wouldn't though; she was stuck on school grounds for the holidays. She knew that some students stayed behind as well, but she didn't actually want to, and for good reason. That reason came in the form of Professor Snape holding out a goblet for her; glaring as usual.

"Drink it," he ordered in his sneering tone.

Strangely, this was when she felt rather vulnerable; Snape staring at her as she was supposed to drink the contents of the goblet, "Ah come on! That stuff is so disgusting, why do I have to drink it?" she complained, trying to put off having to drink it in front of him.

"Because the Headmaster said so," was his short and aggravated reply.

"Oh I don't care what he said, I'm not drinking it," Mac said defiantly crossing her arms under her chest.

Snape grabbed onto the collar of her clothes, pulling her to him, "Would you rather slaughter your friends?"

Mac opened her mouth to snap a comeback, but closed it when she couldn't come up with anything. Thinking on his words, although she didn't really have friends, just acquaintances, it still crossed her mind to defy him, "Fine!" she sighed heavily.

The Professor let her go and shoved the goblet into her hands. With an annoyed grumble, Mac drank the brew, contorting her face in disgust as she did so and even after. Having drunk the whole thing, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and coughed at the horrifying taste in her mouth. It would be stuck there for days! Mac gave the Professor a hapless and wit filled remark about him having to give her the goblet and force her to drink it, to which he sneered and left her in the dungeons alone. It was the same thing every time. He'd give her the potion, isolated from the rest of the population of Hogwarts, she'd make snappy remarks about him and the potion itself, he'd then leave her alone to find her own way out. What a nice man he was!

Turning on her heel, she looked around at the dismal surroundings before huffing and slipping her way out. She had only an hour to go before she had to distance herself from everyone at the school. Keeping nothing on her but her clothes, once Mac was clear of the dungeons she slipped through the halls fairly easily and ran through the grounds as quickly as she could. It was especially vital for her to do so tonight. She had tricked Snape into believing that she had drank the potion he gave her, which meant she would have no self control over her actions tonight. It was dark out and she thought that she had the cloak of night to prevent anyone from seeing her, but she was wrong. Harry, Ron and Hermione were out strolling around when Hermione had spotted her. Knowing that she was running towards the Forbidden Forest, they followed after her.

"Where do you think she could have gone?" Hermione asked the boys after searching for her for a while. They knew the forest was dangerous, maybe she was hurt somewhere!

"I don't know," Harry replied, looking around for any sign of the girl they considered a friend.

They searched a little longer before Harry stumbled upon a torn up Gryffindor robe, "Ron, Hermione! Look, I think this belongs to Mac," he called to them in a concerned tone. The fabric was nearly unrecognizable it was so tattered.

"This can't be good," Ron muttered as they all looked at the robe. The sound of a breaking twig caught their attention, "What was that?" Ron asked as he whipped around and a look of fear was now etched on his face.

The three of them took out their wands, ready to attack whatever came at them, until they saw what had made the noise, "Professor Lupin?" Harry inquired, lowering his wand just a bit. Devilish yellow eyes stared at them, a low growling being heard from its throat, "Professor Lupin, is that you?" he asked.

The long limbs of the creature slowly moved forward, getting closer to the trio, the growling continuing, "Harry, I don't think that's Professor Lupin," Hermione answered shakily. The witch's hazel eyes looked over the body of the dangerous werewolf standing in front of them, "Yeah, I definitely think that's not Lupin. This one's a girl," she concluded.

All of their eyes widened, "Run!" Harry shouted as they all quickly turned to run, the wolf roaring in anger.

"Obscuro!" Hermione shouted over her shoulder as the werewolf chased them through the forest. A blindfold wrapped around the eyes of the wolf, momentarily stopping it as it wrestled with the cloth over its eyes.

The three teens continued to run for their lives, soon hearing the howl of the giant man-eater. The sound of it sent shivers down all of their spines and caused the hair on the back of their necks to stand up. Panting and growling, the werewolf followed after them, its long legs getting it closer with each leap. It wasn't too long before this new wolf caught up to the trio still running through the dark, clutching their wands like it was their lifeline. Each one of them panted as the pain of their sprinting made them tired and want to rest. But with knowing the danger they were in if they stopped, the three of them kept running. In a far off corner on the other side of the castle, locked within a room, another werewolf heard the cry and began trying to break through its confinement.

A big and powerful paw swiped at the back of one of them. Hermione went down with a painful scream. Though the cuts on her back were not too severe, they were painful and debilitating. Ron and Harry turned around and cast the Stunning Spell to give them time to collect Hermione. The werewolf skid back on its four paws, tripping over the root of a tree and slamming its back into the trunk. It whimpered in pain before jumping back to its feet and advancing towards them. They backed up, Hermione hanging against their shoulders and terror on their faces. But something seemed to stop the attack, as the werewolf stopped and straightened its body a bit. Its ears twitched and it sniffed the air. Everything seemed to calm down but in the next second there was another werewolf savagely attacking the one trying to attack them!

Compared to the female werewolf, this one was bigger in size which only made them think, "Professor Lupin," Harry breathed in relief. Knowing that they were still in danger, the three quietly made their escape as the two canines fought.

Slobber, teeth and claws were the only things really noticed as the two beasts attacked one another. Feral barks and growls showed their mutual dislike for the other as they wrestled each other for dominance. The bigger one got the best of the smaller, but not liking such a thing, the smaller soon fought back and now controlled the fight. This power struggle seemed to go on forever, savagely tearing each other apart before the bigger finally commanded dominance by wrapping its massive jaw around the small werewolf's neck from behind. There was a small whimper from the beast that accepted the power exerted over it. Even with this acknowledgement, the ladder didn't let go.

The bite around the small female werewolf wasn't enough to seriously harm or kill her; it was merely a tactic to subdue her. The male attempted to mount her when a massive blast ripped them apart. Both whimpered at the pain surging through their bodies from the impact of the spell and once on their feet they looked at the caster with rage in their eyes. Dumbledore and Snape stood with their wands drawn and ready to strike again. Harry, Ron and Hermione had told the Professor of the attack who in turn told Snape. While the students were locked in the hospital wing for Hermione's recovery, the two Professors quickly tracked the beasts in the forest. Dumbledore forced Professor Lupin back to his room to finish out his first night of transformation in quiet, after bringing the animal fueled Professor back to his senses. Once Remus Lupin was gone, the two teachers wrestled with the female, locking her in an enchanted dungeon for the rest of the night.

Mac woke to voices speaking the next morning, "Headmaster, do you really think it wise to continue to keep two werewolves on the campus? Even after last night?"

"Severus, I believe everything will work out alright. There isn't a need to worry; I will speak to Remus about the precautions after we get to the bottom of our first priority," Dumbledore replied calmly and as if nothing was wrong.

"Uhn, what happened?" Mac groaned as she played to just waking up.

Professor Snape was quickly at her bedside and in her face, "Did you take the Wolfsbane Potion like you were supposed to?"

Mac held herself up by her arms, a befuddled look upon her face as she looked between the two teachers, "…Uh, yes?" she answered.

"Really?" Snape began with a cock of his head to the side, "Well did you know that you nearly killed three students?" he asked.

The scratched up teen looked surprised by his words, "Okay, fine! I didn't take it. I only pretended to take it," she confessed.

Calmly, Dumbledore came by her bedside and sat in a chair, "My dear, why would you do such a thing?"

"I'm sorry! I really am, it's just that stuff is so horrid! I hate taking it and being forced to do it just makes it worse. And having people watch me take the potion doesn't help much either," she exclaimed with concern. She hoped that she didn't hurt anyone; from the barren looks of the hospital it looked like she didn't.

Dumbledore was about to speak again, when Harry, Ron and Hermione came through the door, "Oh, sorry Professors, Hermione just needs her bandages changed," Harry said upon seeing them interrupting something.

The two boys were heaving Hermione to a bed as the two elder men exited, prompting Harry to get up and walk over to Mac, "What happened?" he asked, taking the chair the Headmaster had been sitting in. Looking her over, she looked awful! She looked nearly ripped apart.

"Oh, just got into a spot of trouble is all," she replied casually.

"What were they talking to you about?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the door for a brief moment.

"God, what is this? Twenty questions or something, leave it be!" she snapped as she slowly sat up in the bed. "What happened to Hermione?" Mac asked more calmly.

Harry took a minute to answer, "Werewolf."

Mac looked at him before looking down at her sheets, eyes shifting around quickly, thinking, "Do you know who it was?"

He shook his head, "No. But we were saved by another werewolf attacking the one that attacked us."

"Another werewolf?" Mac asked, looking at him quickly; causing her head to start spinning. Her lids fluttering, she shook away the dizziness, "Who?"

This time Harry seemed a little uncomfortable, "I dunno," he lied, trying to protect his teacher, and friend, from anymore slander.

"Is it bad?" she asked, now watching Madame Pomfrey reapply bandages to Hermione's gouged back.

"Hm?" he turned to look back at her before looking again at Hermione, "Oh no, Madame Pomfrey said it should heal in about two days," he replied.

Mac groaned as she tried to get out of bed, telling Harry that was going back to the dormitory when Madame Pomfrey shuffled over to her, fussing up a storm. No child in such condition will leave the hospital wing under my care, she had said with a stern finger and a heated glare, as she shoved Mac back into her bed. The girl sighed begrudgingly with a roll of her eyes, telling Harry that she'd have to meet up with them all later. After Hermione was all bandaged up and good as new (for the day), he got up from the chair beside her bed, waved a goodbye and departed with his friends.

Lying back against her pillow, Mac heard a soft, quick knock on the door.


	5. Attack

**A/N: Whoa! It's been a while hasn't it. I've been meaning to throw this chapter up, but I've been kinda busy (and a bit lazy). Sorry! I have to admit, I'm not entirely thrilled with this chapter, but it I was ready to pass out when I wrote it. Hope it works out.**

Sitting up in her hospital bed, Mac had nothing to do but just _sit_ there. The time would have been better spent if she had her book to read, or hell, even her homework! In her unfortunate state, Madame Pomfrey ordered rest with no means of homework. Mac supposed it was a good enough reason to be lazy for a few days, but she wanted to get her mind off things and doing something other than just sitting around would have helped. While she was alone in the hospital wing, Mac got out of bed and wandered to the many windows carved out of the walls; looking out at the raining scenery of the day. She could see the muddy ground slosh under the running strides of students, the clouds thick and dark, whips of lightning flashing the sky, large pearls of rain and hear the roaring thunder. A dismal day to anyone else, but Mac rather liked the rainy weather. The smell of rain hitting stone was somehow comforting, just like the sweet smell of freshly cut grass in the spring time.

A quiet but quick knock came from the doors behind her and she leapt into her bed, thinking that maybe it was Madame Pomfrey. To her surprise it wasn't, but rather Professor Lupin. Her surprised gaze stared at his abysmal form. His clothes were the same shabby and patched set they had always been, but you could see that something brutal happened by the many cuts along his face. It also seemed that he was bleeding through his clothes because there were many dark spots here and there.

"Oh Professor, I didn't know it was you," she spoke, her impassive pout turning to one of curiosity at his current condition. She dared not ask though and her normal facial expression was once again adorning her face, "Are you looking for Madame Pomfrey?" she asked.

"Ah, Mac," he replied tiredly with a contented smile, "Uh, yes actually I am. Have you seen her?"

"Yep, left a while ago," she started, placing a bandaged arm behind her head for support as she leaned back against the metal headboard and lazily looked back at him, "She should be back soon though. If she hasn't gotten into fit about some poor first year tripping in this rain."

Remus chuckled the tiniest of bits and stood awkwardly in the room, even as he spoke back, "Yes well, I suppose I'll just come back later then."

He began to make his way back towards the open doors when he collapsed against a bed, "Professor!" Mac jumped out of bed and hustled over to her fallen teacher. Kneeling beside him, a gentle hand on his shoulder, she looked into his dull blue eyes, "Are you alright sir? I mean…you do look rather, tattered. If I may be so bold," she questioned calmly. Mac looked no worse than him, but she had been in the hospital wing since before she woke up which had given the nurse plenty of time to work on her.

"Just a bit tired and worn is all," he replied, trying to brave it out for his student, so she wouldn't worry about him.

"Here…" she huffed softly as she stood a bit and wrapped his undamaged arm around her shoulders. Feeling his weight press against the cuts on the back of her neck, she felt a burning sting that she ignored as she helped Professor Lupin to a nearby bed. Sitting across from him, she looked worried about the man, "Professor what…"

Mac was cut off by Madame Pomfrey walking in, "Oh my! Mr. Lupin you look absolutely wretched!" she exclaimed, rushing to his side. The magical nurse looked over her shoulder at the teen girl, "Shoo, back to bed. You shouldn't be moving about with the injuries you have," she spoke sternly, her code for stay out of her way and don't get nosy.

The multicolored hair draping Mac's face bounce against her shoulders as she flopped onto her bed with a huff. She didn't notice it because she was staring out the closest window, but Remus Lupin was staring at her. All the while the fussy nurse worked on him, he didn't take his eyes off the sixth year student. Looking more intently at her injuries, he noticed that some were much like his own. He noticed that gauze wrapped around her neck, one forearm, a leg and tiny clear bandages holding various cuts closed so they could heal. She looked just as bad as he had, like she might have gotten into a fight with the Whomping Willow. His gray eyes watched as her fingers fidgeted in her lap and her eyes occasionally stole a glance his way. What could she be thinking, he wondered.

Lupin's gaze was obstructed by that of Madame Pomfrey standing between their two beds, causing him to look up at her. She held out a small goblet for him to drink, standing still stiffly as she watched him drink the sleeping potion. Anyone could tell that he needed his sleep. It only took mere moments for the Professor to collapse against his pillow, asleep. Madame Pomfrey looked over her shoulder at the teen who was staring out the windows, almost longingly, and left again to tend to some other business. The second Mac heard the click from the lock her head whipped around to her sleeping Professor. Throwing her covers off her lower half, the damaged girl got up, grabbed hold of the chair beside her bed, and dragged it over to his. Halting it beside his bed, she sat down and stared at him wondering to herself about how she could find him so attractive.

Without being able to stop herself, Mac brushed stray gray hair from his sleeping eyes. He looked so peaceful while he slept; something she knew wasn't the same about herself. She wondered how he was able to sleep in such a way, even with all of his injuries; which she just now noticed never seemed to heal. Her brow furrowed as a few fingers traced some of the cuts on his face ever so lightly, as not to disturb him. Pushing some of her blue, purple and pink hair behind her ear, she continued to stare down at him. Something about him was so alluring, it pushed her towards him; calling to her, telling her to get as close to him as she could. Mac knew him to be a nice man, she had seen the kindness everywhere he went; even when dealing with very difficult people.

He was something special.

Closing her eyes, she felt her body lean in. She could feel his breath against her skin and her own breath slipping from her lips when a scream ripped through the school. Quickly, Mac jumped to her feet (despite pain) and ran to the window to see what was happening. The grass began to freeze, along with the rain, the air felt cold and unhappy; her breath being visible as she breathed steadily and lights beginning to flicker on and off. Frantically her eyes scanned around trying to find what was going on. Over the horizon, her eyes caught glimpse of a shadowy blanket making its way towards the school. Little pieces of the so called blanket tore off gliding in different directions and that was when she noticed what it was. An obvious attempt to try and take over the school by Voldemort.

"Dementors," she whispered and looked back at her still passed out Professor. With him sleeping because of the potion Madame Pomfrey gave him, he was defenseless!

Summoning her wand, Mac noticed a group of students standing out on the grounds with their wands at the ready. She recognized Harry, Hermione and Ron and some other Gryffindors, but the others were not as familiar. All of them shouted out a spell and a silvery light was cast around them and the surrounding areas. Mac saw a stag, a terrier, a sea otter, a horse, a hare and many other silver lighted animals, all aimed at the Dementors. The group of animals charged at the darkness approaching. With a huff, she took one last look at her Professor before clutching her wand between her teeth and jumping over the window archway.

Grabbing onto the stone, she slid to another ledge, jumping and swinging from place to place. While scaling down one side, she lost her footing and nearly slid to certain death if she hadn't been lucky enough to grab onto a wooden window ledge until she was safely able to land on the ground. Bare foot, and underdressed, she ran up to Harry and his friends; who were now joined by some teachers helping repel the dark creatures with their own Patronuses. Sliding in right beside Harry, Mac held out her wand and without uttering a word, produced the largest Patronus out of the bunch. A glowing silver dragon burst from the tip of her wand, roaring as its giant wings expanded, and joined in the fight with everyone to repel the beasts, sweeping across masses of them swiftly! The group was doing just fine holding them off and when some of them lost focus Mac was there to help them as they regained their focus. She, Harry, Ron, Hermione and the teachers were the only ones who never lost focus, who never lowered their wands and fought off the Dementors.

They thought they had gotten all of them when one student saw a rogue Dementor enter the school through the very window Mac had climbed down from and screamed as they watched it float inside. Mac whispered his name and suddenly went sprinting after it, despite the surging pain from her wounds. Harry, Ron and Hermione heard his name escape her lips and followed after her in a frantic sprint.

The 12" wand, made of yew wood and a Veela hair core, cast a spell to get the Dementors attention as Mac ran towards it. Within seconds of the first attack, her dragon Patronus was cast, leading the three other silvery animals towards the one Dementor. All at once, they slammed into the vile creature and sent it retreating so quickly it could give anyone a run for their money! Without a word to either of the trio behind her, the mysterious girl continued running towards the Hospital Wing, fueled by some unknown force that was pulling her towards the older wizard. She didn't know what that force was. Mac just knew that she had to get back to the Hospital Wing to make sure Professor Lupin was alright.

It had been a powerful sleeping drought that Madame Pomfrey had given him, but the Dementor attack was enough to wake him from his slumber. From the room he was able to watch as students and teachers alike drove away the numerous Dementors and was thoroughly impressed with all of them. Most impressive was the giant dragon conjured by the reclusive outcast Mac. He had never known a young witch or wizard to be able to conjure a Patronus without speaking the spell aloud; that was something only feasible by more experienced wizards. She was something special; much like Lily Evans and Hermione Granger.

Watching her from behind, courageously getting in the way of students as they crippled under the devastating mass and defending them until they were alright to go again and sometimes even helping them to their feet was awe inspiring. Even with her already many wounds, the knife like frozen rain drops did little to deter her from helping defend the school and all that resided within its walls. He watched as the dragon Patronus guarded others from attacks that they otherwise might not have seen. Never had he seen such ferocity and bravery in a single person that took it upon themselves to be cast out from the norm. There was something blazing wildly within this girl that made her very unique and when the students she had helped were thanking her, he could see the faintest of smiles appear on her lips.

The now freely forming, cold water ravaged them like it had before; drenching them in an unforgiving way. With newly illuminated blue eyes, Remus stared at the sixteen year old happily enjoying the fruits of their labor. Colors of blue, purple and pink swirled together atop her head, sticking to both her face and neck like a tightly wound rope. The simple untucked, white collared, button down shirt and gray pleaded skirt clung to her slim and athletic frame; showing her casually worn lilac bra. Her bandages were soggy and had tiny droplets of pink fall from her fingers and possibly her toes, with her bandaged foot. He watched as she sputtered water out of her mouth and pushed aside her colorful hair to see, showing off her bewildering eyes.

Realizing what he was thinking, Remus shook his head clear and mentally slapping himself. How could he admire a student in such a way? Why would he? There were so many variables between them that were just blatantly obvious! The first being the obvious age gap between them, the second being there social status in the Wizarding world. He was a werewolf for crying out loud! Who would want to be with a beast that couldn't tell the difference between friend nor foe when it transformed? The next thing being that he was far too poor because of the aforementioned second fact.

During his unrelenting list of things that made him such a horrible person, he was unaware of the danger he was suddenly in. Being so weak from his transformation the night before and without his wand, he was definitely a walking bull's eye. Noticing the candles go out and seeing his breath, Remus looked up to see a Dementor curling its gray, scabby hands around the stone window arch. Overcome with an immense feeling of depression and sorrow, he was unable to even attempt to move from his spot. Every unhappy memory and thought surfaced and he felt himself getting weaker. Just as he was ready to let himself collapse to the mercy of the Dementor, a blinding silver light cast itself upon him and making him once again cheerful. Even with the happy feeling again, the mere stress caused him to pass out.


	6. Holiday

**A/N: This one was delayed in being put up because I wasn't done with the next chapter. Things will start wrapping up, I promise. If there are confusions, they will begin coming to light soon.**

The holidays at last! With everyone joining their families for the Christmas holidays, the grounds of Hogwarts were barrenly deserted. Only a handful of students from each house stayed; and most of the teachers did to. A lot of the time kids were at Hogsmeade, shopping. Mac did a little of shopping towards the beginning of the month, but didn't do much afterwards. She was happy that her next full moon was at the end of the month, so she was able to spend the holidays with her new friends. Ever since the day she helped protect the school from Dementors, she had gotten along better with many people; mostly those that were there. There was no denying that she actually enjoyed the company of her newly acquired friends, as she was much nicer to them than anyone else.

In the few weeks that she had lightened up, she had also formed an awkward, but nice friendship with her D.A.D.A teacher Remus Lupin. He had expressed an interest in her after seeing her Patronus and he simply loved hearing her opinions about things. They often spent any free time together in his office talking and enjoying a cup of tea. It was common for him to receive owls during these chats, from parents expressing their prejudice about having him teaching their children. Mac didn't know why the parents sent him these letters and never read them when she would rip them from his hands and throw them in the fireplace to burn. Often she would then curse them in some way or bather on about how people don't know a good thing when they have it. He commented on her brash nature, but always thanked her for her kindness in accepting him even if she didn't know the whole story. Of course, she would then tell him she didn't need to know the whole story for her to think the parents were nothing but thick gits. Mac was of course curious about these letters but, out of respect for him, never dared to ask.

The loner witch was still arguably the most difficult person to get along with! She had all the moments in the world to be pigheaded and talk back; which she often did. And without a single thought about it no less. Some even saw her fight back against Professor Snape, which earned points from Gryffindor, but she still continued to fight. It astounded them all really. But with holidays, everyone was much more peaceful towards each other; even Mac seemed to be nicer.

Days were dreadfully cold, with snow on the ground and icy winds blowing all throughout the day; but what could you expect from winter? A lot of the time, Mac was seen hanging around outside, playing in the snow. On the day before Christmas, she, Harry, Ron and Hermione were all playing out in the snow. All of them were laughing and throwing snowballs at each other. Since there weren't very many students staying behind at Hogwarts this year, they had a lot of time to themselves and had to occupy days with mindless amusement. In fact, there were only about twelve people staying on the grounds for the holidays; including teachers. Among those staying were Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, Professor Lupin, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Mac and a tiny handful of first years.

"Mac! Mac wake up!" came the frantically happy voice of roommate Hermione.

"Wha…what is it?" she groaned while stretching and sitting up lazily, her eyes half closed.

The sound of shuffling feet was heard all around as Hermione excitedly moved around their dormitory, "It's Christmas morning silly!" she giggled happily.

"Christmas?" the teen yawned as she rubbed sleep from her eyes and began to notice presents sitting on her trunk at the foot of her bed.

"Yes!" Hermione answered, still shuffling around their room, now putting the presents she had already opened away. "I don't think the boys are up yet though."

Crawling along her bed to bring the small gifts onto her sheets, she huffed, "I would expect not. Bunch lazy bums they are."

"I suppose so," she laughed, soon turning to her friend with a bright smile and eager eyes. "You should go ahead and open your gifts! I already opened all of mine."

With her blue eyes looking up at the brunette, she noticed that most of the gifts Hermione had gotten were books. That didn't really surprise her at all. Looking through the small group of about four or five brightly wrapped objects, she tried to decide which to open first. Not wanting to make the girl now sitting on her bed wait any longer, Mac pulled a metallic yellow wrapped gift towards her. Pulling off the silk red ribbon for the small box and placing the card aside, she opened it. Inside was a living miniature of her favorite dragon, the Antipodean Opaleye; a dragon with pealy scales and multi-colored eyes with no pupils. Mac couldn't help but smile as she held the tiny dragon in her hand, watching it breath its vivid red flames just inches above her palm.

"My goodness," Hermione choked as she saw the small dragon crawling all over Mac's hand. "Who gave that thing to you?"

"Mmm…" she reached over for the card, opening it with one hand. "From my older cousin in Romania. She said she saw it in a shop window and just knew that I would love it."

Reaching up, Mac set the dragon onto her shoulder as she grabbed for another gift. A tiny box that was only just bigger than the replica perched on her shoulder was wrapped in purple wrapping and topped with a blue bow. Unwrapping it quickly, she found a pair of full moon and star earrings sitting inside. Slipping the tiny paper folded up inside out, she read and found that it was from her other cousin. Taking out the pair, both the girls found that they weren't ordinary earrings, but full moons that moved and were orbited by the stars! Hermione thought that it was a really fascinating gift. The next one was flimsy and wrapped in a dull copper colored wrapping with shiny, smooth circles and a silver ribbon. Even for something so soft, it was neatly wrapped which told Mac who it was from without having to pick up the card, which dropped onto her sheets as she pulled back the paper. Hermione picked it up and read the one sided letter aloud as Mac looked at the crimson jacket speckled with gold; no doubt made of a dragon's hide. Listening to Hermione read, she found that the gift was from her aunt and uncle. Setting the jacket aside, she picked a slightly larger box than her first, being wrapped in a plain, finely glossed purple wrapping. Hermione smiled when she picked up the box, telling her it must have been from Harry.

Fumbling around with the wrapping for a bit, Mac finally tore it free and found a pair of black (thankfully fingerless) Shield Gloves and a sack of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Taking each item out of the box, she read a little tag attached to each, describing what it was for and chuckled lightly. She would definitely have to thank Harry for the gift. Turning to a nicely wrapped red rectangle, she tore it free and looked the item over. _Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms_ was the title on the hardback, leather bound book.

"That one is from me!" Hermione said excitedly, as she scooted a little closer. "I've seen you reading a lot and thought that you might want it."

Mac's eyes shifted over to the beaming girl, "Uh, you do know that I read more free time kinda books right?" she asked, raising a brow. Hermione frowned, "It's a wonderful gift though! I guess it could help with furthering my knowledge in spells." Hermione smiled again and Mac reached to the drawer in her nightstand, "Here," she mumbled as she pulled open the drawer and pulled out a dark blue wrapped box with cats printed on it.

"For me?" she asked, holding the small box in her hands.

"No, for the Gray Lady."

"Oh, Mac, you shouldn't have."

"Well if you don't want it, I'll keep it for myself.."

"No, no, no it's okay," Hermione shook her head, finally unwrapping the square box. Inside was a polished silver chain with a medium sized cat charm hanging from it. "Oh my, it's so beautiful!"

"It's enchanted to meow when someone is untrustworthy and repel dark magic," she replied to the compliment.

Hermione flung herself on Mac, "Oh thank you so much! I love it!" she exclaimed happily.

"Uh…" Mac began, bewildered by the sudden burst of affection, "You're welcome."

Once dressing in warm clothes and throwing away their trash, the girls walked down the spiral stairs that lead to their room and settled into a couch in the common room. She kept the dragon with her, it sitting on her shoulder and was wearing the earrings her cousin had gotten her. Sitting beside Mac were a few gifts in neatly wrapped wrapping paper, all of which were small and very bright. While they waited for the boys to come downstairs, they chatted about their gifts and random things before the heavy clambering of shoes could be heard barreling down the stone stairs. Both witches looked up to see contented grins and the obvious excitement about it being Christmas day. It was obvious though by the way Ron was slightly broodier than Harry, that he hadn't gotten anything as spectacular.

"Thanks for the gift Harry," Mac said, showing off that she was wearing the Shield Gloves he had given her. Grabbing the gold wrapped present, she tossed it at him, "Here."

Clumsily he caught the gift, "For me?" Mac nodded. Harry hastily open the box and found a pewter stag lying in the middle of the small box. "What is it?" he asked, looking at it curiously.

"It's a charmed figure. It tells you when an enemy is nearby by getting hot and if placed between you and an enemy, will erect a wall of fire," she replied while looking at him over her shoulder.

"Oh wow," he said quickly pocketing the figure. "Thanks!"

"This one's for you Ron," she threw a red wrapped gift at him, which he dropped after having it bounce in his hands a few times.

Just as eagerly as Harry had, Ron tore through the paper like a savage and opened the box. Inside was a brass ball. Ron frowned, "A ball? You gave me a ball?"

"What can I say, I don't like you much," she mumbled as she got up and walked to him. Taking the ball from his hand, she held it up so he could watch closely, "No, it's a very special brass ball. Watch. Inite Enopis!" Everyone watched the ball, waiting for it to do something.

"Yeah, some…" Ron began, but stopped as the brass ball melted away, morphing into a bright yellow canary. Mac smiled as the bird tweeted and took off from her hand, flying around all four of them before perching onto her extended index finger. "Wow! That's so cool! What is it?" Ron exclaimed, eyes wide and a giant grin on his face.

The canary morphed back into the brass ball, which Mac caught before it fell, "It's a Morphishpere. It's an item only sold in America that can take on the shape of anything with the spell and a thought, depending on the magical skill of the witch or wizard." She dropped the ball back into Ron's hand, "I asked my cousin to send one over. I thought that with the dark times here in London, you guys could get use out of them."

"Who is this one for?" Hermione asked picking up the last and smallest box, still lying on the couch.

Spinning around, Mac quickly swiped the present from her and hastily made her way out of the common room. The three of them looked between each other, each wondering what was so secretive about that gift.

Quickly, Mac walked down the halls, trying to get far away from the Gryffindor common room! Clutching the tiny box tightly within her palm, she kept her head down as she walked corridor after corridor. The Opaleye on her shoulder seemed content enough to clutch onto her thin jacket as it curled up to sleep. Her froggy rain boots thudded lightly against the stone floor while her, now straight, blue, purple and pink hair swayed against the hood of her turquoise knit hooded coat. Her teeth chattering a bit from the cold, she tugged the dragon from her shoulder and placed it within her pocket. Reaching the outside hall, she zipped up her coat about halfway, placed the gift in her unoccupied pocket and bound for her favorite teacher's office.

Lightly knocking on the wooden door, she pushed it open when it creaked open a tiny crack, "Professor?" she called. Cautiously she walked into the office, being extremely quiet, even with her heavy boots. "Professor Lupin, are you here?" she asked again.

No reply was given and so Mac wandered around the office, unattended. She had been within the office many at time, but she had never had a real good look at it. The walls were very impersonal and gray and everything seemed packed, like he was ready to leave at any moment. There were stacks of papers on his desk, probably student homework, and quills sitting next to vials of ink. A fire was crackling beside her and a single cup was sitting on the very end of his desk, with nothing in it. Pine chairs sat motionless on either side of his desk, one larger than the other, indicating which was his. On a small end table sat a record player, all by itself being that it took up the entire surface of the table. Placing her finger tips against the old oak desk, she dragged them along the surface as she walked around it and to his side of the desk. Mac wondered as she stood behind it, what it would be like to be a teacher and have all the power. Looking down at the papers skewed across his desk, her eyes landed on an open letter written in very neat handwriting and crumpled up then reopened. Touching the end of the parchment, she dragged it across the surface towards her to get a better look at what it said…

_Dear Mr. Lupin,_

_While you may be an exceptional teacher, I am not comfortable with something such as yourself, teaching my children. Headmaster Dumbledore may have no troubles with endangering other people's innocent children, but until the matter of your employment is resolved, I am respectfully keeping my children out of your class._

"Mac?" a soft voice spoke from the doorway, which caused the teen to jump, swiping the paper from his desk.

Looking up, she saw Professor Lupin standing in the doorway with his head slightly turned to the side and looking at her through the part in his hair, "Oh, Professor Lupin! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," she answered in a slight panic at being caught.

He tilted his head up just a bit, parting his lips and knitting his brows upward, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh um…" she began, shaking her head and slipping around his desk so she was now standing in front of it, "No, but I did come here looking for you."

"Hm?" he inquired, walking into his office further and taking a seat in his chair.

She flopped into the only other seat, "I needed to get away from those three, they were driving me up the wall with all of their good cheer."

"You're not happy it's the holidays?" he asked, waving his wand at the tea kettle hanging over the fire and the room echoing with the sound of steam screaming from the spout.

She exhaled through her nose, "Not really sir," Mac relayed her answer while relaxing into the chair.

Remus got up and poured them both a cup of scalding water, handing her a cup after hanging the kettle back up and then pulling his chair closer to the fire, "May I ask why."

"It's…complicated," she answered, watching as the Japanese Blossom Tea Flower bloomed in the hot water. Watching its petals dance around in the water while it steeped, she sighed.

"I do have the time," he stated, leaning back in his chair.

She lowered the cup a little, "I am just, never with family at the holidays." Her gaze now turned to the fire. Mac set her cup on his desk and scooted her chair beside his in front of the fire, before taking her cup in hand again.

He nodded, "Ah! I understand now."

"You see, when I was really young, before I moved in with my aunt and uncle in America, my family died. Not on a holiday or anything, just one day everyone was gone," she told him, hard though it may have been. Not feeling the need for the tea he made, she set it back onto his desk.

"My dear," he began, placing his own cup on his desk and leaning in closer to her, a hand on her back, "Though horrible as that may be, the ones we love never really leave us. They will forever be with us, in our hearts and in our dreams."

He was so close. Mac could feel his warmth; or maybe that was just the fire. Bringing her head up, she looked into his dull blue eyes through multi-colored hair, watching the reflection of the fire dance in his eyes. He looked so much older than he was, but that didn't seem to take away from his beauty. She often got remarks about how much older she looked for her age; she had never know to see them as insults or compliments. Again the urge came. It had been getting stronger and stronger since she had become friends with the Professor. She didn't know what it was, but it was always telling her to go further; that she had too! Now, it was too late to stop herself. Mac's lids closed softly as she leaned in and just barely touched her lips to his when he jumped back!

So taken by surprise, she flew back in her seat, her eyes wide and watching him standing near the wall. He had a look of utter shock and shame.

"Ms. Vale, if you think this was going somewhere…I'm sorry to have misled you," he spoke up, his voice devoid of emotion. He sounded like a superior talking to an underling.

Mac jumped out of her seat, wood scrapping against stone as she turned her head away, hand covering her mouth, "I'm…I'm sorry. I – I don't know…"

"I think it best if you leave now," he cut in.

Without another word, she whirled around the chair and bolted out of his office. She ran down the halls so quickly that she didn't even notice the three Gryffindors walking down the same hallway. Running right past them, the tightly wrapped, silver box dropped to the floor and she rounded a corner. No one noticed the tiny package sitting alone on the floor and with so few people wandering the halls, they wouldn't for days.


	7. Eager

**A/N: Okay, the next chapter is gonna be delayed a bit. I realized the other night that I had nothing to tie together the next two chapters, so I have to go back and throw something together. I got so caught up and excited about the next chapter that it flew over my head until I was finished with it. That's the reason I'm posting this one earlier than expected; I don't want to be to mean to you guys. And thanks for the really nice reveiws PaintMeIntrigued, avril luna Monroe and puppyluv1031, you guys are so nice!**

It had been days since Harry, Ron and Hermione had seen Mac. She hadn't even shown up for the Christmas feast! The three of them were starting to get very worried about her. They hadn't even seen Professor Lupin at the feast; of course they occasionally saw him wandering around until the end of them month. Once the full moon came, he was gone to spend the night alone and wait out the transformation. But the last time they had seen Mac was when she was running past them. The final relief came the day before classes were to start and when everyone else had returned to the castle; although it wasn't much relief.

"My god! What happened to you?" Ron asked in shock at the state their friend was in when she returned.

Mac stood in the common room, slightly leaning to the right and looked completely drained. Her left arm was in a splint and her clothes looked big on her, even for her already slender figure. She had a massive scratch on the front of her face and a slight knick on the top of her head. Bags upon bags were under her eyes, her hair looked a little thinned out and she looked ready to topple over on herself. Everyone in the common room had stopped what they were doing to see what she looked like; everything going quiet in the process. The three friends looked at her in shock, while every other expression was of horror. She looked like she had just barely escaped death! Peering just under her robes seemed to be the possibility of more injuries than just the ones they could see, with the slight glimpse of red on her white shirt.

"Nothing…" came her breathless reply as she limped her way to the staircase and up the stairs. Everyone wanted to follow, but the boys knew they'd never get up the first step.

"I'll go check on her," Hermione resolved before following after the defeated looking teen. Making her way through the arch of their room, hazel eyes surveyed the room. "Mac, are you alright?" she asked slowly.

There was a ruff growl from low within Mac's throat as she grabbed a nearby object and threw it across the room, "NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ME! I'M FINE! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO ALWAYS ASK THAT?" Axiom, who had flown in to check up on Mac, hooted and flapped her wings in fright before flying out the window to the Owlery.

Storming out of the Gryffindor common room, people jumped out of her way. Even despite the agonizing pain for her injuries, she stomped and briskly walked around the castle. Grumbling to herself about annoying people, her foot kicked something that slid along the ground. Peering down, the distinct silver and red caught her attention and angered her even more. Swiping it from the floor, she quickly turned around and made her way towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom; the whole while thinking about how stupid she had been.

Of course he was shocked about what she had done! She was a student and he a teacher, it would have morally unethical. He probably thought her an idiot for what she did. No doubt he thought she had a crush on him, which would only make classes all the more awkward then they already had been. Mac didn't have a crush on him! Just something about him forced her to want to be closer and every time she tried to resist it only got stronger and more urgent. The feeling was like holding your breath underwater even after you couldn't hold it anymore; it was stifling! She just wanted to explain everything to him. She wanted him to know that she hadn't meant what she did, that something was controlling her. Or…had she meant it? Quickly shaking the thought from her head, she pushed open the classroom door. No sign of anyone.

Her footsteps echoed in the empty room, up the stairs they went, and a creak of the door. No one was inside the office. Walking in, she placed the box on his desk and whirled around to leave as quickly as possible. She didn't want to be caught by anyone and most of all…

"Professor Lupin!" Mac gasped when she came face to face with the very man she wanted to avoid. She placed her good hand to her chest and huffed a held breath.

He looked over her shoulder and back to her, "What are you doing in here Ms. Vale?"

"Uh…" her eyes glanced over her shoulder at the now dirty gift, "It was the Christmas gift I was going to give you." She turned a little and took it from the wood surface, turning back to him and holding it out for him. Looking at him, he didn't look anywhere near as bad as she did! Lucky bastard, she thought.

He eyed her for a moment, "I don't think…"

"Look! It's not what you think okay. I was just trying to be nice, but clearly that doesn't matter!" she shouted and quickly, but clumsily, stormed her way past him and out of his office.

The box she had been holding was now sitting on its side on his desk. After looking back at the lone box from watching the angry girl leave, Remus slowly walked up to it. Picking it up, he walked around his desk and carefully sat down in his chair, leaning back and turning the silver wrapped box, with a bright red bow, over and over in his hands. For a long while all he did was stare at the box without opening it, but finally he mustered up the courage. Turning towards his desk, he set the small box on it and gently tore off the bow. Next came the wrapping that was torn off less gracefully. Sitting in front of him was a simple white cardboard box, nothing special about it on the outside. Another moment was taken to contemplate any further action; he decided to be daring. Sliding the box top off, what sat before him was simply amazing! Picking it up, the stainless steel felt icy against his warm skin which was strangely comforting. The long chain rattled as it dangled from his hand and turned it over. On the back was an inscription:

Remus Lupin:

Thank you for being a friend.

Remus sat in his chair, taken back by the personalization given in this gift. It was something very special. Turning it back over in his hand, hearing another rattle from the chain, he opened it and was awestruck. The pocket watch was open faced, allowing him to see the inner gears with gold roman numerals for time telling. He watched the hands tick by slowly, the thinnest one telling the seconds that passed. With a click, it was closed and he saw a small note at the bottom of the box. Setting the watch down, he picked it up and unfolded it. Not much was written on the parchment other than here telling him that she had enjoyed his company over the last few weeks. Looking up from the parchment, his eyes stared at his office door a moment as he thought about what to do. For days he had been avoiding her like a plague.

He gave a heavy sigh to himself. That was how people treated him and he knew all too well how it felt. What had he done to that poor girl? With a heavy sigh, Remus got up from his chair to go find and apologize to her.

In the next days, it was increasingly hard to get a moment to talk to Mac, she was avoiding everyone it seemed. She had gone back to being the moody, antisocial witch she had been when she first arrived. Going back to sitting alone, mouthing off to everyone and staying out of other people's business, Mac seemed to go to even greater lengths to isolate herself from everyone. Before she had stood up for her friends and fellow Gryffindors, now she let them get tormented and was often seen fighting with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Before she had been courteous towards the teachers, now she showed them as little respect as she showed everyone else. The only time Remus would get a chance to talk to her was when he would call her into office after class. And even then, she was short, quick and avoided answering any sort of personal questions. Life didn't change much until near the end of the first month.

Another full moon approached and the students found their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher gone once again. They all knew why. What seemed to bother some students though, Harry, Ron and Hermione in particular, was that Mac seemed to always be gone around the same time as their professor. The subject had come up a few times between the friends of the possibility, but they always denied it. Always ending up playing her disappearances off to her extreme moodiness. That was, of course, until they finally found out the truth! It hadn't been on purpose this time around either. The three of them were wandering the grounds like they usually always did at night, despite warnings they had been given, when they happened upon her. Within the thick bush of trees, they could hear her screams of paralyzing pain and found her as she was transforming. To say that it didn't shock them would have been a lie. To watch as she tore at her clothes, her bones arching and growing, her skin stretching and her facial features changing. They watched as she scratched at her face and body, all three of them curious as to why.

When Professor Lupin returned, they were all too eager to tell him the news!

"Professor, could we talk to you?" Harry asked after their class, the three of them walking up towards the front of the room.

"Of course Harry, what is it?" the Professor replied with a tired smile.

The three waited until the students had cleared and shut the door before even bothering to answer him, "Mac's a werewolf!" Ron blurted out without any kind of formality.

Remus stared at the three of them completely at loss for words. One of _his_ students was a werewolf, just like him! Maybe that would explain the strange attraction he had to her. "Are you sure?" he asked slowly.

"Yes sir," Hermione began with a nod. "We saw her transform at the last full moon."

"Now are you positive?" he asked again, straining the question, trying to make sure he had heard them right.

They all nodded. "Well sir, she is the only one here with blue, purple and pink hair," Harry added to ensure the knowledge that they had in fact seen Mac become a werewolf.

"Professor, are you alright?" Hermione asked, looking at their extremely quiet friend.

His eyes fluttered as his gaze turned to the three, "Oh yes, I'm fine. Thank you for telling me, now I understand her occasionally late homework." Remus smiled at the three of them, "Now if you please, I must get ready for my next class," he motioned towards the door with a court nod.

Their footsteps echoed against the stone as they opened the door to leave, not knowing that Draco Malfoy and his bunch were spiritedly walking away just moments before they came out of the classroom. The news of what he had just heard was not only shocking, but completely devastating to the annoying girl. He would have a field day tormenting her with the news, after he told his father of course. Wasting no time, he sent an owl to his father stating what he had found out so that he could tell the Dark Lord. Maybe he would have Fenrir Greyback try and recruit her into the wolf pack under his control. That would be a little scary. To have Greyback at the school terrified him, being around him when he wasn't at school was bad enough but having to deal with him while attending school was worse.

He couldn't wait for tomorrow though, his torment will be so much fun.


	8. Insanity

**A/N: Okay! So I'm still working on the inbetween chapters, to link this one and the one that is supposed to follow it but I haven't posted in FOREVER and I just finished one of the fill in chapters. School has started so I won't be working on it as much, or posting as much. But I will do my best. ENJOY!**

_Blue eyes looked out a second story window, the vast fields surrounding the lonely home swaying to the rhythm of the wind that blew during the spring afternoon. A glum look was plastered on the sweet, heart shaped face of the little blue eyed girl that was staring out the window. Having been put on a time out, she had nothing else to do but stare out at the beautiful day that she couldn't share with her sister. The sound of laughing caught the in trouble girl's attention. Placing her hands on the sill of the window, she pressed her face against the glass and looked down at her little sister playing with their parents; her sandy blonde hair falling over her shoulders as she continued to stare at them. Her gaze turned to a large figure standing within the tall grass feet away._

_When night fell, the full moon reached high in the starry ocean as the little girl snuck out of her bedroom. She tiptoed down the hall, lit only by the moonlight, and down the stairs to the first floor. Quietly, she turned the brass knob and walked outside into the nice crisp night air. A sweet breeze blew past her, pushing her hair out of her face and rustling her pajamas against her tiny body. Without thinking about what could be roaming around her home, the little girl walked towards the spot where she saw the large man watching her family._

_A growl echoed around her in the tall grass. She whipped around, her breath hitching in her throat, looking around for whatever it was that made the sound. Nothing was there. Rustling grass made her spin around. Nothing. Wrapping her arms around her body, she continued to search; another growl grabbing her attention. She turned around. Her eyes looked at the long limbs of a creature standing in front of her; following the length to the muzzle of a large werewolf! It snarled at her. She screamed._

Mac screamed as she jolted up in her bed, covered in sweat and breathing rapidly. Her eyes were wide and looking around the stone room frantically; her breathing loud enough for the other girls hear as they stared at her. It seemed her screaming had woken them up. Hermione tried find out what was wrong, but Mac only ignored her and quickly got up from her bed. Quickly she ran out of the room, jogging down the stairs after having put on a robe and flopped into the cushions of the common room couch. The fire place crackled with a newly lit flame, the only sound coming from the room unless you could hear the soft sobs of a girl.

"Mac? Mac, are you alright?" Hermione asked as she came down the stairs and slowly walked over to her. Huddled on the couch, Mac buried her face into her knees while staring at the fire; unmoving. "You gave us all quite a scare."

Fire danced in the reflection of her blue eyes, a blank look taking possession of her facial features. "There's nothing to worry about, just a bad dream is all," she mumbled through her knees. She fell sideways, into the arm of the couch and continued to stare into the fire.

"Well…" Hermione let her gaze drift to the floor, "If you're sure, then I guess I'll go back to bed." She shifted her hazel eyes back to the other girl before giving a quick lopsided smile and heading back up the stone stairs.

"I'm sorry…" she added quickly before Hermione could completely leave her alone. "For being so rude lately." Hermione just smiled and allowed Mac to have her time alone.

For a long while Mac sat in the common room by herself, listening to the wood crack and spark under the intense heat of the flames; without moving. Her stare was as blank as her mind, trying to force thoughts out of her head but failing. Silent tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she heard screams of all kinds rush through her thoughts. All she wanted was for the screams to quiet and leave her alone. She wondered if that would ever happen. They plagued her so horribly that soon she thought she'd go mad if they didn't go away! Every night they continued to torment her, never ending; she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to quiet them except to drown them out with loud music. Many thought that if she were away from the horrors of the voices that she'd get over it, but she never did. No amount of distance could make her forget the terror that had befallen her childhood. No matter how much she wished that something as simple as that could make them go away; she was just cursed. Cursed people aren't allowed to live normal, happy lives are they? They only deserve the squalor that their curse provides them. Living in their curse if the only form of happiness they are allowed to have.

One thing Mac had realized though since she came to Hogwarts. The nightmares of her past had become more prominent with the scent of dog everywhere. She could never quite place where it was originating from _because_ of the fact that it was everywhere. It wasn't the same one she was used to either, it was new and inviting. For some reason that same scent, that same feeling, seemed to encompass her D.A.D.A. teacher, Remus Lupin. Mac's eyes snapped open wider when the serious thought hit her like a freight train! Could it be that her teacher was a werewolf also? She sat up, uncurling herself, and thought hard about what her mind had come up with. That was impossible! Her teacher couldn't be something like her. Why would Dumbledore allow a werewolf to be teaching students? Such a thing was far too dangerous. Of course, having a student that was a werewolf wasn't much better, but there were ways around that. Well if there were ways around that, then surely there could be ways around having a werewolf for a teacher.

She shook her head violently. That was preposterous! He wasn't a werewolf and that was final! Stretching out on the long couch, she stared into the fire, her eyes getting heavy and sleep once again taking over. The screams began to echo in her dreams again as she fell asleep, but now with her mind on something else, they weren't as bad.

"Did she really sleep out here the entire night?" a hushed voice asked.

There was a pause. "She said she had a bad dream and came rushing down the stairs. When I woke up she still wasn't in her bed."

"You guys are loud," Mac groaned as her eyes tried to open. Shutting her eyes tighter, she stretched out her body against the couch; hearing her bones crack a good morning to her. She sat up and scratched her head, "You guys really need to learn how to be quieter in the mornings." She looked at them through one eye and chuckled.

"You need to get up, or you'll be late for classes," Hermione reminded, trying to rush the girl so she wouldn't be late for the millionth time.

Mac yawned loudly, "Yeah yeah."

The four of them walked to the first class of the day, Charms. Lazily Mac walked slightly behind them, wanting to go back to sleep rather than go to class. That couch may have been comfy to sit on, but certainly not to sleep on! Her whole backside was killing her. She threw her neck to the side, hearing it pop and the relief she felt after. Stopping just inside the classroom, she pushed her back into alignment, hearing the multitude of pops from her spine that made her feel so much better. With a somewhat content smile upon her usual pout, she followed her friends to their seats; passing Malfoy and his goons along the way. She heard him mumbled something that instantly pulled her out of her reverie and hit a bad note. Mac shot him a glare to which he sniggered. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at her curiously to which she dismissed it as nothing but an idiot being an idiot.

Through the middle of class, Mac's knuckles were pressed against the side of her face, holding her up as she tried to stay awake. She was failing, miserably. Her head bobbed a bit before her hand gave way and her head dropped against her wrist and her eyes fell shut. Harry jabbed her in the side with his elbow, making her jump awake. With her quill in her lazy, free hand, she tapped the feathered end of it against the wooden desk she sat at. This class seemed to take forever! And with the fact that she didn't wake up in time for breakfast, she was dying for something to eat. Setting down her quill, she rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up but it still wasn't working. As she dropped her hands back onto her desk with a disgruntled sigh, she looked out one of the very few windows in the classroom. Looking outside her brow furrowed. Was she really seeing what she saw? Squinting her eyes, she looked harder at what she thought she saw. Standing imposing, tall and dangerous was a man with a long coat half opened to his bare and hairy chest, with slacks and shoes. His face was covered along the jawbone with facial hair, or was it fur? His entire face had what looked like a slight pushed in, slant to his overall facial bone structure; while his small eyes and ferocious teeth grinned.

Her eyes widened a bit; it couldn't be! She turned away from the window, her face contorted in confusion and thought and her eyes shifting around the floor. Turning back, he was gone. Mac blinked a couple of times and wondered to herself if she really saw him. Was he just a figment her mind was creating to toy with her? He couldn't have gotten onto the grounds anyways; there were spells in place that prevented such evils from entering the school. No way that he was actually here; it was just her mind playing tricks on her. The sound of bells brought Mac out of her thought process and back to reality. Quickly she gathered her things and pushed through kids to be one of the firsts out of the classroom. She had to find out! The only way to do that would be to talk to Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor?" she asked cautiously as she entered his office.

"Ah Mac! Welcome," he greeted jovially and with a smile. He gestured to a chair in front of his desk, "Please have a seat."

Nodding, Mac took the seat he offered, dropping her book bag on the floor and leaning comfortably back in the seat. For a moment she didn't bother saying anything, instead played with her fingers nervously.

"Mac, is something bothering you?" Dumbledore looked at her over his half moon glasses curiously but with a knowing gaze.

"Uh yeah," she started, looking up at him. "I was wondering if there were ways of dark wizards being able to enter the school grounds."

"Hm," he nodded, thinking about her question. "Well Mac, I'm sure there are…but those ways are far too few. The other teachers and I have gone to great lengths to keep this school a safe place for you and the other students. Why are you asking, if I may?"

Mac grabbed the leather strap of her book bag and got up from the comfy chair, "Hm? Oh, uh no reason…just curious is all." Walking around the chair, she left his office feeling slightly reassured, but not completely; not after what she saw.

It wasn't until lunch that things only got worse for the day. Even after speaking to Dumbledore about the possibility of a dark wizard entering the school was considerably low, she still saw the evil man everywhere she looked! During her passing period, on and off again through her last class and she had seen him once or twice since lunch had started. What was worse off all, she swore that the man had come up right beside her and whispered her name in her ear. She knew who it was and hoped desperately that she was wrong, but as her day went on, things didn't seem that way. As she walked with Harry, Ron and Hermione through the grounds, she remained quiet; which wasn't unusual for her. But even so, the three seemed kind of concerned about her because she was even _quieter _than usual. The four of them walked the halls, Mac barely listening to the three talk to each other when Draco and his goons came strolling up with smug looks of superiority; like always.

"What's a matter Mac? The nights getting to be too much for you?" he sneered as his posse chuckled behind him.

The three looked between each other before turning their attention to Mac, who was suddenly paying attention and glaring at Draco. "Excuse me?"

"Got fur in your ears? Or are the moons making you loony?" he asked with a laugh. Mac growled as he glare narrowed even further.

"What do you know?" she hissed poisonously as she was instantly inches from him, grabbing onto his robes threateningly.

He looked slightly frightened for a moment, before his smugness came back and he grinned, "I know you're a flee bitten mutt."

Mac's eye twitched, "That's it."

Without warning Mac threw a right hook into his jaw before picking Draco up by the collar of his robes and slamming him on his back against the stone hall. Straddling his waist, she threw punch after punch to his face or any area of his body that wasn't protected; occasionally kneeing him in the side. She was sick of his idiocy and demoralizing attitude! The two groups stared in shock and disbelief at the display of savageness and sudden outburst. It wasn't long though before students began swarming the two on the ground; excited about the fight. Gryffindors were impressed and amused by one of their own taking on the Slytherin with nothing but their bare fists! And what made it better was that it was a girl. Draco tried to block as much as he could, but was failing since he didn't know how to fight like a normal muggle kid might. Mac felt some people try and stop the fight, but she just pushed them away; wanting to beat the platinum blonde until he was dead. It wasn't until teachers started flocking to them that she was pulled off of the teen. She didn't know who it was and didn't pay attention as she continued to kick the fallen boy as she was pulled away, until she couldn't anymore. Going crazy within the arms of one of her teachers, she struggled against the grip, still wanting to rip Draco apart.

"Let go of me!" she screamed as she tried to break free. "He deserves it! He knows! He knows! I have to kill him! AH! Let me go!"

Strong arms wrapped around her, holding her close to the body of whichever teacher got in her way, "Mac! Mac, stop! Calm down."

The voice was calm, even as it screamed over her own voice to get her attention. Never had she heard something like it. No, she had; but only in one person. Still fighting the grip, she calmed down a little, screeching and growling. Looking over her shoulder, she was surprised to see the teacher that had pulled her away was Professor Lupin. Her struggle began to increase, like she wanted to get away from him; while also wanting to tear apart Draco Malfoy. Screeching as she was dragged down the halls, kicking and trashing in the Professor's arms, she was brought to the eagle statue that led to Dumbledore's office. She could see kids staring at her like she was crazy as they passed the statue to get to classes.

Fighting with her all the way to the open door of the office, Remus was finally able to take a breather as he sat her down in one of the chairs sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk. Breathing heavily, Mac calmed down as she looked around the room to see a bunch of teachers in the office as well. Why were there so many of them? She looked to her left and saw a beaten Draco sitting in the chair beside her. Her eyes widened and she angrily made a lunge for him, but was caught by Professors Snape and Lupin; pushing her back into her seat and holding her there. Snape cast a charm that tied the girl to her seat; ropes coiled around her upper body like a snake. Struggling against the ropes, she grunted and growled as she tried to attack Draco, still. Her knuckles cracked and she fought like a mad woman to break the enchanted ropes. It wasn't any use.

"I told you she was nothing more than an animal," Draco sneered as he looked at Dumbledore then to her.

Her multi-colored hair fell over her shoulders and into her eyes as she looked over at him. "Oh you haven't seen an animal yet. Let me bite you, then you'll see a real animal" she growled through gritted teeth as she struggled again to get closer to him, snapping her jaw at him.

"Ms. Vale, what is going on?" Dumbledore asked, turning his attention to the obviously furious teen girl.

"Draco is being a fucking asshole!" she growled loudly which earned questionable stares from every teacher in the room. Mac turned from the other sixth year, shutting her eyes tightly and dropping her head. Sorting through her thoughts, she mumbled to herself, shaking her head a few times. "No, he knows. He'll tell…"

"Ms. Vale, I assure you Draco will do no such thing…" Dumbledore interjected, believing that was what she was mumbling about.

She shook her head furiously, "No! He knows, he'll tell. He's back. He won't leave. Grey…grey and red…"

"Ms. Vale?" he inquired cautiously, getting up from his seat. "Minerva, go get Madame Pomfrey." The Professor nodded and briskly walked out of the office to do as instructed. "Ms. Vale, who's back?"

"Greyback!" she shouted throwing her head up, "Fenrir Greyback!"


	9. Author's Note

**A/N:** I was REALLY hoping I wouldn't have to do this

October 29th: OKAY! So, things aren't working out as I would have hoped. It seems that the new 'roommate' is hogging the damn computer all the time and there's no wireless at my house. The internet at school has been crap for the last couple of days, every time I wanna use it and I don't like having to leave just to do one little thing. So I'm putting _Bloody Moon_ on hiatus for now until things kinda stabilize around here. Sorry folks


	10. Spring

**A/N: OKAY! I know it's been FOREVER and a day since I uploaded and I know a lot of you are upset by that. I had crap going on and blah blah blah. But since it's the holidays I thought I'd throw this chapter up. I'm going to start writing again for this because I DO want to finish it. But being a full time student really takes a toll on the creative mind. Plus playing City of Heroes and such XD ANYHOW! I hope you enjoy. Oh, and if you want updates on stories and stuff, I have them on my profile...not consistently and all the time, but they're there.**

With the looming danger of the sheer possibility that Fenrir Greyback was at the school, Mac was more on edge than ever. So were a lot of students, but not because of the werewolf; they had no idea about that. No, they were on edge whenever Mac was around. After her attack on Draco, many were too afraid to even walk past her in fear that she might attack them as well. It didn't help that Draco was also milking the fear for all it was worth. Every time he would get near her he would cringe and shout something crazy for everyone within distance to hear. Mac had gotten used to it, even though it bugged her. Now only having the Gryffindors to talk to and hang out with; although she didn't really do it as often as before. Most of her time was acting the same way she had when she first came to Hogwarts; grouchy, quiet and alone. Sure Harry, Ron and Hermione hung out with her a lot, but it was still like she wasn't even there.

A turning point came when, in order to calm everyone's nerves, Dumbledore told the entire student body that they would be holding a special Valentine's Day masquerade ball. The rules would be simple: you must dress in evening wear and you must wear a mask (decorated to your liking). It was out of season for sure, but he felt it would give people other things to think about and put everyone at ease. That certainly did do the trick. Instead of worrying about possible dangers or Mac, the students focused on the ball. It was an ingenious plan on Dumbledore's part. Even Mac was a little excited about it; now she could have something else to worry about than thinking Greyback was constantly over her shoulder.

She could worry about it, but she didn't want to do it. "Are you going to go Mac?" Hermione asked with a smile.

Did she have to? "Do I have to?"

"Well, no I suppose you don't…But it would be fun!" Again Hermione smiled, trying to convince the stubborn girl to go with her.

"Yeah, everyone will be there. You'll have a great time!" This time it was Harry who had spoken up.

Mac looked over her shoulder at the Slytherin table, then back at them with a dead expression. "Everyone?"

"Don't worry about him, he probably won't even come just so he can milk it even more," Harry dismissed with a lazy wave of his hand. Mac chuckled against her hand a little.

That weekend the students, third year and up, were allowed to go to Hogsmeade to shop for anything they wanted for the ball that was the very next weekend. The day was wet and misty. While there may not have been snow on the ground, it was cold and the chance of rain was high with the dark clouds looming overhead. Kids were dressed in warm clothes as they were escorted to the little village that sat beside the castle. All of them chatted about the ball that was the following weekend and who they would bring, or what they might wear. Girls giggled and gossiped, while boys were quiet and curious. It was the same with any school dance, be they muggle or otherwise. However, Mac was not in a tizzy about what she would wear and/or who she might go with. In fact she found it all quite dumb! She felt that you shouldn't get a dress just because it may get you noticed, you should get it because you like it, looks good and feels good as well. As for bringing someone along, there was no shame in going by yourself! If you did, then you have more to choose from and no one gets jealous over anything. And if you _do_ bring someone then it should be someone you like and who likes you, or just a friend because you think it'd be fun for the both of you. She didn't get why people made a big deal out of something as silly as a only reason that the ball was even being held so quickly was because Valentine's Day falls on a Monday, and they can't miss their classes; or at least that was the student's reasoning for it.

Once the quartet arrived in the snowy village, they split into two groups. Hermione wanted to find a dress and was dragging Mac along with her, while Harry and Ron wanted to check out Zonko's and Honeydukes. The whole way to Gladrags Wizardwear, Mac protested about having to go. Hermione wouldn't hear it and dragged her along anyway; saying that they would have fun trying on dresses. Blue eyes rolled in defeat, seeing as how she wouldn't be able to get away from the scarily talented witch. Mac was dragged through the red painted, wooden door, which chimed upon their entrance, of the clothing store. She was dragged through isle after isle of clothes; mainly strange socks. It became clear to Hermione that Mac wasn't all too thrilled with this fun day of shopping.

"Mac, what's wrong? You don't seem too happy," Hermione probed, sitting down on a nearby ottoman.

Mac flopped down beside her with a sigh and long face. Staring at her black leather, slouch buckle boots she picked at the zipper on her purple plaid fur ski coat. "Mmm, there are a lot of things, but right now…" she paused to look up, "My cousin and I used to do fashion shows at places like this. We'd try on everything just for fun…"

"You miss your family don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. I mean they're all that I've got."

"If I may, where are you going after school is out for the summer?"

"Oh, I'm staying at my old house…"

"By yourself?"

"Uh…yeah?"

"No, you should stay with me over the summer. By yourself in a house all summer long is utter rubbish!"

Mac looked at her strangely, "Uh, how? I _like_ being by myself."

"Oh come on, you can't honestly believe that. No one likes being by themselves, why do you think they hang around other people so much?" Hermione replied with her infinite wisdom. "Well, if you'd like, we could try on all the clothes here and make a show about it…" she added, trying to change the subject, seeing how slightly uncomfortable Mac was feeling.

For once Mac smile, though it was small, "I'd like that. And I've got the right thing to make this _really_ fun." Mac took out her wand and with a flick of her wrist, playful, fun dancing music started to play throughout the store!

Hermione beamed with excitement as she grabbed Mac's wrist and the two went racing through the sea of clothes. Grabbing as much as they could carry, the two girls hopped into a dressing room and started showing off what they had picked out and how they put it together. First to go was Hermione, dressed in a nice, short, cocktail dress that was completely black on one half and black and white striped on the other with a single shoulder strap. To go with the dress, she put on long black gloves, green tights and put her hair up in a messy bun. The sixteen year old strutted out of the dressing room with her lips pursed, a serious look, one arm folded in and the other hanging out like a guy was supposed to take it. Mac was next. She threw open the curtain and posed against the threshold of her dressing room wearing a cute white sundress with bunched black trim. Her boots thumped against the wood floors as she put on a matching sun hat, and tilted her head down with her hand holding one side of the rim. She struck another pose when she came up to Hermione, some of her multi-colored hair falling over her eyes. The two girls erupted with laughter as they turned around to try on more clothes.

A couple of students passed by and noticed the girls rocking out to the music that came from nowhere while they tried on dresses. They stopped and stared as the girls continued on without noticing their audience. Mac drew the curtain and walked out wearing a pitch black Lolita like dress. Its long sleeves led to a square neck line, which led to a fitted top and slightly rounded out bottom. With black lace sown to the hem of the sleeves and skirt, the only other part that was lace was what separated the black fabric from the deep, dark crimson fabric. Hermione followed after her in a pink, floral print princess like dress. With a square neck line, puffed sleeves, layered skirt and added pink lace trim, the brunette looked positively stunning in her dress. They struck a couple of poses before running back to change into something new. By now a small crowd had gathered to watch them show off the many dresses they had selected; which the girls were still unaware of. The crowd even included some of the teachers that were tagging along.

When the two had finished their play, the crowd dispersed of its people and the girls were left on chairs, laughing at their fun. Their laughter died down a bit as Ron and Harry entered the shop to see about their own clothes and check in on the girls. Pressed together, still giggling, they went to get out of the dresses and put on their own clothes while the boys looked around.

"Is that really all you're getting? That tiny piece of fabric." Hermione questioned as she noticed what Mac was buying.

Blue eyes looked down at the fabric she was handing the clerk to wrap up and bag, "Yeah. It's all I need for the dress I already have."

It didn't take long for the night of the ball to come. A week went by fast at Hogwarts, especially for older students due to the sheer amount of work they had to do. That entire day was filled with nothing but chatter about the dance and last minute dates being set up. Mac, on the other hand, didn't think about it. Everything for her was completely set and ready to have someone or something ruin her night somehow, like she knew it would be. Lately it seemed that nothing wanted to go right in her life. Why? She didn't know and probably never would. Finishing up some homework in the library with Harry, she helped him finish and then the two left. Walking down the halls together, Harry was constantly glancing over at her like a nervous puppy.

"What is it Harry?" she asked, finally getting fed up with the staring.

"Well, I was wondering…" he paused and suddenly seemed to become even more nervous. "That is if you want to. I was wondering if you would go to the ball with me?"

"Harry," Mac stopped suddenly; Harry had to double back when he realized she had. "Why don't you just ask Ginny? We all know you like her…except maybe Ron," she paused again, blinking with a curious look before she began walking again, "Which is a little frightening if you think about it."

"Well you see, I would. It's just that…that she's already going with Dean," he answered as he jogged to keep up with her.

The two reached the common room and Mac spun around to face him, walking backwards, "Sorry Harry, but I'm not going with anyone." She gave him a friendly smirk and shrugged her shoulders as she jogged up the steps to the girl's dormitory.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked as she ran into Mac coming up the stairs.

"Hm?" she looked at her curiously before realizing what she was talking about. "Oh, nothing."

Finally, as the time for the ball drew closer and closer in time, both Hermione and Mac began dressing for the event. Of course, not wanting to ruin their hair or make-up, the girls got dressed first. Mac pulled out a short dress made from different colors of blue. Slipping into it, feet first, she wiggled it up her body and secured it around her bust. The strapless blue dress had fabric that over lapped, ruche on her left side to create a large bow, covered head to toe in glittering garnish and stopped mid thigh. Her two sparrow tattoos on her chest were visible for the first time since she arrived at Hogwarts, but Hermione didn't say anything about them. Pulling the item she bought from Gladrags, she tore off the price tag and slipped it on over her shoulders. The dark blue sheer fabric made her shoulders and arms look blue as it hugged her upper body. The bell sleeves hung low and just like the dress, it sparkled. Black tights were slipped over her legs as she slid her feet into dark blue heels. The entire outfit made her look like the night sky against the moonlight; it was a very unique look. Wanting to go with a different look from her Yule Ball dress, Hermione took out the eye popping number she bought at the same shop.

Mac came up behind her to zip up the black, jersey one shoulder dress with an illusion back and front slit. Against her figure, Hermione looked like a sexy brunette goddess! Her curls fell against her back as she let go of her hair that she had moved so Mac could zip up the back. Mac had to admit that she looked damn good! It was a look that she should do more often than she does. Hermione slipped on a pair of black sling back heels and a silver bracelet then moved over to a mirror to do her hair and make-up. Mac only put on a small amount, just to make her natural beauty stand out more before she grabbed her wand.

"What are you using that for?" the brunette asked as she began applying eyeliner.

She glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye as she stared at the mirror, "My hair is too noticeable. I don't want to be noticeable." Waving the wood above her head, she got rid of her dye job and changed it to a reddish blonde; just for the night.

"Why don't you want to be noticed?" Hermione asked, now moving onto the eye shadow.

"Hm, well with the way I acted a few days ago…Freaking out at Draco and all, I don't want to be the butt of jokes sitting by myself tonight," she answered with a shrug as she picked up the silver eye mask lying on her bed.

Finishing up her make-up, Hermione agreed, reluctantly, with her and picked up her own mask. Putting it on, hers was simple and black to match her dress and made her look like an elegantly sexy heroine; it suited her. Mac's mask was a simple silver with pointed ends and fit snugly over the bridge of her nose. Once she put it on she fixed her hair into a messy half up do; which looked really nice with hair framing her face. The last thing she put on was a sky blue snowflake choker and the two were descending the spiral stairs. Arm in arm, they strode through the common room and headed towards the Great Hall for the Masquerade Ball. As they walked through the halls, there were light Valentine's Day decorations on the walls but nothing was like the decorated Great Hall! The enchanted ceiling was a dusty rose, swirled with a little orange and purple to make it look like a sunset while the lights were floating, flaming hearts. Enchanted roses hung on the walls while their petals lightly sprinkled the floor, never running out of petals. Everything was different shades of reds and pinks to signify the holiday; one Mac never cared for.

Hermione and Mac wandered into the Great Hall and up to Harry and Ron. "You look nice," Harry said, throwing a slightly uncomfortable point her way.

"Yeah, nice…" Ron added nervously. Both of them taking obvious note of Hermione's choice of dress.

She smiled and blushed a little, "Thanks."

"Hermione, who's that?" Harry asked curiously, obviously not recognizing her.

Hermione looked at Mac then back to the boys, "Guys, this is Mac!"

They looked at her. There was no way that the girl standing next to Hermione could be Mac! She looked too much like a girl, while Mac…well kind of didn't. "Are you sure?" Ron asked, looking like he didn't believe her.

"Yeah well it is," she spoke up, slightly annoyed. "All I did was change my hair. Well I guess I know now that I won't be recognized."

"Why change your hair just for a dance?" Ron asked a little confused about why she did it.

She gave him a sharp look, silently telling him he was stupid, "I didn't do it _just for a dance_. I did it so I won't get bothered by people." She lied. There was a long, slightly uncomfortable, pause, "Well, I suppose I have myself some pumpkin juice." Mac walked away from the trio and towards the giant glass bowl of juice.


End file.
