EIGHTEEN BLUE HAWAII

♡

       MORNINGS AFTER FULL MOONS aren't always particularly eventful, however they always consist of bones needing to be cracked, but the fear of splitting apart scabs stops Remus Lupin from moving his limbs around in circular motions to make the bones click. They normally also feature a slow trudge from Gryffindor tower to the Great Hall, where he plants himself at his house's table and makes himself eat a good breakfast.

       By 'good breakfast' he means the sort that his mum makes on Sunday mornings. Ones with black pudding and fried eggs, the kind that's a plateful and a nightmare to wolf — ha — down before lessons start, but it's the right thing to do, surely? Full moons are terrible, from sunset to dawn. He's under the impression that a hearty breakfast is the right thing to refuel, once the sunshine has pushed away the moonlight.

       Yesterday wasn't a full moon, but he still feels the need to eat something with a little more protein and all of those nutrient things his dad goes on about. The scabs to deep scratches are still making it impossible to contort and stretch and make his bones click. Sometimes a full moon is a little worse than other times, but this one wasn't just oh, someone staggered out from The Hog's Head and towards the Shrieking Shack, was close enough for Remus to become aware of it, and the only way to stop him from going after him was for his friends to trick him into hurting himself, to distract him whilst a kind rat turned into a panicked teenaged boy and pulled the drunk wizard to safety.

       This one began with one exam last. He could almost taste the ice-lollies that the summer holidays brought, as he made his way to the Shrieking Shack. This full moon wasn't meant to be out of the ordinary — but, then they're never planned to be different, are they?

       The full moon two nights ago began feeling hopeful, starting a little later than usual due to the nature of summertime, and it ended fine, he thought, until he returned to his senses and his friends told him that, "You managed to escape last night... We lost you for a little while, but nothing could've happened, don't worry, Moony..."

       And then a girl in his year was found dead. "Emily Murphy's passed away..." From a werewolf attack.

       The way his stomach dropped to the depths of the earth, the way his stomach twisted into knots and his heart stopped. It was him. Surely it was him. No other werewolves are near, Dumbledore's made that incredibly clear over the years. If a werewolf was responsible for the deaths, then it must have been him.

      His friends are convinced otherwise. They're sewing stories about other werewolves living out in the woods, the packs where the children don't have a wizard form. For years Dumbledore's mentioned that, but it's always felt weird to Remus, the way it's been dropped into conversations. As if these other werewolves — these werewolves he's never acquainted, which surely, he would have done over the years — only appear when something gruesome has happened. As if they're just lies presented to cover up for him, the one that must've done this.

       Remus tries to eat his breakfast. Eventually he gets some toast down his throat, but he feels sick still. At one point he tried to eat black pudding, but he remembered that it was mostly blood, and then his brain jumped to what Dumbledore had said last night at the urgent assembly, where he announced that Emily Murphy had been found dead. Prongs took the black pudding off his plate and ate it instead.

       Padfoot plants himself on part of the bench next to Remus, grabbing one of the slices of toast immediately to butter. He glances over at the Slytherin table for the second time that day, which for Padfoot, is completely out of the ordinary. The entire world feels like it is in shambles. Everything feels different now, ever since Dumbledore announced Emily Murphy's death, ever since Remus started seeing himself as a true monster. He's not just a werewolf once a month — he's murdered someone. No, not murder. Murder makes him sound humanlike. Kill implies a monster was at fault, and that's what happened. A monster was at fault. He was at fault.

       Merlin, Briar thinks. Her dad isn't a monster...?

       "So I just spoke to her."

       The girl in question is Laurel Crouch, which for Remus, makes things worse. Laurel's known his best friend Padfoot for longer than he or the other two marauders have. Remus thinks that they're the sort of childhood friends that feel like siblings, or maybe cousins. They don't talk often. Normally Laurel's hidden away in the library, or at her own common room. Or maybe even her dorm room, you know, the one she shared with Emily Murphy.

       That's the reason why bringing up Laurel makes everything worse for Remus. She knew Emily Murphy. Remus can't pinpoint a time where he had any sort of conversation with Emily, or even just asking if they had homework whilst waiting to be let into a classroom. But Laurel knew her.

       "She wants to know what happened," says Padfoot, biting into his toast. Remus can feel his stomach drop. Someone's going to find out eventually. Someone was bound to be close enough to Emily Murphy to ask what actually happened to her, why she was dead. Really, Remus isn't clear as to why she was in the forest, but he knows why she's dead. Because he got loose during the full moon and killed her. Mauled, that's what the newspapers are saying. That sounds even worse... He didn't kill her, he mauled her. That's more appropriate. Kill still has connotations of a human hurting another human, and that wasn't what happened. A monster mauled a human. He mauled her.

       Prongs contorts his face, thinking. "Well, what's she going to find out?" he says. He reaches across the table and nudges Remus' forearm, trying to assure him. "You obviously didn't do it. Come on, Moony."

       Wormtail nods. "Sure, we lost you," he says. Begins. He pauses as both Padfoot and Prongs look at him, frowning, warning. Don't make him believe the truth. "But we didn't lose you for that long. From what people are saying, she was found with cuts all over. You couldn't have done that in the few minutes we lost you."

       Prongs nods in agreement, pointing his fork at Remus. He's eating with his mouth open, which is normally a sign that he's thinking about other things, and can't remember to also chew with his mouth closed. "It wouldn't have been you, anyway," he says. "You wouldn't hurt anyone, even if you were a little furrier."

       "Nice way to put it," says Remus, rolling his eyes.

       "You wouldn't!" says Prongs. "You're too nice."

       "Not when I'm like that," says Remus.

       "You still didn't kill anyone, though," says Sirius. "Moony, for fuck's sakes, you stepped on a ladybird the other day and apologised to it. Fucking hell, you didn't kill someone."

       "But how do you know—?"

       "Because you wouldn't hurt a fly!" says Wormtail. He throws his hands up, and he's starting to look exasperated. A frown still sits on Remus' face, because he's still incredibly unconvinced. Emily Murphy is dead. Because of him.

       The morning goes terribly. Every lesson consists of Remus sitting at his desk, next to one of his friends, with a frown on his face and his hand holding his head up. He begins to think that his face is going to be a frown for the rest of his life, because not only has he mauled someone, but no one thinks it was him. He wishes that he'd get punished for it. He wants to say sorry to her family before going to Azkaban. He wants someone to call him a piece of shit for being a werewolf, because he is. He's a piece of shit. A killer. A monster.

       The lesson before lunch is History of Magic, which Gryffindor has with Ravenclaw. The marauders have had the back of the classroom claimed since first year, so it's easy for them to zone out and mess about without getting spotted. It's also a couple rows behind where Lily Evans and her friends sit, which for Prongs, is handy, because it means he can spend the lesson gazing dreamily at her.

       Remus looks at the front of the classroom, where Laurel Crouch and her friends are. He feels sick to his stomach. Padfoot kept on going on about confused she was about the whole thing, and Remus knows that it's his fault. Two days ago, she was beaming proudly and saying how happy she was with her exams, and now, she doesn't even look like she's enjoying school. Laurel Crouch isn't enjoying learning. Remus has broken her. Killed her, too.

       When the lesson ends, he can't help it. He gathers his books as quickly as possible, manically shoving them into his bag as Laurel walks past, and out of the classroom.

       "Moony, what—?"

       But he's already out and in the hallway, brushing past the other students making their way towards the Great Hall to grab sandwiches, and to have a picnic outside with their friends. Remus catches up to Laurel as she goes to walk outside, one of her friends shouting over at her, promising to grab some cheese sandwiches for her. He tries his best to smile at her, but he's out of breath, and he feels like shit, so.

       "Uh, hi," he says.

       "Hello," says Laurel. She glances at him, and frowns. "Has Sirius done something?"

       "No," says Remus. But it makes sense, considering every time they've spoken before, it was because Padfoot wanted to prove something could be possible with the rest spells, and questioned Laurel in hopes her answer would make his argument superior. The last time that had happened, it was a couple months ago, and Padfoot had told her to prove that no one would go near the Whomping Willow, especially at night. And, before that, it had been one year before, when Padfoot had asked her if making a map of the school would be possible.

       "You just looked a little quiet in History," he says. Is he lying? He did notice that she was acting differently in the lesson, and even now, she looks a little quieter, he supposes. Less energetic. He knows why she's less bouncy and happy as she normally is, but it isn't just because she was quiet in a lesson. Her friend died. Because of him. And he feels guilty. He hates the idea that he made someone upset. "I just wondered—"

       "I don't understand what she was doing there," says Laurel. She takes a seat at a log someone must've moved to nicely face the lake. Her brows are furrowed, and Remus hesitates for a minute, before he sits down next to her. "Why was she in the forest? Why the fuck would she be in the forest, or anywhere near for a werewolf to find her? I don't get it."

       Remus tries to think of something reassuring, tries to remember everything he's heard from his friends over the past few hours, but nothing seems to fit. So instead he nods. "It's strange, yeah," he says.

       "I just wish that someone knew what happened, and why," she says. Remus is tempted to spurt out everything he knows, and apologise until his tongue falls out. The guilt gnawing at his stomach is too much. He didn't just hurt one person. Death never hurts just one person. Death affects everyone that's ever known the person. He's hurt so many people. Emily Murphy's parents might only have one child, and look, he fucking mauled her. What are they going to do? What if this breaks their marriage, what if they do have other children, and they're so fucking upset, because their sister is dead. What if she has a sibling that's young enough to still be at home this time of year, and they don't understand death yet, and they don't understand why their parents are crying their eyes out, or why their big sister won't be coming back?

       Even just Laurel. He barely knows her but he knows that she's upset. Because of him. He's done this.

       "Maybe the teachers will find out—"

       Laurel shakes her head. "They've already shoved it under the rug," she says. She looks at him, and a look of disgust is plastered across her face. "By the way they're acting, it's as if the monster is a fucking student... But they wouldn't bother finding out, anyway, would they?" Remus shrugs. He tries to relax, because he knows for certain he froze when she said as if the monster is a fucking student. Thank fuck she had looked away by that point. "They're too busy with students becoming Death Eaters... Fucking hell, surely it isn't that difficult to find out what happened to Emily, surely there's some sort of chain of events that—"

       She stops. He frowns. For a minute she's deadly silent, her eyes narrow as she frowns at a patch of sandy grass in front of them, the only noise coming from the third years messing about nearer to the lake water.

       "It wouldn't be rocket science to find out what happened to her," says Laurel. She turns to him. Her eyes go from narrowed, with furrowed brows above, to bright, like a light bulb is sitting above her head. There's a strange twinkle in her eyes. "She fell out with her friends a while back but they might know something — and I'm sure she kept every letter she ever received..."

       "Laurel—"

       She puts her hands on his. She looks excited.

       "I know what to do," she tells him. "I can figure this out, I can figure out why!"

       Remus isn't sure what to do, what to say. He can still feel the guilt in his stomach, whereas she looks over the moon. Finally he replies, and says, "I can help, if you want."

       He mauled Emily Murphy. He's the reason why Laurel's upset, why she wants to find out why it all happened. So, surely, he should try and help her get through this, because it's his fault. This was because of him. He needs to make things right, even if it ends with her finding out about what his friends call his furry little secret. They don't know each other that well. And if she ends up hating him because of it, then that's his own fault for hurting someone in the first place.

       "Really?" says Laurel. Remus nods back at her, and a small smile creeps onto her face. "So, wanna solve a murder?"

       And then the vision cuts out, and Briar's back to present day.

♡

       WHEN BRIAR SNAPS OUT OF IT, there's a brief moment where she's sitting there, in shock, sitting opposite Madame Maxime. Normally after visions like that — the ones that take over her senses — she ends up fainting, or vomiting, or having some sort of reaction. But not today. Instead she feels even more wired, her head stirring in shock. She saw her mum! She doesn't feel happy, which feels weird to her — instead it upsets her, because seeing her mum makes her think, I wish I had met her. Briar's always wished she could've met her mum, or at least have an actual memory of her. She's seen the photos, but she doesn't remember her mum in the slightest... And she hates it.

       Briar ends up leaving early, and she ends up finding Livvy, then Fleur, and then Fred, George, and Lee, telling them what happened. It sounds silly, how she found everyone important to her, exclaiming about how she's had the best lesson. It's only a vision. But to Briar it feels like the world, because to Briar, this is the first time she's ever even heard her mum speak.

       Friday night is an early night for Briar, the energy spent on the vision beginning to take its toll. The full moon happens to fall on Sunday night, too, which could have something to do with it. Fleur also ends up going to bed early, so it doesn't make much of a difficulty, in terms of the light being on or anything; the Second Task is on the Sunday, and Fleur's at the point where she's prepared, sure, just nervous. Incredibly nervous. Not to mention the extra training she's been putting herself through.

       The next morning Briar gets herself ready, and weirdly enough, she feels butterflies in her stomach. She doesn't know why, because by now, she's been going out with Fred for two months, and they've been best friends for years before that. There's no reason for Briar to feel nervous about them going on a date, is there? But, here she is, applying her makeup with a shaky hand, and spending an extra ten minutes finding an outfit.

       Eventually she settles on a black pleated skirt, a white turtleneck, her pink winter coat that cuts off at her waist, and then her black suede thigh-high boots — her argument is if she wears those boots, then she doesn't have to wriggle into a pair of tights, which sure, isn't the best way to deal with the winter cold, but look, Briar spends five days of the week without wearing tights, since black ones would look weird against the baby-blue of her school uniform, but rather white socks that sit just above her knee, so what's the difference? Well... Besides the fact that, arguably, her suede thigh-highs are a lot cuter than socks.

       She meets Fred outside of the hall, where he smiles at her. "You look pretty," he tells her, as she goes to hug him, standing on her tiptoes to reach. "Well, you always do, I've just gotten used to you wearing your school uniform..."

       Briar shrugs, understanding. "That fabric doesn't flatter anyone," she says, incredibly sincerely, as she steps back, taking hold of his hand. "So, you said you had somewhere special in mind...?"

       "Oh, I do," says Fred, looking confident in himself.

       "Are you gonna tell me?"

       "It's a surprise."

       "I'm psychic, Freddie," says Briar, with an odd look on her face.

       Fred glances at her, still smug, as if he knows wherever they're going, she's going to be happy by it. Briar remembers this look, from when he asked her to the ball. She thinks it's sweet.

       "Can you not look into the future, please?" he says. "I want to see your face, when you realise... It's not that big of a deal, it's just a café, but I'd rather eat a spider than go in there, but I know that you really like it, so..."

       Briar thinks about every café in Hogsmeade, every single one off of the beaten track, from the shitty pizza place to Madam Puddifoots... Madam Puddifoots?

       "Madam Puddifoots?" she says, raising an eyebrow.

       Fred pauses, before he gives in, and nods. "Well, I remember how much you said you'd love to go on a date there..."

       "But I thought you hated it? I thought George and Lee and the rest of your family would take the piss if you ever went—?"

       "Well, they'll try, but you know what?" says Fred, and he glances across at her. She's still in a state of surprise, her eyes wider than usual. "I don't really care what they think... You're my girlfriend and you've always wanted to go here. So I'm going to take you."

       "I—This is what causes teen pregnancies, Freddie!"

       Fred laughs. "Don't tell Mum that."

       Briar begins to laugh, as well. "I'm gonna be honest, Freddie, I'm gonna let you tell your mum about us."

       "So kind of you," he says sarcastically.

       She grins. "I know, right?"

       And he starts to laugh again.

       "This is really sweet, though," she tells him, her smile softer now.

       Fred shrugs at Briar, kissing her lightly. "Anything for you."

       She can feel her cheeks burning, as the two of them walk into the café. She smiles at Madam Puddifoot, who's behind the counter. There's a couple of people being served, two girls holding hands, and Briar looks around, where most of the tables have been taken up. When she's been with Fleur before, it's normally not that busy — mostly kids from school having an awkward first date, because halfway through their friends will come up to the window and start laughing. Which is annoying, Briar thinks, when she's sitting there, wanting to gossip with Fleur about the not-so nice people that live in the carriage with them, and some idiot fourth-years are having a field day because their best mate is trying to take someone out. Merlin.

       There's a display case for the nineteen different cakes, next to the counter. The labels for each one are written in French, although it's easy to figure out what each cake is; the brown one's chocolate, the white one with orange carrots stuck on top is carrot cake, and in one corner there are different pastries. Briar's already eyeing one of the croissants (it's basic, she knows, but the ones here are so good, especially when you've been eating the school ones all week) as the couple in front, now a boy and a girl, are ordering chocolate cake.

       Fred glances across at Briar. "What do you fancy, then?"

       Briar grins mischievously. "You," she says, and she starts to laugh. No one hears, so she doesn't really care; if anything, she finds it funny how he looks at her, as if to say, I made one joke... "I'll have a croissant, and uh... hot chocolate. The hot chocolate here's good." She looks ahead, at the look across Madam Puddifoots face, as the boy in front badly pronounces the French labelling, and she turns to Fred. "Do you want me to order?"

       "I can," he says. "It's fine, Bri, I won't make a fool out of myself saying croissant. Done it many times before, you know." Briar rolls her eyes. "And anyway, I'm paying for both of us, so."

       Briar frowns. "As long as I pay next time."

       "Absolutely," says Fred, in a way that means the complete opposite.

       "Fred," says Briar, frowning.

       "What? I agreed."

       "No you didn't."

       The boy and the girl in front walk away, and they walk up to the cash register. Madam Puddifoot already notices Briar, a smile spreading across her face as her eyes land upon her. "Briar!" she says, and she Apparates to the customer side of the counter, to kiss Briar's cheeks. She Apparates back, to where she had been before, smiling warmly. "Is this your boyfriend?" She speaks in French, and Briar can already tell Fred's confused. Bless.

       "Oh, yeah," says Briar, speaking in English.

       Madam Puddifoot looks Fred up and down, and Briar can't help but smile. "I haven't seen you in so long, Briar!" she says, as she turns back to her. She's talking in English now, which makes Briar a little happier. Like, sure, she likes the fact that if she speaks to Fleur in French the twins don't understand so they can't overhear, but right now, there's nothing that Fred shouldn't know. It would make her feel bad, leaving him out... Anyway. "When did you two start dating, then? Oh — is this the boy you had been talking about?"

       Briar's cheeks start to burn again. "Yep."

       Fred looks happy with himself.

       "Uh, we went to the ball together, and, uh, yeah," says Briar, suddenly wanting to cut this short. Fred's already having a field day with 'Is this the boy you had been talking about?' Could you imagine, what would happen if he knew what she said? She'd never hear the end of it. "It's really busy today..."

       "It always is, on Valentine's Day," says Madam Puddifoot. She smiles warmly, as she looks around. "It's so lovely, seeing love!" She clasps her hands together for a moment, and then she lets go, her hands falling back to her sides. "Would you like to order?"

       "Uh, please," says Briar.

       Fred orders and pays for the two of them, Briar making a mental note to make sure that he doesn't pay, the next time. She'll trick him into it, if she has to, but she feels bad, letting him pay. She knows for him, it's part of making it special, because she's always wanted to go on a date here, but still.

       They sit down at a table. Fred's still got a smug smile across his face, and as she shrugs off her coat, he says, "So you talked about me?"

       "To Fleur, yeah," says Briar, rolling her eyes. "I mean, I can tell you talked to George and Lee about me... Considering how pissed off they looked." She smiles at Fred.

       Fred shrugs. "You know what, when both of them get actual feelings for someone they'll get it," he tells her. The croissant's arrive, magically appearing on the table along with the hot chocolate, and she starts to butter hers. "This place isn't that bad, actually... Not exactly the Three Broomsticks, but it's all right..."

       "You haven't even tried the croissants," says Briar.

       He takes a bite of his, and his eyes widen, as he looks up at her.

       "Oh, yeah," she says with a grin.

       "So what's that town near Beauxbatons like?" he says, with a mouthful of croissant.

       "It's the best! Muggles live in part of it, but that just means there are more things to do," says Briar, eating the whipped cream off the top of her hot chocolate. "The magical streets are just hidden, but they're all so beautiful, you'll love it! There are little cafes and pubs and there's some really nice shops." She pauses, as if to make sure this is actually interesting to him. He smiles back at her, and she thinks, aw. "There isn't a joke shop, though. There's a toy shop with joke products, but not a joke shop... Maybe once Wheezes is super successful you could venture into international markets."

       "Only if you'll speak for us," says Fred.

       "Definitely," says Briar, grinning.

♡

       WHEN THEY GET BACK TO SCHOOL, it isn't exactly dark, but then the two of them decide to spend the rest of the day together, so it doesn't make that much difference anyway. Fleur's busy training for the second task tomorrow, so Briar sneaks Fred back into the carriage, into the dorm room — OK, look. You can't blame Briar for wanting to make out with her boyfriend.

       She's got one of her Fleetwood Mac records playing, mostly so that no one outside can hear a boy's voice in a girl's dorm room. Unlike Gryffindor Tower there isn't an actual restriction magically put in place, like with the staircase that turns into a slide when a boy tries to go up it, but Briar still knows she'd get into trouble if Madame Maxime realised that not only did Briar have a boy in her dorm room, but also, she was straddling him on her bed, not doing anything, but still making out... A lot...

        Her inner eye tells her that Madame Maxime's going to knock at the door, and it begins to count down. Immediately Briar's eyes widen and she pulls away from Fred, who had been kissing her neck. He frowns. "Did I—?"

       "No, Maxime's about to knock on the door," says Briar, and she climbs off of him. He jumps up, as she straightens her skirt. "Hide in the bathroom?"

       "Why's Maxime coming in here, anyway?" he says, standing next to the bathroom door, looking unimpressed.

       "I don't know?" says Briar. "All I know is that she's gonna, and she would've murdered us if she saw us doing anythi—!"

       There's a knock at the door. Briar opens the bathroom door, and shoves Fred through it, closing the door. She opens the door leading into the dorm room, taking the needle off the record, halfway through Big Love, which is a shame. Briar smiles politely at Madame Maxime.

       "Hi, Madame Maxime..."

       "Hello, Briar," says Maxime. She looks a little bit worried, which is concerning for Briar, to say the least. "Is it all right if I speak to you, about the second task tomorrow? It is rather urgent, to say the least..."

       "Oh, uh, sure," she says, nodding.

       Madame Maxime gestures, wanting Briar to leave the room with her, and Briar thinks, Oh dear God I've left Fred stranded? Oh no oh no oh no. She's taken to Maxime's office, and if it wasn't for her saying this was about the tournament, Briar would've thought that maybe someone noticed Fred sneaking in, and maybe this was about that... Apparently not, though...

       When they get into the office, she's told to take a seat, and Madame Maxime begins to explain. How the second task is in the lake, and involves mermaids — Briar nods, already knowing this thanks to Fleur — and how every champion is supposed to have something to save. She's told how there's an age restriction, as to how old these things to save can be: fourteen, apparently, based upon the age restriction for the Yule Ball. Briar figures this thing must not be as dangerous as the tournament itself, because if the age restriction for this is fourteen and above, whilst the tournament itself is seventeen up, then obviously this isn't that dangerous.

       And, then, Madame Maxime turns the conversation exactly where Briar thought it was going — "I would like you to be Fleur's thing to save." Briar agrees, thinking, why not? The full moon isn't until tomorrow, she'll be all right doing this. Maxime's already made sure it will be. She hasn't told anyone that, she reassures Briar, but she's made sure it's safe for Briar, considering what tomorrow night's going to be for her.

       So it's all going to be fine.

       Briar's put to sleep after changing into her school uniform, feeling like she's really living up to the name Sleeping Beauty, as she drifts off. She dreams of weddings and the summertime and the song You Can Never Tell by Chuck Berry — and then, like that, her eyes open and she's rising to the surface of the lake, gasping for air when she gets to the surface.

       She looks to her side, where instead of Fleur, it's Harry and Ron. Briar raises an eyebrow at them. "Uh, hi?" she says.

       "Fleur didn't finish," says Harry.

       Briar's eyes widen. "Is she hurt?"

       "Oh, yeah, she's fine," says Harry. "She just... didn't finish."

       "Oh," says Briar, and already she feels bad for her best friend, thinking, she's going to beat herself up for this. She swims to the shore, hoping she can comfort Fleur as much as she can before it's night-time, but already the toll of the day of the full moon's crashing down onto her, making her feel light-headed as she's given a towel, and Fleur hugs her tightly, crying.

       "I am so sorry, Briar!" says Fleur. "I wanted to go back for you, I'm so sorry—!"

       Briar smiles at her. "It's fine," she says, and she turns to Harry. "Uh, thanks, Harry, by the way..."

       "Yes! Thank you!" says Fleur, and she jumps to her feet. She hugs Harry, too, who looks incredibly surprised by this, and she kisses his cheeks. He starts to blush, which makes Briar smile to herself. Fleur thanks Ron as well — who doesn't just blush, but goes bright red, to the point that when the twins sneak into the champions' area, Fred hugging Briar from behind, the twins start snickering.

       The results are announced, but Briar feels herself getting dizzier. Her inner eye starts echoing in her ears, not saying anything of importance, just small, random predictions. One second she's being warned about the Astronomy Tower in a couple of years' time, and the next, it's something to do with a day in May... Briar doesn't know, all she knows is that the predictions only become clear when Fred puts a hand on her, checking she's OK, and she starts to see his future and she freaks out, stepping away. "My inner eye's acting up, I don't wanna see your future, Freddie..." she says quickly, struggling to keep herself standing.

       Fleur returns to her side; Briar doesn't know this because she can see her, but rather, the second Fleur holds onto her, she starts to see her best friend's future, instead. "Briar, it's fine if you see mine, you need to leave," she says, sternly enough that Briar just nods.

       "What about the results?"

       "I've lost, it doesn't matter, you're more important," says Fleur. Briar still can't see her, though. She can only hear her voice because the vision's have become more clear, now that she's seeing Fleur hold a baby. "Uh, Fred, George, it's getting late, don't bother."

       "But—!"

       "I'm fine," says Briar.

       Fleur guides Briar through the crowds, presumably to take her to the dorm room, or maybe the Shrieking Shack early. There's no point taking her to the hospital wing, she'll be forced to stay overnight and then what? Madam Pomfrey will find out, as will anyone else in the hospital wing... Briar can't let that happen...

       As they move through the crowd, Fleur manages to get Briar through without anyone brushing past her — Briar thinks she can hear the twins, which must be helping. But, at one point, she brushes past Moody; she knows this, because she begins to see his future...

       And it isn't what she expected.

       She sees the Polyjuice Potion. The sneer across his face. The way that Holly's mother sits in his office, pleased with herself, as Moody slowly turns into someone else, into who he really is...

       Uncle Barty.

But then the same thing happens, as it always does when Briar has a vision because of the full moon — one second, she's panicking, holding onto Fred's arm tightly, and the next, she doesn't remember a single thing... Why was she so worried, again?

it's all kickin off now :-)))))

also the song 'you can never tell' is SUCH a friar song in my opinion.... for reasons......

SO what did we think??? the first part is literally part of laurel's old au so i hope you enjoyed it??? tbh i would've died if i had to write her pov so instead we've got remus which fits more?? like it makes sense for briar to see the past through the parent she knows?? but anyway

i hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you thought!! :-)