Briar stirred in her sleep when she heard her bedroom door creak open. She looked over at her door and frowned when she noticed that it was shut. She blinked and tried to figure out what was happening, but before she could even see anything in the darkness of her bedroom, she felt a hand go around her throat.

She choked and spluttered, clawing at the hand that she just knew was Gideon's, but she couldn't see a thing, and if anything, the room seemed to be growing darker by the second.

She tried to fight back, to scream, to do anything productive, but nothing happened. She couldn't bring any oxygen into her lungs, and she knew that she was dying. He must have escaped Azkaban and came straight for her.

Trying to scream once more led to her being shaken around aggressively by him. She choked on the tears that streamed down her face.

This was it. She was dying.

When she felt something wet and cold dabbing at her forehead, she sat upright in bed. She was hyperventilating and sobbing loudly, but her bedroom was illuminated by a set of candles, and she was surrounded by Folsy, Sirius, and Remus.

Folsy was standing at the head of the bed with a cold, damp cloth, and her normally round eyes had grown substantially in size. Sirius was sitting beside her on the bed, and he looked relieved that she was awake now. Remus rubbed a hand over his face and flashed Briar a tired smile once he realized that her screaming had stopped.

It had given the home's other three residents quite a scare when Briar began screaming in the middle of the night, but no one blamed her for it. Everyone was aware of how much suffering and trauma the girl had been through, so no one felt surprised over this.

Briar took a few steadying breaths before wiping away her tears and murmuring, "I'm sorry."

Sirius reached a hand out and gently held her arm. He insisted, "You don't need to apologize for your suffering, Briar. You can and should feel safe enough to work through that here, and we're all all happy to help you as much as we can."

Briar nodded slowly before she let out a deep breath and looked down on her lap. She kicked her covers off and sighed, "I'm feeling better now. I think I'll just go get some tea then."

Folsy hopped off the bed quickly as she called, "Folsy will get master tea at once, just the way Miss Briar likes it. Folsy will help. Folsy can get tea."

"No- you don't need to-" Briar tried to protest, but Folsy was out the door before Briar could form any semblance of an argument. She clamped her mouth shut when Folsy disappeared around the corner and out of Briar's line of sight.

Remus stepped forward and wondered, "What was your nightmare about?"

When she wouldn't meet their eyes, and her breathing became ragged again, they figured that it was most likely related to Gideon Davies. Sirius' eyes roamed her teary face for a sign as to how to help, but he couldn't find an answer in the broken expression on her face. All he knew was she needed him to do something to help her get through this, so he licked his lips and wondered, "Did you want to talk about it right now? Or would you like to be distracted?"

Remus opened his mouth to object to the second option, thinking it best that they talk about what happened to make sure that Briar felt safe inside the home, but he didn't get the chance because Briar pleaded, "Distract me."

Sirius nodded in understanding and gently brushed Briar's hair away from her sweaty forehead. He wondered, "I know that soulmates were a big thing when we were your age. Have you discovered who yours is yet?"

A faint blush spread across Briar's cheeks. This somehow felt so much more humiliating to discuss with the two of them as compared to her forced conversations with her roommates. She met both of their eyes before she admitted, "Uh, I think so."

Remus raised his eyebrows at the unexpected confession. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his pajama bottoms and took a step closer to hear the conversation more clearly, tipping his head back slightly to hide his clear interest in the current conversation.

"Who is it, darling?" Sirius wondered with a restrained smile. Briar amused herself with the thought of what people would think if she told them how an ex-convict was lounging on her bed and discussing boys with her.

How was this man her dad?

Remus gingerly sat down at the foot of her bed with a curious grin as they both watched her. She chuckled at this and ran a hand over her face before she squeezed out, "I think it's Neville Longbottom."

Sirius pursed his lips for a moment before he tugged his lips into his mouth in yet another failed attempt to contain his smile. He teased, "I mean, the boy's been attached to your hip from the moment I've met him. He's clearly in love with you... And, you've certainly got my good looks, so it makes sense that the boy's completely infatuated with you." Sirius winked at her with this comment, which made a laugh bubble out of her.

In response to this, Remus mused, "I did wonder about the two of you during my time at Hogwarts... Sirius, you should have seen the way those two would look at each other in my class. Quite adorable, really."

"Did you know that this one even fought the Malfoy miniature for the boy? Isn't that right, Briar?" Sirius questioned with a proud smile.

Briar covered up her face with her slim fingers and sheepishly admitted, "Many times. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of our quarrels either."

Remus chuckled, "Oh, I certainly knew that. I saw a couple of their showdowns myself, and the professors all loved to talk about our little Vigilante Slytherin."

"You're joking. That's what they call me?" Briar spluttered with a loud laugh.

"You mustn't tell anyone, but...yes."

She tipped her head back as she let out a long laugh. At this point, thoughts of her nightmare were long gone, and she felt much more relaxed. When Folsy stepped up to the beside a moment later with a warm cup of herbal tea, prepared just the way Briar liked it, she felt warm inside.

And safe.

Briar helped Folsy back up into the bed, and she chuckled when Folsy fiddled with the end of her robe and admitted, "Folsy would like to hear about Miss Briar's soulmate."

"I don't know for certain yet, but I believe that a boy named Neville is my soulmate. He's a sweet Gryffindor boy who is far too kind to me really," Briar told Folsy. She took a sip of her tea before giving Folsy a grateful smile. It tasted delicious and smelled heavenly.

Remus smiled and waved his hand at Briar as if to say go on.

She scooted back against the headboard and grinned. "Well, he loves plants. He helps me in herbology a lot because boy, am I clueless with that stuff... He always seems to know when I need support, and he's just so...soft. He's...good, pure goodness."

Sirius slyly smiled and nudged her with his elbow. He sang, "Sounds like a girl describing her soulmate to me."

Folsy gulped before whispering, "Folsy had a rude question and is sorry for thinking of it."

"What? No, what is the question, Folsy?" Briar demanded with lowered eyebrows and a worried expression.

"Has Miss Briar...kissed this boy?"

Briar spluttered, "Um...well, I, uh..." She gulped hard at the question but whipped her head to look at Sirius and Remus when they both bursted into girlish giggles.

Folsy was surprised by their outburst too. She trailed, "Folsy is confused."

Remus explained through his sleepy laughter, "Her answer made it very clear that she has kissed him."

Setting her tea down on her nightstand and whipping the covers over her head, Briar loudly groaned, "Stop teasing me. You're acting like my roommates."

Remus and Sirius let out the last of their giggles before they switched the subject to more neutral topics. Briar tugged her covers from over her face, but she remained laying down. At some point in the night, she fell asleep once again, but Folsy remained at her side to make sure she didn't feel alone, even when Remus and Sirius slunk back off to their beds and blew out the candles.

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