The Outcasts Of Hogwarts

Chapter 3 Summer's End

Amaris could barely sit still during the drive from the Flu terminal to Matt's home. She hadn't been able to sit still during Madam Pomfrey's examination that morning either. They had all expected her to be exhausted, after all she had gone well over twenty-four hours without sleep and her body had completely changed form twice in that time. And it was true that her body ached but apart from the actual moment of the change, it was nothing compared to the last three years.

The nurse was very relieved to inform her that what Amaris' father had done, had had no lasting effect on the transformation. But she was still supposed to take her potion on the days either side, just in case. Though she still didn't like taking them, Amaris had to admit that she did feel better afterwards.

But despite her exhausted body, her mind was buzzing. She couldn't exactly remember anything from the full moon night, everything merged together in the adrenaline of it all. Yet, she was left with the feeling of bliss and the urge to run and never stop. It had been a very long time since she had felt like this, for a while she'd feared that she would never feel like this again.

When she rang the doorbell at Matt's house, she heard a lot of hurried scrambles through the door. When it opened, she was surprised to find that in many ways, the two boys looked worse than she did. They both had the distinct look of someone trying very hard to look like they had actually been up for hours. Matt's bed hair gave him away, both in the way that he had only just got up but also that he had been lying when he said he did nothing with it in the morning. Steffan was only scruffy by his own standards.

"You didn't stay up all night, did you?" Amaris asked.

'Well, uh," Matt fumbled.

"You got your bandages off," Steffan said, completely ignoring her question.

"Oh, yeah," Amaris ran her fingers down the three deep gashes that cut across her right cheek from her ear to the edge of her mouth. "They would have off during the night anyway and Pomfrey said I didn't need new ones. Though she said I had to promise not to pick at them."

The skin was still tender and felt a little tight sometimes but secretly, she thought it looked pretty cool. And it also meant that she matched the three scars Lupin had on his face, though she was certain he didn't view those the same way she did.

Matt leaned over Steffan's shoulder, squinting and looking between her and him. After a moment, he chuckled.

"What?" Amaris said, putting a hand over the side of her face, feeling self conscious.

Matt struggled to explain between giggles, "The way that your mouth tugs up a bit now, it means your resting face is more of a grin than Steffan has done in his entire life."

Amaris snorted at the indignant look on Steffan's face. "That is not true," he said.

"Oh, yeah prove it," Matt baited, "show us a toothy grin to rival the Cheshire cat."

Steffan looked between the two of them, "I actually understand that reference, since you once described at length to me the so-called plot of that bazaar book."

Amaris laughed.

Then Steffan pointed at her, "there,"

Amaris froze, a wide grin still on her face.

"What?" Said Matt.

"You didn't say it had to be my grin," Steffan replied.

Matt narrowed his eyes, "It seems like you win this round, Mr Selwyn. Well played, well played indeed. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if a grin from you foretold the end of the world." Then he brightened again and clapped a hand on both their shoulders. "Anyway, we should probably get inside before mum complains about the door being left open-"