"Oh, stop it!" Marlene giggled.

"Will you two just shut up?" James groaned.

"We're trying to work here," I added.

"Shut up, Prongs," Sirius grumbled.

"You too, Longbottom," Marlene snarked. I gave her a face and stuck out my tongue. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't talk about my sister like that Mikinnon," Frank snapped.

"Hey Frank!" I smiled at him.

"Hey
Riv," he smiled back. Sirius and Marlene went back to Kissing. I rolled
my eyes as the pain came back to my chest. Jinxy, Lily, Alice, Molly,
and Frank were all busy with someone else.

"I'm going to find Sev, Tonks, or-" I smirked,"Reg." The snogging sounds stopped. I walked out.

Luckily,
I found Reg standing around with the Slytherin people. They were
laughing. I needed to get to the Great Hall to find Sev or Tonks, but
that ment I had to go past them. I closed my eyes and breathed in,
before walking past them, holding tight to my bag.

"Look, guys! Prey!" One of them shouted. They surrounded me, except Reg, who held back.

"Where you off to, Longbottom?" Bellitrix sneered.

"The great hall," I said proudly, my head held high.

"Ohhh! The great hall!" Narcissa squealed. My hands trembled slightly.

"She's afraid. How sweet," Luscious pouted.

"She's not afraid. She doesn't know what fear is," Rabastan laughed.

"You don't know what fear is, until you've been in my shoes," I glared at them.

"Someone's feisty,"Rodulphus smirked.

"She's
a pretty one. To bad we'll mess her up so badly that she won't be
recognizable," Avery cracked his knuckles. The courage I had seconds
ago, disappearted. First, they tugged off My beg, snapping the handle.
They threw it, leaving the books, quills, and ink strewn everywhere. I
gasped.

"No," I whispered.

"Somebody's sentimental!" They all roared in laughter. I blushed. Luscious shoved me. I fell to the ground.

"Where's
your big brother now, Longbottom? He's not going to help you. He won't
even be able to here you scream," snarled Bellitrix. They all pulled out
their wands. I caught Reg's eye. He as furious. I shook my head, trying
to tell him not to say anything.

"Cruic-"

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Reg yelled. All of them turned to him.

"What?" Rabastan glared at him.

"I
said, don't touch her," he walked over to me, and stood in front of me.
I tried to push him out of the way, but he wouldn't move.

"You can't actually like This blood-traitor," Narcissa scoffed.

"Don't call her that," Reg pulled out his wand.

"Reg, don't-"

"She even has a nickname for you!" Rodulphus laughed.

"What do you call her? Cupcake?" Avery joined in.

"River," he said. They all fell over laughing. He grabbed my stuff.

"Reparo," he handed me my bag.

"Go," he said.

"They'll hurt you," I pleaded.

"Nah. I'll reason with them. Go. Before they can breath again," he pushed me forward. I bit my lip and ran to the Great Hall.

"Thanks Reg," I whispered. I walked in and saw Tonks sitting alone at the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey Tonks," I smiled, setting myself and my stuff across from her.

"Hey Rain!" She beamed up at me. Her hair turned yellow. I tilted my head.

"Happiness. Yellow is happy," she laughed.

"Do you not have any other friends to sit with?" I asked. She shook her head. I shrugged.

"You've
got me. Which means you've got Jinxy and Lily. Which means you've most
likely got Frank and Molly and Alice and...maybe...even Remus," I winked
at her. Her hair turned pink. I laughed.

"I'm not picking sides, by the way," I plopped some pasta onto my plate.

"What do you mean?" Tonks scowled.

"Between
you and Jinxy. Which one will have Remus in the end," I told her,
rather enjoying my pasta. She nodded. Some people came walking in. I
knew exactly who it was. All friends.

"River, what are you doing
with that Hufflepuff?" Sirius laughed. I turned to him, angry. He had
his arm around Marlene's shoulder.

"Her name happens to be Tonks. And I can sit with whomever I please," I clenched my fists.

"Jeez,
River. No need to get angry," Marlene laughed at Sirius' remark. He
kissed her. Right in front of me. He knew how much I loved him. He knew
it. Then it hit me like a tsunami. He was doing it purposefully. Why?
What would he gain from this? I sat back down, tears sticking to my
eyelashes.

"Rain? Are you ok? You look pale," Tonks put her hand on top of mine. I looked at her.

"I'm...fine," I lied through my teeth. Tonks didn't buy it.

"Padfoot, knock it off. Look how you're effecting her," Remus hissed.

"What?
I love Marlene. I don't see a problem in that," Sirius laughed. I
whimpered. It felt like someone took a sword and stabbed me through the
heart. I inhaled sharply.

"Rain?" Tonks sounded worried. Her hair turned black. Black.

"Can't
breath," I gasped. She ran around the side of the table and grabbed my
hand. She pulled me up, along with my bag. She lead me away.

"Rani?" Jinxy called after us.

"Rain, you're getting really pale," Tonks bit her lip.

"I'm
going to hurl," I choked out. All the pain went away when I saw Reg
laying, not moving, on the ground. His face was bloody and his leg
looked distorted. I screamed. Tonks let out a yelp.

"Tonks! Get help!" I screeched. She nodded and ran off. I knelt next to Reg.

"Reg. Reg, wake up, Reg. Come on buddy, stop playing. Wake up," I shook him. He groaned. I let out my breath. I heard shuffling.

"My!" Professor Sprout exclaimed.

"We need to get him to Madam Pomfrey," Professor MaGonagall ordered. I nodded.

"Miss Tonks, Miss Longbottom, what happened?" She asked, turning to us as some of the teachers took Reg away. Tonks shrugged.

"We were walking the Hospital Wing because Rain wasn't feeling right. Then we found him," Tonks explained. I kept my head low.

"Miss Longbottom, do you have something to say?" Professor M. crossed her arms.

"On
the way to The Great Hall this morning, I got caught up with some kids,
Reg saved me from them. I'm guessing this was them," I didn't look up.

"May I ask, was Miss Black part of this?"She asked. I nodded. She sighed.

"I will talk to them. This...this is unacceptable!" MaGonagall exclaimed, walking away. My eyes wandered to Reg's bleeding body.

"If you want to stay with him, I'll stay too," she smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder. I nodded.

"Thanks Tonks. You really are a great friend," I sat down next to Reg, and Tom is sat next to me.

"What's his name?" She asked, tilting her head at me.

"Regulus. I call him Reg, though," I grabbed his hand.

"He seems important to you," Tonks sighed. I nodded.

"He's helped me through a lot," I smiled at the memories. Soon, Tonks fell asleep, and so did I.

A
few weeks later, after Reg was out of the Hospital Wing, Lils and I
were wandering aimlessly around. We talked and talked. I told her about
Tonks. Lils decided she wanted to meet her, so we started walking back
up to the castle. Someone grabbed me from behind.

"Let her go!" Lils shouted, only to be grabbed as well. It was Avery.

"Let go of her,Avery," I growled, struggling against my captors grip.

"Calm down, River,"he whispered in my ear. It was Reg.

"Reg! Let me go!" I twisted, but to no prevail.

"Rani?" Lils muttered. Avery pulled her closer to him, making me struggle harder.

"Rani,
stop. Think Of this as devil's snare. The more you struggle the more
his grip-" Lils was cut off when Avery smashed his face into hers. I
gasped. Lils struggled to push Avery away, but he wouldn't budge. She
tried to hit him with her fists, but he grabbed them and held the away.
Lils glanced at me. Her face was so full of pain, it hurt me.

I
felt fury flow through my veins, as my blood began to boil and my skin
started to crawl. Reg let out a gasp, as I shrunk to the floor. Reg was
6inches taller than me. I turned my attention towards Avery, who was
forcibly snogging my best friend, which didn't help my mood. I leapt at
him. I caught a glimpse of my...arms? They had turned thinner and furry,
with paws at the ends. I landed on Avery, and he was pushed back and
away from Lily, who let out a yelp. Avery and I tumbled along for a
while, before I stopped us from moving any further. I tried to tell him
not to touch my friends, but It came out as a bark. I was confused.
Avery looked terribly afraid. I snapped my jaws at him. Well, I guessed I
had jaws, which I was luckily right. Reg pulled me off (with a lot of
strength) and he and Avery ran away.

"Rani?" Lils stepped closer to me, nervously. I trotted over to her. She laughed gently and pet my head.

We
walked over to the Black Lake. I looked reflection in the Lake. My fur
was the same red as my hair, and my eyes the same icy blue with speckled
sliver/grey. I was definitely not a dog. I was a pretty big
wolf. Big enough for someone to ride on. I wasn't ashamed of what I was,
though I was entirely confused, as was Lily. Laying next to me, were my
thick, black, glasses. Lils Sat next to me (not on my glasses). She
pulled her legs up to her chest. I lay down next to her.

"Thanks for saving me Rani," She whispered. I nudged her with my muzzle. She smiled falsely and patted my head.

"Good doggy," she cooed. I growled.

"Sorry," she rolled her eyes. "Good wolfie," she did the same thing. I snorted with a nod of my head.

"Hey Evans! Nice dog!