What the Morning Forgot

Tamsin Vale, a reserved, introverted girl from Willowmere House, was known all through her year for being impossibly quiet. It wasn't some exaggerated flourish or some softened claim; even the most impartial people, professors among them, repeated the same judgment. Anyone who knew how quiet Tamsin was would have found it baffling to see her planted in the middle of a lively party in the Redcrest Common Room. Hemmed in by drunk, horny, reckless teenagers, she looked sharply out of place amid the crush. The expression on her face was so severe it looked as though it could do real damage, making the contrast with her usual self even stranger. Tamsin jolted when her older brother, Felix, slung an arm over her shoulders and nearly knocked her off balance. He was the reason she'd been dragged from the peaceful safety of the library. He hadn't bothered with words at all; he'd simply scooped her up and carried her through the Briarwood Academy corridors as if she weighed no more than a ragdoll. Felix sounded far too cheerful, half-singing, "Come on, Tam, lighten up!" His voice cut across the party's noise as he tried to lure his younger sister out of her usual shell. Felix only laughed at the look she shot him, at the silent promise of violence in her eyes. "If stares were deadly, I'd have died years ago," he said, twisting her earlier threat into a grin. He'd taken her wand and kept it well beyond her reach, leaving her unarmed in the middle of the rowdy crowd she'd always kept away from. Felix barked with laughter and shoved a cup of alcohol against his sister's mouth until she swallowed whatever was inside. It scorched her throat on the way down and sent her into a fit of coughing. Felix looked delighted by that reaction, his grin stretching wider. When she finally caught her breath, Tamsin glared at him. "Bloody hell, Felix!" she snapped, wiping her mouth in a hurry. Still laughing, Felix planted a quick kiss against her cheek and darted off before she could hit him. Tamsin's face twisted with anger and disbelief as she shouted after him, "I WILL BLOODY MURDER YOU, FELIX NOLAN VALE!" The words rang through the room, but her brother only looked entertained by her fury. Tamsin's furious outburst sliced through the pounding music and caught the notice of one particular Marauder on his way to top up his drink. Without meaning to, Tamsin met the eyes of the notorious prankster, Sirius Black. The moment their looks caught, he flashed a smirk that made her want to shrink back and stay far away from him. Then, as though he meant to complicate her life on purpose, Sirius started toward her with that cocky grin still fixed in place. Annoying people seemed to sustain him, and Tamsin was clearly next in line.