AN: Hi! :) for those of you who've read Met His Match and wanted to read more, thank you! I'm not entirely sure how long this story will be or where it will end, it could be in 1981 or even in 1998! Who knows! I would like reviews and PM's with ideas and opinions from you all whilst writing this story!
You don't have to have read the Met His Match one-shot to read this but you can find it on my page if you would like to :)
Friday 13th May 1977
The Gryffindor common room. It's a place most outsiders would usually consider full of calm, collected and responsible young individuals. They would be wrong.
In an evening such as this, where I walk into the common room later than usual, it is not unusual to find many of my fellow Gryffindor's sprawled all over the main room, on the sofas, by the fire, standing on tables... Well, you get the idea.
To most outsiders, mainly my never-do-anything-interesting Ravenclaw classmates, the idea of being surrounded by lots of "enthusiastic, young Gryffindor's", as Professor McGonagall likes to call them, sounds like heaps of fun. It's not. At times like these, walking through the common room feels like walking, unarmed, through no-man's-land. Fucking dangerous! The possibility of being hexed, tripped, or even jumped on is very high in the Gryffindor common room. Trust me, there is no such thing as "house loyalty" when it comes to humour.
As I step out from the shadows of the backside of our dear old Fat Lady, I realise, to my utmost horror, that in order to get to my dorm, I must walk past a particular group of notorious pranksters. Yes, yes, those ones. The ones all of the girls, especially, to my annoyance, my friends, swoon over. I study them, all four leaning against the back of a nearby sofa in an intimidating line. Peter Pettigrew is closest to me, his attention, however, is fully on James Potter, who looks as though he is telling Peter something deadly important about Quidditch. Okay, so maybe I could sneak past those two unnoticed. Next up is Remus Lupin, who I'm not worried about at all, even if he wasn't engrossed in the book under his nose. Sirius Black, however, no matter how distracted his is by the big-breasted, doe-eyed, seventh year girl he is currently talking to, no matter how slim the chances of him seeing me with his back turned towards me are, him, I am worried about. Sirius Black seems able to detect a vulnerable, "prankable" student from a mile away and I would be easy prey for a hex tonight.
Carefully and quietly, I make my way towards the entrance of the girls' dorms, thankfully escaping the attention of Peter and James. Remus is still frowning at his Potions book and Sirius is still facing in the opposite direction, much to my relief. I reach the door and sigh heavily, but silently, thankful I made it here alive.
"Mitchie! There you are!"
Daria's voice carries across the room from the large fire, alerting everyone, I'm sure, of my presence. This isn't the first time her big mouth has landed me in trouble. Before I can turn around a glare at my red-headed friend, an invisible rope encircles my legs, tugging at them from behind me.
"Sirius, no-" I hear Remus' voice warn, obviously failing to successfully do so, as I'm pulled onto the floor, face first. My blonde hair is fanned on the floor around my head, some has managed to make its way into my mouth and I begin to choke.
"Looks like she's fallen for you, Padfoot," I hear the cocky, amused voice of James Potter break the silence of the surrounding onlookers, who begin giggling and chatting again. Anger and humiliation rushes over me and quickly turning my body over, despite the fact that my legs are still "tied" together, I aim my wand at my attacker.
"Everte Statum!"
My spell throws Sirius backwards and he lands on his back, winded, on the floor of the other side of the sofa. The invisible rope releases my legs and I hurry to stand up, my wand pointing at him, ready, if he decides to retaliate. Instead of hexing me, however, Sirius smiles up at me, as though he's impressed, feeding the flames of my anger even more.
"Don't you smile at me, Black. Not unless you want your precious hair to disappear," I threaten him, shaking my wand to emphasise my seriousness. His arms raise in defeat and his face grimaces at the thought of losing something almost as important to him as his wand. Breaking away from his eyes, I notice the big-breasted, doe-eyed girl isn't so doe-eyed any more. Her eyes are throwing daggers in my direction and if looks could kill, I'd be dead and cremated.
"Mitchie! Come on! Let's go!" Daria's hands pull me through the door to the dorms and I'm soon away from the shocked looks everyone in the common room was giving me. "What the hell?"
Finally lowering my wand, my head rests against the cool wall in the corridor and I try to control the adrenaline pumping through me. Daria's hand waves in front of my eyes and I give her my attention at last.
"Daria, hi."
"Hi?! Really? You just attacked him! You realise that, right?"
Realisation of what I'd just done sinks in and I stare at my friend in horror.
"Shit."
"Yeah, shit," she nods, her wide eyes seem to be assessing my sanity. "Why, of all people, did it have to be Sirius Black?"
"Not now, Daria. Don't defend him-"
"I'm not."
"-just because you fancy him."
"I'm not defending him! But it's Sirius Black! You're really going to have to watch your back now, idiot."
"Shit."
She chuckles, shaking her head. "Yeah, shit." Sighing, she places her cool, pale hand on my upper arm. "I know it's been a rough day but Mitch, you can't just lash out at people. Especially those boys. You know how they are, now you'll not only have to watch out for Sirius, but all of them. That's four people, as well as upset "fans",-" she makes quotation marks with her little fingers, "-that you'll have to look out for. I swear you just like the danger."
I roll my eyes at her and stick my tongue out, making her roll her eyes in return.
"Come on," I smile, gesturing my head towards the stairs that lead to our room.
Earlier That Day
I sit myself down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, next to Daria, who has nearly finished eating her breakfast cereal as she's in such a rush to see Professor McGonagall before first period begins. She's had two panic attacks in the last couple of days thinking about our OWLs next month. I already know she'll do great, but no matter how many times I try reassuring her, it never works. I'm more laid back about our exams, even though I should probably study Potions more than I currently do.
"Right, I'm going," she announces, pushing away her bowl with a shaking hand. I open my mouth to give her some comforting words but I'm stopped by the arrival of a letter. I didn't even notice the Owls swooping in the Great Hall seeing as I rarely get mail. Not that my mom doesn't want to send me a letter everyday, just my dad stops her because he knows it would drive me crazy.
I recognise my mothers handwriting straight away and open the envelope whilst trying to reassure Daria.
"Just stay calm and if you need me, I'm-"
My voice cracks as I read the letter, the inked words already smudged by my mothers tears.
"What is it?" Lily Evans, a casual friend from the year above, reaches across the table to place her hand on mine.
"My, um, auntie died," I answer, still in shock from my mothers words. "Death Eaters."
"No!" Daria gasps, sitting back down next to me. "Oh, Mitchie, I'm so sorry." Her arms wrap around my shoulders and she pulls me towards her to hug me tighter.
"Daria," I squeeze her arm. "It's okay. You go and see McGonagall-"
"I can't leave you like this!" She exclaims, staring at me as though I'd gone mad. I give her a little smile and gently pry her hands from my shoulders.
"I'll be okay. You go on and I'll see you in class," I can tell she doesn't believe me so I give her a little push as further encouragement.
"I'll tell McGonagall. She'll make sure you can have the day off from classes-"
"No, no. I'll be okay. Trust me, I'm fine. Just go."
Her face is full of uncertainty and a little confusion but she stands after a moments consideration.
"Okay, but only if you're sure."
"I'm sure," I smile again, shooing her with my hands. As she leaves the Main Hall her head keeps turning in my direction, as though she expects me to break down the minute she leaves.
"Were you close to her?" Lily's soft voice startles me a little. When I turn to her, her green eyes are full of sympathy and it makes me a little uncomfortable. See, I don't really feel anything. I know it's sad and I'll miss her, but at the moment I'm really, honestly, fine.
"Um, yeah, I suppose. She lives-," I correct myself, "-lived in the south. Surrey. I live in Yorkshire so I never saw her that often. Usually once a year, in the summer, but sometimes she would visit for Christmas too."
I'm babbling. It doesn't look as though she minds though, the sympathetic look eases a little when she realises I'm not going to break down.
"I'm sorry, Mitchie."
"Thanks." Looking at the letter again I remember how she died and reach for a newspaper next to me. "You mind?" I ask Martin, the seventh year it belongs to. He looks sympathetic too as he shakes his head, passing it to me and I quickly avert my eyes from his. I flick through the paper, looking for any articles on Death Eaters to see if I can find out more.
Death Eaters Recruiting!
There it is, her name, Diane Harriet Shipper, in a list of people underneath the bold headline. Reading on, I learn that she was killed because she wouldn't become one of his followers. I feel a sense of pride that she did the right thing, even if it did cost her her life.
"She didn't want to be a Death Eater, so they killed her," I tell the people around me, who are all radiating curiosity. The emotionless, matter-of-fact tone in my voice seems to shock some of them, a small first year girl even looks as though she's scared of me. I'm not a psychopath, I promise.
"Are you sure you want to go to classes today?" Lily asks as I look at the small photos of wanted Death Eaters surrounding the article.
"I'm sure. I should get something to eat," I change the subject, placing the letter from my mother in one of my robe pockets. A bell chimes from the teacher's table, signalling the end of breakfast and I quickly grab a piece of toast and a banana before vacating my seat.
"Here, you need to drink."
Remus Lupin, apparently appearing from nowhere, hands me a cup of water and I thank him, not looking into his face for too long in case he's showing sympathy as well. All this sympathy is making me feel bad for not being upset. It's just not the way I handle things, I suppose. I give a moment to recognise how kind Remus is, even though we don't really know each other, and I wonder why he's friends with the likes of Black and Potter. They must have some good qualities-
No! I stop that insane train of thought. Remus is just really tolerant and kind. Yes, that must be it.
A Few Hours Later
As I sit in the never-anything-but-quiet library, I begin to think of my Auntie Diane and those evil, bastard Death Eaters. I've never really taken much notice of the war currently brooding in the Wizarding World but then again, it's never affected me up until now. I fear the fates of my parents, hoping beyond hope that they're not next and wondering if I really am too young for them to consider. I suspect not.
It's my opinion that a few of my fellow class "mates", namely baby-Black and his friend Crouch, have recently become Death Eaters. I share some classes with the Slytherin's and from my observations, they're definitely supporters of him. Regulus, who I have to sit next to in both Transfiguration and Charms, I've noticed, hasn't been rolling his sleeves to his elbows lately, a habit he's always had; which tells me that he must have something to hide under there.
I want to say something to him, tell him he's making a mistake, because I kind of like Regulus. Even though he's a Slytherin and his views concerning blood purity are far from similar to mine, he's never been nasty to me and he's really very smart. Something I've realised the more he's helped me with my classwork. I sometimes believe that the Black brothers should sit and compare notes. Sirius could teach Regulus to be more accepting and Regulus, well he could teach Sirius many things, including how not to be so bloody cruel to fellow students.
Hold on, how is it I've gone from Death Eaters to Sirius Black... Ah. Both evil in their own ways.
I close my Potions book, feeling hopelessly doomed, but telling myself that my knowledge of other subjects may make up for my more-than-probable failure of Potions.
Anyway, off to the common room.
"Oh, shit! Is that the time?"
"Shhhhh!"
AN: So...? Let me know what you thought and if you have any ideas to add to the story, get in touch! Favourite, review, follow.
Thanks for reading :)
