She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
This is my first Harry Potter Fanfic so: "I'm sorry." in advance, just in case it sucks or I offend anybody Felicity Finlas is in no way an incarnation of me - I cannot state that clearer. I do not own Harry Potter (if I did I would not be typing on my school laptop, but possibly on a giant Mac screen…in space) – all of the lovely characters (apart from Felicity) were created by JK Rowling *bows down and worships that magnificent woman*. ON WITH THE SHOW.
Sirius snickered mischievously at the soft black fur that was slowly spreading across his best friends face and the white row of smiling teeth behind it. "Look, Padfoot! I'm you!" James giggled. Sirius gave another wave of his wand towards the top of his 'opponent's' head and grinned. "Nah," he said, "I'm much better looking." With that a pair of fluffy black ears appeared on James followed by a scruffy looking tail. Professor McGonagall meandered past and nodded approvingly at the long haired sixth year. "Well done, Black," she murmured, thick accent brilliantly apparent. Her eyes surveyed James with a look that practically shouted Sirius was her favourite student. Sirius smirked, knowing she would never admit it. A loud, clear ringing signalled the end of the schooling day and he restored James to his 'former glory'. Remus and Peter caught up with them at the door and arranged to finish their homework (essays on the different woods used for wands) in the Common Room; but Sirius hesitated in the doorway. He had other plans. "Sirius? Are you coming?" James turned to see him staring into space, a troubled look on his face. He couldn't keep this up for much longer, and he hated keeping secrets from the rest of them. "I've got to see Professor Sprout about the paper on Moly that's due." he said, rather smoothly, he thought. "I'll see you all later, ok?" He turned on his heel and strode in the direction of the Greenhouses before they even had a chance to reply.
Felicity Finlas was no ordinary Hufflepuff. She was a witch; a half-blood (her father was a wizard, her mother a florist) and she had rather strong predisposition for the taste of honey and the colour yellow. But it was not really any of these particular things that made her interesting. It was something in the way she spoke, walked, and lived. Something about her made people feel as if everything was good and everything was golden. And boy, did everybody need that now, she thought sadly. Felicity looked to the sky from the ground floor window and the oncoming storm clouds that growled in the distance, like a cruel grey beast that refused to relent. She sighed and turned her back to the darkness. Hope fluttered faintly in her chest, ever present. "It'll be okay…" she whispered to herself. "You bet." a deep voice muttered from within the shadows. Felicity's heart skipped a beat as the tall figure stepped towards her. It lifted its shaggy head to reveal a grin that would make an Augrey's heart melt. She ran headlong towards Sirius and leaped, ending with her being caught into a bone-crushing hug. The movement was so fluid it was as if it had been executed a thousand times. She buried her face into the dark mane of hair that framed Sirius' face and she felt him nuzzle into hers. They stood there like that for a while, the afternoon sun edging towards the shadows in which Sirius had previously hidden.
James surveyed the Common Room with an uncomfortable, nagging feeling in his stomach. Sirius had been gone a lot longer than was strictly necessary for the short errand of asking about some trees. Peter had gone to bed some hours ago (he wasn't feeling well) and Remus to the Library (again). After James found the absence of his best friend at its strangest and most absurd, he finally took out the map their group had fashioned; his most prized possession: The Marauder's Map. He searched tirelessly, down by the Greenhouses, the Forbidden Forest, Dumbledore's office, even the Library; everywhere. Where James neglected to look, by no fault of his own, were the Hufflepuff dormitories.
The first time Sirius met Felicity he had been sneaking down to the kitchens in the black of night. When he arrived she was looking out of the same ground floor window she had been not three hours ago. Her long auburn hair was free of any bonds and she was in pale yellow pyjamas with little honey pots on them, and her feet were bare. He was caught off guard by this random stranger, and tried to creep through the shadows silently, never taking his eyes off the girl. Unfortunately, he was the least quiet of his peers and knocked a portrait of Newt Scamander (the famous magizooligist) off the wall, which in turn resulted in Mr Scamander scolding him quite brutally. The moonlit girl spun to see the source of the noise, took in Sirius tangled in his robes on the floor, and Newton hollering curses and hexes, a few of which would have (if actually cast) resulted in Sirius becoming a buck-toothed bat with body odour problems. And she laughed. For about a minute, both Sirius and the portrait sat in stunned silence as this girl with freckles on her nose and honey pots on her clothes bent over and laughed like nothing had ever been funnier. The two wizards looked at each other, then one another and collected themselves. Sirius placed Mr Scamander back on the wall and untangled his robes, by which time the young Hufflepuff had stopped giggling. To Sirius' surprise, Newt spoke to her. "Really, Felicity, it wasn't that funny." he grumbled, to which she replied, grinning, "Oh, yes it was, Newton and you know it." The old Hufflepuff's lined face broke into a reluctant smile and nodded slowly. "It was a bit, wasn't it?" Then he turned to Sirius and apologized before nodding off back to sleep. The Hufflepuff, Felicity, now turned to Sirius. "You're going to the kitchens, aren't you?" Sirius nodded. "You tickle the pear." she smiled, and skipped back off to a bunch of barrels at the end of the corridor. He stared after he in surprise. Just walking down here he had been trying to recall whether to tickle the pear, or put tinsel on the papaya. He wondered how she knew. Looking back, Felicity saw she was being watched, and grinned devilishly. "If you think I'm going to give the password to the Common Rooms whilst you gawk at me (at which Sirius shut his unconsciously opened mouth), you've got another thing coming." He grinned at her, took in her smile one more time and then bolted off to the kitchens. He stopped in front of the tapestry, glanced back, and for a second saw a flash of auburn hair disappear behind the barrels.