^^^This is Garrett. ;)

I wake at five, fixing my hair and changing into normal clothes before rushing down to dinner. I choose a red and yellow sweater I got from Madam Malkin's Robes and my one good pair of jeans. God, I need more clothes. The reason I can change is because Astronomy is after and the teacher sent a note saying we could dress for the weather instead of in our uniforms. Thank goodness. "Oi, Mane!" James calls and waves me over. My hand slides over Lily and Marlene's shoulders before walking down and sliding into the spot next to him. "Did you have a nice kip?" He asks with an affectionate brush of a finger across my cheek. My brows furrow and I look to a smiling Remus.

"You've got a pillow mark just there." He points to where James just touched. I sigh. There's no helping that.

"Don't worry about that, love," Sirius says and slides into his spot next to me. "Still look fetching." He winks and I roll my eyes. At least he's over whatever weirdness came over him earlier.

"I assume you all are looking forward to tonight's astronomy lesson?" I ask and they all gain questioning looks. "Less light so more mischief to go unseen." The confusion instantly clears.

"Ah Mane, I one day hope to have a woman that understands me like you do for a wife."

"I'm not sure how your mother would feel about such a proposition." I shoot back and the table laughs, including James.

"And a mouth that's just as sharp. Damn." He praises me before going back to eating.

"Moony is really looking forward to it, aren't you?" Sirius asks with a twinkling in his eyes.

"Well, you could say the moon and I draw a bit of wildness from one another." He responds wryly. I dismiss it with a shake of my head.

"You're welcome to sit with me, Remus. I doubt your group is packing a blanket." He nods in thanks as the rest of his posse looks to each other with wide eyes.

"A blanket. Brilliant. Are we all invited to cuddle? Moony isn't the only one who is proficient even though his cozy sweaters make him prime real estate." Remus lets out a heavy sigh at James's observation, but James only smirks.

"It's not cuddling, it's keeping warm so we can focus on the lesson." I insist.

"Well, you know the best way to keep warm is to strip naked and cuddle." Sirius nearly makes me jump when he whispers in my ear.

"Yes, so what exactly are you suggesting, Mane? We're respectful young men." James combats in my other ear as I stare at Remus with a helpless expression and red cheeks.

"You trying to take advantage of our giving nature?" Sirius finishes as I extend both my arms out to the sides to keep them both away from me.

"I don't know how you put up with them all the time, Remus," I tell him as Peter giggles next to him. I'm spared for a few moments as they're distracted by their own food and manage to eat my meal. Then I leave all my friends behind and head to the field where we're having Astronomy class. Usually, it's in the Astronomy Tower, but I suppose we'll learn why it's not later. The sun is setting and the field provides a breathtaking view of the sky. I lay out one blanket, then take out another and wrap it around me. It's already getting a little chilly. Just as I've settled down, I jump out of my skin at an appreciative hum. My wand is out and pointed to the person before I've recognized them.

"Blimey, you're quite the quick draw," Garrett says with his hands up in surrender. I instantly lower my wand with wide eyes.

"I'm so sorry." I breathe as he comes closer. His head shakes with a crooked smile on his face.

"Don't apologize. You were protecting yourself and if it weren't me, I would have loved to see you send someone flying." He tells me and pauses next to my blankets, then looks up to the sky. "Seems like we had the same idea." Garrett takes a deep breath as he looks at the sky with affection. I wait a moment before swallowing a bit nervously.

"Would you like to sit with me?" I offer and unfold the blanket around me so it's big enough for two. Those pretty green eyes look back to me as his smile grows.

"I'd love to." He accepts and is careful to keep his shoes off the blanket as he sits. I offer him half the blanket and blush when he moves closer to keep from pulling it away from me. He smells really good.

"You play Quidditch?" I ask and he looks over at me with surprise. I shrug. "I can see it on your face. The way you look at the sky." His lips quirk up as he nods.

"I love Quidditch, but if you saw that in me you must too. What position?"

"Beater. You?"

"I'm a chaser. Pretty good one, I'd say." He brags just a bit and I grin. "At least I won't have to ask you to come see me play if I'll be playing against you." He says and I raise an eyebrow.

"And why would you want me to watch?"

"Well, there's a good chance I'd impress you enough to get you to agree to a mad prospect."

"Like what?"

"Like going with me to Hogsmeade sometime. Maybe Saturday, after tryouts." My lips part and he grins. "Of course, you can wait to say yes or no until after then so I can wow you with my skills." I can't help but laugh even though my cheeks are aflame.

"Well, I'm flattered but it's the first week of school. I really want to focus on my work before gaining any distractions." To my surprise and relief, his smile just grows.

"A perfectly respectable answer, I just hope you don't think I'll be giving up in that amount of time." He tells me and I find it very hard not to smile at him.

"I don't think I said I wanted you to." I return and look up at the sky instead of his face. He breathes out a long sigh and shakes his head slightly.

"Thank god because you're already far too intriguing to give up on." I look back over at him and find those shining green eyes fixed on me. And I thought my face couldn't get any redder. "Anyway, I've heard you're a pro at Transfiguration. Mind showing me a spell or two?" He asks and I shake my head. We spend a while going through multiple spells, including one that conjures a bouquet of flowers for me, before its time for class. "Well, I'll let you sit with your friends." He says and stands, making sure my blanket is tight around me once more before winking at me and walking away. I sigh at his leaving, but I'm certainly not left alone for long.

"Oh my god, who was that?" Lily asks as she, Emmaline, Alice, and Marlene slide onto and under the blankets I have. I tug more out of my never-ending bag before opening my mouth to answer, but Marlene beats me to it.

"Garret Fenway. Great Chaser, even greater eyes." She fans herself and we giggle.

"I want to know why he was over here and why you two were obviously so cozy," Alice asks as we all get out our notebooks.

"It was nothing. We just ran into one another in the hall the other day and both showed up here to watch the sunset. We're friends."

"If only he'd be such good friends with me," Marlene says and I roll my eyes.

"He buys quite a few Draughts of Peace from me if that's pertinent," Emmaline tells us with a shrug.

"It's not, he's a great guy and he looked very attentive, Arell." Lily hushes Em before we all fall silent as the professor sets a telescope in front of every group of five.

"Okay, yes he is and he was and...he might have asked me to Hogsmeade." I shrug as they all fall uncharacteristically silent.

"Dear god, tell me you said yes and jumped him like a jockey on a horse."

"Marlene!" Lily and I both hiss disapprovingly while the other girls laugh softly.

"I told him since it's the first week of school and I wanted to focus more on that. Plus, soon I hope I'll have Quidditch to contend with everything else." I tell them and Alice nods her head along with Lily as Marlene rolls her eyes.

"That was a good answer," Lily assures me and I'll admit to feeling some relief at having her say so.

"He said he wouldn't be giving up in the meantime anyway," I tell them and am met with a chorus of approval. Once again, we all fall silent as the lesson starts, but I look over to Garrett on the other side of the yard often and find him looking back at me with a smile.

The next two days pass by uneventfully. Garrett and I glance at each other every time we share a class, but other than that I'm too concerned with homework to do much else. My nights flying about continue and I keep wandering further and further from the castle. Thursday night after everyone has gone to sleep, I slip out without James the dragon. I want to go over the Forbidden Forest tonight, while the moon is full. Since it's colder tonight, I wear long johns under sweatpants and a tank top under my sweater. I jump out and get my broom under me, then zoom off to the huge pine trees. It smells wild in there and there's a certain freedom that comes with the smell. The encouragement to be one's full self. My head lifts when I hear a strange noise in the distance. A howling mixed with screaming.

I turn back to the castle and idle in that direction, but then a tree seems to appear out of thin air, which is completely possible, and I run right into it. I shout before tumbling down each branch like I'm in a pinball machine. I land on the ground with a thump and watch stars dance in front of my eyes. Strange, because the space above me is shrouded in branches and pine needles. Blinking to try and clear my head, I sit up and feel around my pockets for my wand. Nothing.

"Oh, shit," I whisper and my voice sounds cacophonous in the silence. Desperately, I look around the forest floor before I hear a sharp snap from my right. I jump in fright before turning towards the sound but see nothing. My search for my wand becomes even more desperate and frenzied. Another snap goes off like a firecracker and this time it's closer. "Come on, come on." I pray, but when another snap sounds I no longer have any time to find my wand. "Fuck." I murmur and start to change. These days it comes easy and the change is sped up by my fear. A lioness quickly stands where I once stood and I'm grateful for the better eyesight. My eyes scan the dark for whatever has been making the noise and finally finds two eyes staring out at me.

"It is much too late and the forest is much too dangerous for even one such as you, skin changer." A deep voice reaches out and makes my ruff stand at attention. Slowly, he emerges from the darkness and into a patch of moonlight. The hairy chest of a regular man appears but is attached to a horse's body. Astonishingly blue eyes stare at me and the moonlight forms a crown on his blonde hair. "I am Firenze." The centaur introduces himself politely. "I am aware you may not speak in this form but encourage you to remain in it. It is not safe."

I nod as well as I can as he assures me it once again it isn't safe. I bristle with uncertainty as he walks nearer, but relax when he presents me with my wand. Gently, he places it on my discarded clothes. Lucky they're still mostly in one piece. He reaches up into the tree branches and claims my broom as well and places it before me. "The stars spoke of one emerging tonight. One with a shadow like a cape threatening to engulf the one it follows, but with a light that walks in front brighter than the north star." Firenze tells me as I listen interestedly, but remain very alert of my surroundings.

"The shape the stars took was a lioness." He ends and I feel shock run through me. "But this conversation can be had later, young one. You must leave the forest. Change back and get dressed." Firenze speaks up, moving slowly forward as if to guard me against the rest of the forest. I change and get dressed, then pause with my hands clutching tight to my broom.

"What did you mean...about the stars?" I ask. Firenze looks a bit indecisive for the first time as he looks down at me.

He looks up at the moon as I watch him confusedly. Just then I hear a deafening scream from not too far away. While I'm not sure it's completely...human, I can't keep ignoring it. I straddle my broom and look to Firenze in apology, but he's already smiling at me. A heavy hand lands on my shoulder as I stare into his startling eyes, "Listen before you leave, Arell. You have great light and shadow within you. Tonight, you will make the first choice in deciding which you follow. After the events of tonight, you will have another important choice to make. Meet me at the edge of the forest when the moon is half waning. Near Hagrid's. Now, hurry." He tells me and I nod, then fly off towards the scream, turning sharply when it happens again.

A leaning building in the near distance catches my attention and I speed towards it. I tuck my broom under some dead bushes before finding the door and carefully walking in. My instincts tingle and I take in a deep breath, smelling far more than dust and rotting wood. I shiver with fear before tearing my clothes off and changing, letting my nose and animal side figure things out for themselves.

Now with sharper instincts, I can hear more noise coming from upstairs like scratching and moaning. There's a dangerous smell here too, mixed with faint copper like blood, but there's a much sharper tint coming from upstairs. Quietly, I pad up the stairs on four legs. Once I've reached the top, I hesitate. Danger emanates from the room within, but I'm positive that's where the screams were coming from. When another nearly shakes the house, and its definitely human, I know I no longer have a choice.

I burst into the room and the situation shocks me to the core. A young, by the looks of it, werewolf stands pacing on the far side of the room while a stag and dog are on the other. The black dog stands guard over the deer who is bleeding from the shoulder while a rat seems to be hiding within its rack. When I come in all eyes are drawn to me, which is good and bad. Good that the attention is taken off the poor creatures, bad that the werewolf is looking at me. The animal sniffs the air as I do the same.

We're both searching for similarities and we both find some. Clearly, though, not enough. The creature rushes me and I take it head-on, tumbling backward into an old dresser. I recover quickly and pounce out of the cloud of dust, landing on the back of the creature. My weight causes it to stumble forward and knock its head on a piano which causes it to lie still on the floor a couple of moments.

"Mane, you have to get him out! I'll take care of this. GO!" Suddenly Sirius is standing behind me in the dog's place and he's shouting at me. James is in the place of the stag and is still bleeding. There's no time to be shocked or to think, I climb off the werewolf and shift. Then, I throw James' arm around my shoulders. I drag him out of the room as well I can, hoping just to get out of the house before that thing comes to. I put my long johns and tank top on, putting the sweatpants on James and wrapping the sweater around his bleeding shoulder. Then, I grab my broom and put the two of us on it.

"James, you'll have to hold onto me. If the werewolf comes after us, we'll never make it on foot. Come on, James!" I hiss desperately at him, sighing in relief when his good arm wraps around me tightly. We take off slowly, and my broom barely rises ten feet off the ground, but it's much faster than dragging him. Soon, we're at the hospital and I've set him on a bed. I take off the red sweater and let it fall to the floor with a wet splat.

"Alright, alright. Now, I'm going to do this myself before it gets any worse. You need to stay very still, James. Understand?" I ask and he barely nods. Pointing my wand at his wounds I whisper the spell, "Vulnera Senentur." James sighs with relief as the wounds close smoothly despite my shaking hands. I repeat the words until his wounds are gone and nothing but a few pink lines remain. A relieved sigh shivers its way out of my lungs as I take my time cleaning away all the blood to make sure I didn't miss anything.

"Oi, not too bad." He pants before passing out. A few tears prick my eyes as I realize the very real danger we came into contact with tonight. What was he even doing there? I ruffle his crazy hair and glance out the window, worried about Sirius.

"So...Prongs..." Slowly, I come to a realization. "Wormtail...Padfoot. Oh my god, Moony!" I whisper, pure shock running through my veins. Remus is a werewolf?!

A/N

O_o

Are we surprised by anything in this chapter? Will she keep the secret? How do we like Garrett? Getting a little cozy there. ;) And what could Firenze be talking about? Tell me your thoughts loves!