Disclaimer: Harry Potter (c) J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement intended.
AN: Sorry it took so friggin' long to update, but I've been SOOOOOOO busy with school work (got Prelims coming up very soon) and this was such a long chapter to write. Plus, I decided to lay out some very detailed notes on the story like important events and character profiles...I even made photoshop versions of "The Girls'" timetables (that's the collective name for the foursome now, I've grown tired of writing their names over and over). I may post those up on my profile page if I can be arsed. We'll see...
P.S.: Any spelling or grammar mistakes (or just words plain missing) please inform me. I hate it when stuff like that happens, and for some strange reason, I can never bring myself to read my work once I've posted it. :/
CHAPTER 2
MARAUDER BY NAME, MARAUDER BY NATURE
The ruckus was almost deafening as the tidal wave of students flooded through the doors and into the Great Hall. Dianne looked up, wondering at the glorious ceiling which showed the star-studded sky outside like a giant window. Drifting just below the black velvet sky was a thousand lit candles suspended by magic. The walls were decorated too with the usual banners that showed the coat of arms of each school house. The furthest wall from the door had scarlet and gold banners all adorned with a rampant lion - the sign of Gryffindor.
"I hope Dumbledore makes this quick," said Lucy as she took a seat beside Mhairi, "I'm starving."
Dianne sat opposite Mhairi and looked around as Annabelle settled next to her. Just as Annabelle sat, Dianne was given a clear view of Sirius Black making his way up the Gryffindor table along with the rest of his little horde. "Oh Merlin's briefs, he's heading this way," she said hiding her face from him, hoping he had the memory span of a goldfish and had forgotten their last meeting.
The others looked around and their eyes locked on to who Dianne was talking about.
Mhairi leant forward and whispered, "Don't worry he may not noti—" but she was cut off by a horribly familiar voice.
"It's nice to see you again, Flasher." He sounded cheerful.
Dianne turned around and came face to face with the smirking boy. Standing just behind him were Lupin, Potter, and the oddball of the group, Peter Pettigrew. Pettigrew unlike the others wasn't very attractive at all, Dianne thought. He was smaller than his three friends and plump where they were lean. He had a head of blonde hair with beady, watery blue eyes. But what annoyed Dianne about his appearance the most was that he had these two large front teeth that made him somewhat resemble a rodent.
"I didn't do it on purpose you know," she said coolly. She was not going to give Black the satisfaction of seeing him agitating her. "But I suppose you told your lot differently."
Potter leant round to get a better view of Dianne. "I didn't think you were such a vixen, Stokes," he said in a light voice. "When the sudden change?"
"For your information," piped in Annabelle, looking more than a little angry, "it was an accident that occurred whilst she was saving your chums, Black and Lupin, from some Slytherin kid. It's not her fault if she had to jump in due to their incompetence."
Black glared down at Annabelle. "When it comes to incompetence, Phipps," he said, saying her name slowly and threateningly, "you're hardly one to talk." He leant over Annabelle and stared right into her sea-green eyes. Annabelle blinked a few times, but held his icy gaze. "Tell me, how many O.W.L.s did you end up getting?"
A snort of laughter from across the table made everyone look up in shock. The intensity of the conversation had made them feel as if they were completely alone.
It was Mhairi, and she had a slight smile on her face as she looked at each of the four boys. "What does that have to do with anything?" she said. "The blunt fact of the matter is that Dianne came to your aid when you were in need. Yes, she may have embarrassed herself afterwards, but no matter how amusing that is, she was the one who sent the Slytherin on his way." Mhairi looked at Lupin with a heavy gaze, her cheeks flushing as she did. "You…suffered injuries did you not?"
Lupin nodded. "I did."
Mhairi clapped her hands together. "Well then," she said, "it seems Dianne is owed some thanks."
"That's right," Lupin said, although he was still looking at Mhairi, "thank you, Dianne. What you did was very brave."
Black snapped his head down to Dianne and looked at her, his eyes piercing her own. It was like looking into a tornado, the differing swirling tones of grey. Her mum had always said that the eyes were the windows to the soul, but staring at Black now she couldn't see any hint of what was going on inside of him - there was just that mischievous glint. Maybe he didn't have a soul…
"Thanks," he said with an indecipherable look on his face.
"Oh, look!" said Potter happily. "There's Evans with Abbie, Marly and Alice!" With that, he dragged his three friends to go converse with, or pester, Dianne wasn't really sure, the four 7th year Gryffindor girls.
"Phew," sighed Annabelle, wiping a hand over her face. "That was…"
"Intense," cut in Lucy as they all gave each other looks of relief. They could consider themselves very lucky that they came out of a conflict with the 'Marauders', infamous pranksters of Hogwarts, unscathed. Although, by the way people treated them, you would think they were princes.
Silence fell over the room as Professor McGonagall placed a crooked and torn witch's hat on a single stool on the dais where the staff's table stood. The Sorting was, understandably, a nerve wracking time for 1st years what with having to sit in front of the whole school while a talking hat made judgements of your character.
The Sorting Hat did it's tradition of reciting a lengthy poem on the history of the school houses before Hagrid led the long line of jittery youngsters into the hall. McGonagall picked up the hat and called the first name on her parchment list. "Abkins, Kyle!" A small boy who seemed to be shaking trudged up the dais and sank down onto the stool.
"Hmm, yes," said the hat wistfully, "a very pure heart with much fire and potential. Oh, of course, you belong to…GRYFFINDOR!"
A roar of applause erupted from the Gryffindor table, people clapping and banging on the table as Kyle Abkins ran down the dais and took an empty seat near the Marauders and the 7th year girls. Potter gave him a pat on the back as he sat down.
McGonagall continued down her list, calling up the anxious children one by one. She was in the 'S's when Annabelle whispered to Dianne. "McKinnon is giving you daggers."
Dianne saw that further up the table, sitting between Abigail and Black, was Marlene McKinnon. She was looking at Dianne with an evil smile on her face, clapping lazily as "Strachan, Jack" became a Ravenclaw. Her dark blue eyes were narrowed in a calculating way, as if she were observing a particularly interesting experiment. Dianne glared back at her. Screw this, she thought, I will not be intimidated!
Just as another first year, Amy Tuffley, became a Gryffindor, Dianne felt a sharp pain in her shin. Gasping, she looked around to see who had kicked her. Her attention was caught by Lucy who seemed to be mouthing the words "what's wrong?"
"McKinnon," Dianne mouthed back, jerking her head in the blonde's direction.
Lucy and Mhairi both looked before turning to Dianne. "She's up to something," said Lucy over the din as a Hufflepuff was Sorted. "Watch your back."
The ceremony ended as the last first year, Violet Yeller, was sorted into Slytherin. A few hisses of contempt from the other houses mingled with the cheers of the Slytherins.
The hall went quiet again as the headmaster of the school, Professor Dumbledore, stood to give his few words before the feast.
"I would just like to start by saying a great 'welcome' to all of you tonight. Welcome to our new first years, and welcome back to the rest of you!" he said raising his hands slightly then returning them to their usual clasped position. "Now I have no doubt that you must all be very hungry after the long trip, so without any further ado…" Dumbledore snapped his fingers.
An endless amount of delicious looking food appeared on the long table and the sound of cutlery clattering filled the room as the students began the mad rush to eat.
"What do you suppose McKinnon was looking at you like that for?" said Annabelle as she dished a pile of roast potatoes onto her plate.
"Yeah," said Lucy, swallowing a mouthful of chicken, "it wasn't the usual daggers was it."
Dianne wasn't paying attention. She was too busy putting all her concentration into chasing a few stray peas around her plate with her fork and glancing up at the 7th years every so often. McKinnon wasn't giving her deadly looks anymore; instead she had her head close to Black's as he whispered something into her ear. No doubt it would be some sort of charming ruse to get her into his bed, Dianne thought.
"It's probably because she knows about my little mishap on the train," she said, stabbing at her peas. "Thinks it's hilarious, I bet."
Mhairi looked up from her meal to give Dianne a comforting look. "Maybe he hasn't told her."
"Ha! There is no way Black would keep something humiliatingly funny from his little girlfriend…especially if it involves me."
"Oh, forget about it," sighed Annabelle as she waved the spoon from her dessert, flicking some sticky toffee pudding onto the table. "He's a little git and she's a slag; who cares what they think?"
"Annabelle's right, Dianne," said Lucy, helping herself to some trifle, "they're nothing but bullies. Ignore them."
A few moments later, Dumbledore clicked his fingers for the second time that night and the masses of empty dishes vanished into thin air.
"Now that you are all fed and quenched," he said, "it is time that I outlined the school notices." His gazed passed over the many students as he spoke. "Firstly, trips to the village of Hogsmeade are prohibited for first and second year students; however those that are eligible must only travel to the village on the allocated days. The Forbidden Forest is as always forbidden to all students. And finally, Mr Filch, the caretaker, has kindly reformed his list of banned paraphernalia and it is now available for inspection in his office. I strongly suggest that some of you should take the time to study it carefully…"
Dianne noticed with a smirk that Dumbledore's twinkling eyes seemed to linger on Black and Potter as he said the last sentence. Of course the man knew the kind of shenanigans that lot got up to, he was one the brightest wizards to have ever lived.
"It is essential that you heed these former warnings carefully," said Dumbledore, his tone far more serious now, "as in these dangerous times, rules are not made to be broken but to keep people alive."
The hall rippled with hushed but urgent chatter. It was true that times in the Wizarding world were growing steadily worse with the rise of the dark wizard, Voldemort, and his followers, the Deatheaters. It had started late in Dianne's 5th year with the occasional disappearance, but things soon took a turn for the worse. Now, a day hardly went by without the front page of the Daily Prophet bearing the distressing news of more disappearances, more deaths. The Ministry had really started to panic when Muggles became targets too, completely terrified that they'd find out about the reality of magic whilst trying to keep them from Voldemort's clutches.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and the hall went quiet again. "And it is because of the current situation that it is crucial for you all to have the appropriate education in defence abilities against the likes of dark wizards," he continued, "which is why I am pleased to introduce the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Melrose."
A tall, neatly dressed man with combed brown hair gave a small nod to the crowd seated in front of him. He looked rather young for a teacher, Dianne thought, in his late twenties to early thirties. He was rather good-looking too.
"I'm never going to be able to pay attention in DADA with him in front of me," sighed Annabelle from beside her.
Dianne snorted with laughter and turned back to look at Professor Dumbledore.
"Professor Melrose has joined us straight from the top of the Auror Department in the Ministry of Magic and has been a key member in the fight against dark magic."
"A top Auror…" Dianne heard Lucy whisper to herself. She had an impressed expression on her face that quite a few other students were wearing.
Dumbledore smiled kindly. "The hour is growing late, so I think it is high time that you all go to your dormitories and get some rest so you can be ready to face the day. Now, off you go. Chop chop," he said as he waved his hands towards the doors of the Great Hall before turning to sit in his chair beside Professor Melrose.
There was a great scraping and banging as students got to their feet and made their way towards the doors. As Dianne and Annabelle meandered down the row between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, they caught parts of different conversations – one in particular catching Dianne's attention.
"I can't believe we're going to get taught by a real Auror and not one of those retired, decrepit ones either!" said the excited voice of James Potter. "I've always wanted to be an Auror."
Dianne shuddered as she heard Marlene join the conversation. "Not to mention he's really sexy."
"I wonder if he's been in any battles," said Black, ignoring his girlfriend's comment all together. "He doesn't look like the type of person to get himself into duels with Deatheaters, does he?"
"Maybe he's killed people!" said Pettigrew in the same excited voice as Potter. "I'd bet he'd have some great stories to tell us in class!"
Lupin said, "It wouldn't surprise me if he had, Peter. It's always the quiet ones that are the most lethal."
Dianne heard Black give that familiar bark-like laugh. "Yeah, and she can attest to that, can't you Flasher?"
Dianne spun round and saw Black smirking at her again like he had done before the feast. She glared at him. "My name is not 'Flasher', Black," she said. "It's Dianne Stokes."
"Yeah, I know who you are," he said, to busy annoying Dianne to notice Marlene scowling at him. "You're Abbie's little sister."
"Yes, very well done, Black," she said, turning her back to him. "Now if you don't mind, I have Prefect duties."
Dianne stormed out of the Great Hall to join Mhairi, who was standing by the stone stairs in the Entrance Hall, surrounded by small children.
"Great," Mhairi said with a smile, "we can take this lot up to the common room now."
Dianne sighed. "Yeah, I got distracted when I had the fortune of getting into another conversation with Black."
Mhairi chuckled. "It seems like this conversation thing is becoming a bit of a habit between you two lately."
"I hope not." Dianne shuddered theatrically, inducing a laugh from Mhairi. A few boys turned their heads as they passed, eyeing up Mhairi. It's started, Dianne thought with a smirk.
"Okay everyone!" called a voice from the head of the group.
Turning towards the sound, Dianne saw it was Abigail.
"We're heading up to Gryffindor Tower now so 1st years stay close. Remus and I will lead the way!"
As they trudged up the stairs at a pathetically slow pace, a hard forced crashed into Mhairi's shoulder, almost making her topple over. Dianne whirled to see a couple of Slytherin boys laughing as they sped past.
"Oi," shouted Dianne, "I believe you owe her an apology. And why the hell were you up here anyway? Your common room is in the dungeons."
One of the boys stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to give Dianne one of the most evil looks she had ever seen. She recognised him instantly as her classmate, Regulus Black - the younger brother of Sirius Black. He looked exactly like his brother with the same black hair and grey eyes, but there was something about him that made him seem off-kilter.
"We don't apologise to the likes of you," he hissed before turning to run after his guffawing friend towards the dungeon.
Dianne reached for her wand in her robes, but was stopped by Mhairi's hand.
"No, Di," she said, her eyes wide and pleading. "It's not worth it."
Dianne gave a startled cry. Did she not hear what that vile boy had just said? What he had implied? "But he was calling us Mud—"
"I know what he said." Mhairi's black eyes were boring into her own. "But please, let it go. Just this once."
Dianne hesitated for a moment then sighed. She stowed her wand back into her pocket. "Fine…"
The rest of the group, Prefects and 1st years alike, were watching the pair in confusion. All except Abigail who was looking at Dianne with a face full of concern.
"It's alright," Mhairi called, "keep moving." She gently pushed some children onwards and the Gryffindors began making their way up the stairs again.
Still reeling from the comment made by the Slytherin, Dianne crossed her arms and kept her eyes firmly on her feet. Mhairi tried to make idle conversation afterwards but it soon died when she got the message that Dianne didn't want to be bothered. They walked the remainder of the journey in awkward silence.
Dianne was still in her icy silence by the time they reached the Seventh Floor. Nearly there, she thought happily. What she really wanted now was her nice, warm bed.
Just as they passed a saluting suit of armour, Dianne felt a light tug on the sleeve of her robes. She turned to scowl in the direction of where she felt the tug, expecting to see Peeves the Poltergeist up to his usual tricks, but found nothing there to her complete bafflement.
"Down here," said a small voice.
Dianne looked down and saw a tiny girl with reddish-blonde hair looking up at her with inquisitive eyes. "Is there something the matter?" she asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way the girl was staring at her.
"No," said the girl, her tone sounding slightly offended. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me earlier. You know, on the swivelling stairs."
Dianne thought for a moment. "Oh yeah…" she breathed, her mind flashing back to the somewhat heroic rescue she conducted on the Second Floor in order to save two of the 1st years from getting stuck on the infamous staircase. "No problem. It's my job to look after you."
Dianne began to retreat back into her silence, but was interrupted by the girl once again.
"Is that your sister?" she asked, pointing. "You know, the one with the brown hair, the—"
"What, 'the pretty one'?" Dianne interjected, her face turned down in a grimace.
The girl gave a tinkling laugh. "I was actually going to say 'the bossy one', but yeah, why not?"
Dianne laughed, feeling a little less uncomfortable. "Yes, that's my sister. Her name's Abigail, and I wouldn't go calling her 'the bossy one' if I were you."
The girl snorted and gave Dianne a dismissive look. "Of course I won't. I'm not stupid, you know."
"I didn't think you were," said Dianne, smirking. "Anyway, why did you want to know?"
The girl shrugged her tiny shoulders and said in a voice so quiet that Dianne had to lean forward to hear. "Nothing really, just the way you looked at her reminded me of…" The sentence trailed off at the end as the girl looked down at her feet. Dianne noticed she looked infinitely sad.
"Reminded you of what?" Dianne pressed.
The girl looked at Dianne, and Dianne instantly regretted asking the question. The girl was looking at her with a stormy expression that made her stomach churn uncomfortably. Dianne had never seen a child look that mad before.
"My own sister," said the girl in a detached voice before she stopped in her tracks to avoid bumping into the other students.
Dianne stopped too, although she was still dazed from what the girl had said. The group had now reached the entrance to the common room and had halted so Abigail could say the password to the entrance guardian, The Fat Lady.
"Password?" said the woman in the painting.
"Carpe diem," replied Lupin and Abigail in unison causing the portrait to swing open, revealing the hidden room behind it.
The 1st years gave an audible gasp as they stepped inside, wondering at the sight before them.
Gryffindor Tower, in Dianne's opinion, was one of the best places in Hogwarts other than the Great Hall - everything about the room seeming to ooze comfort. The walls were decorated with wallpaper of deep burgundy and delicate gold. By the left wall was a window-seat piled high with cushions of matching colours. At the back of the room were a few small wooden tables for studying with bookshelves lining the walls behind them. There were a couple of overstuffed armchairs and sofas near the lit fireplace; the flames casting a soft glow over the room.
"Right, girls your dormitory is up those stairs," said Lupin, pointing at a set of spiral stone stairs at the back of the room, "and boys yours is up those ones." He pointed to another set of stairs.
"Alice and I will show the girls up to their room," said Abigail and she quickly ushered the five or so girls up the stairs and out of sight along with Alice
"I'll guess I'll take the boys," said Lupin smiling. He too led the jostling boys up the stairs and out of sight.
The common room was unnaturally quiet. Everyone must have gone to bed once they arrived it seemed, and it was most likely that they were the last ones to arrive.
"Let's go to bed, Dianne," said Mhairi in a slow voice. She stood at the bottom of the girls' stairs looking very tired indeed.
Upon entering the 6th year girls' room, Mhairi and Dianne immediately opened their trunks that lay at the foot of their beds and changed into their nightclothes. The day had been a long one and it was finally starting to catch up on Dianne. She could feel her eyelids becoming heavy and her limbs felt like dead-weights. She was grateful to the many school house elves that carried the entire luggage up to the castle. She would have died of exhaustion if she'd been the one to carry it all.
Lucy and Annabelle were already seemingly fast asleep in bed; their trunks lay open, spilling clothes over the floor, and the drapes around their beds pulled shut.
"Goodnight," said Mhairi, her bed sheets wrapped around her like a cocoon.
"See you in the morning," replied Dianne as she crawled into bed. She turned and gave Cerridwen, who was in her cage by Dianne's bedside, an affectionate pat. The owl gave a gentle hoot. "Night, Cerridwen."
Dianne pulled the covers around her and closed her tired eyes. She smiled as she felt the familiar warm wave of sleep wash over her; pulling her deeper and deeper until it eventually engulfed her, sending her into a blissfully dreamless sleep.
The light of the sun streaming through the window woke Dianne the next morning. She groaned in annoyance as she flipped over as to hide from the light that was invading her dark sleep.
"You better get up," called a voice, "breakfast will be over soon."
Dianne opened her eyes to see Lucy making her way out of the small ensuite lavatory. She was dressed in her school robes, her hair done and her make-up applied.
"What time is it?" she said as she sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
Lucy looked at her watch. "It's quarter past eight."
"Why did you have to wake me?" whined Dianne, kicking up her bedcover.
Lucy laughed at Dianne's childish display before saying, "Because I know how long it takes you to get ready and if you don't eat in the mornings you get hungry, which makes you cranky." Lucy threw her a towel from the pile that lay on the dresser by the door. "Go get showered and meet me down there."
"Where're the others?" asked Dianne as she stumbled out of her bed, wrapping her dressing gown around herself.
Lucy walked over to the door and opened it. She looked back, her hand still gripping the doorknob. "Mhairi's already down there. Annabelle's still asleep." Lucy jerked her head to the only bed that still had its drapes closed. "Tried waking her earlier but she nearly took my head off. It's her own fault if she's late."
With a final smile, Lucy left, closing the door behind her. Dianne sighed and shuffled to the lavatory. It was a pathetically small room with only a toilet, a hand basin and an old-fashioned shower which hardly ever worked, and when it did only spewed out cold water. The girls often complained about it but they never did anything productive towards it apart from a few charms here and there to make it work adequately. They could have easily gone to one of the many communal bathrooms in the school for hot bathing, but the effort in doing so was far greater than rolling out of bed and walking not even 3 metres to the shower.
Once Dianne had endured a mercilessly cold shower, she threw on her robes from the previous night and was just about to leave when she stopped. Maybe she should tell Annabelle first…
"Annabelle?" she said into the quiet room. No answer. "Annabelle, I'm leaving now. I hope you know it's half past eight. You have half an hour, love." Yet still no answer came from Annabelle's bed. "Oh well," she sighed, "don't say I didn't warn you."
The Great Hall was packed with school kids all helping themselves to breakfast before a day of classes. Dianne made her way over to Lucy and Mhairi at the Gryffindor table.
"Good morning," said an annoyingly chirp Mhairi as she ladled herself a bowl of porridge.
Dianne took the seat next to Lucy and helped her self to a piece of buttered toast. "Mornin'," she said as said took an almighty bite.
"I'm surprised you made it on time," said Lucy who had just constructed a smiley face out of the fry-up on her plate. "You normally like your lie-ins."
"Of course, I like my lie-ins," she said as she poured herself a cup of tea, "which person in their right mind doesn't?"
Mhairi opened her mouth to protest when Dianne corrected herself, "Except from you, Mhairi."
"Yeah," said Lucy, cutting up a slice of bacon, "…freak."
Lucy and Dianne both laughed at Mhairi's stony face, but stopped upon seeing the numerous post owls that had just flown into the hall. A Great Grey landed on the table next to Mhairi and placed down a copy of the Daily Prophet. Mhairi paid the owl and continued on with her breakfast as it took off and flew away along with the other owls.
Lucy and Dianne looked at each other. "You're not going to read that?" said Lucy with a quizzical look.
"Yes," replied Mhairi, "but after I'm finished eating. I fear it may put me off my breakfast if I don't. Plus, here comes McGonagall with our timetables."
Professor McGonagall, a severe looking woman with grey hair tied tightly into a bun and a face etched with wrinkles, strode over to the table and placed down four pieces of parchment. "Here are your timetables, Miss Campbell, Miss Gordon and Miss Stokes." She sighed upon looking over the three girls. "I trust that you will give Miss Phipps her timetable upon her arrival?"
Dianne smiled knowingly at Professor McGonagall. "Yes, of course we will. She'll be down shortly."
"Good," said McGonagall, her eyes narrowed, "just be sure she doesn't miss Transfiguration." She walked away purposefully, handing out timetables as she went.
The girls observed their timetables, checking what classes they had together and when they had free periods. "We've got Transfiguration first with McGonagall and then DADA with Professor Melrose," said Lucy a smile emerging on her face. "I can't wait for second."
"What have you got, Mhairi?" said Dianne, looking over at her friend. Her stomach gave an awful clench. Mhairi was sitting reading the Daily Prophet, a hand over her mouth in shock and her eyes full of sadness. "What's happened? Is it—?"
"Another Muggle family found dead in their home," said Mhairi as she turned the paper round so that Lucy and Dianne could see the front page.
The black and white picture showed a small rural house with one side of it completely destroyed. Above the house floated the one symbol that could strike fear into the heart of any grown wizard: the Dark Mark. There were St. Mungo's Healers scurrying around in the foreground and a few people dressed in black near the entrance to the house looking very threatening. Aurors, thought Dianne as she studied them.
"That's awful," said Lucy, her voice suddenly quiet.
"It says it was a whole family," said Mhairi, folding the paper up and laying it down far away from them as if it would somehow kill them too if they looked at it any longer. "Just a couple and their kids visiting grandparents for the weekend."
"Hi," said a voice from behind them. They turned in surprised to see Annabelle standing in front of them, dressed in her uniform with her curling wet hair tied up with her tie. "I don't suppose there's any food left."
"Yeah, there is," said Lucy, handing her two slices of toast. "You're just in time, class is about to start," she said as the school bell rang and the students began to leave the Hall.
Mhairi stood up from her chair. "Transfiguration I believe," she said as she handed the spare piece of parchment to Annabelle. "Come on then, we don't want to be late or McGonagall will have our guts for garters."
Annabelle shuddered as she folded up her timetable and put it into her pocket. "I'd rather not think about McGonagall's garters this early in the morning, Mhairi."
Laughing at the very idea of McGonagall's choice in hosieries, the girls made there way to their morning classes.
"Hurry up," ordered Professor McGonagall as she ushered the last few students into her classroom before shutting the door behind her. "We've got no time for dilly-dallying. There is precious little time until your exams and so much to cover."
Dianne hurried into her desk, settling into her seat beside Annabelle. Lucy trudged to sit with Mhairi at the front, thwacking Dianne playfully on the head as she went past.
"Now," said McGonagall whilst she paced around in front of her blackboard, "first of all I'd like to say 'congrats' on achieving the appropriate grades to be in with a chance of sitting NEWT-level Transfiguration. But let me say this to you now, the work has only just begun. It is a demanding course and only the best will prevail." She stopped her pacing and gave the class a hard look. "And if you wish to prevail," she continued, her voice a little louder, "you will have to pay attention, Mr. Aubrey!"
A boy near the back of the class snapped his head up to look at McGonagall. His eyes were wide with shock and his cheeks looked flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, Professor," he said, giving her an apologetic smile.
After a moments pause she continued with her speech on how taxing the course would be and that if they didn't cry at least once due to stress in the duration of the year she would be impressed. Dianne felt the blood drain from her face; this year sounded like it was going to be a tough one.
"Please take out your textbooks and read the chapter 'Complex Transfiguring' on pages 121 to 155." McGonagall sank slowly into her seat, her eyes scanning the room the way a cat would seek out a bird to kill.
"This is ruddy awful," whispered Annabelle. "How are we supposed to be able to turn a St. Bernard into a pouffe?"
Dianne peeked up at McGonagall to make sure she wasn't looking. "It seems downright cruel to subject animals to our amateur magic. Poor things, they always seem to get the short straw."
"So," Annabelle whispered, looking around the classroom at the rest of the students who were quietly reading their textbooks, "any news I missed at breakfast?"
Dianne's mind flashed back to the article in the Prophet, clearing seeing the picture in her mind's eye – the Aurors, the Healers…the glowing Dark Mark hovering in the sky like some macabre moon. "Yeah, there was another attack last night on a Muggle family."
Dianne heard Annabelle let out a small gasp. "I don't understand how someone could commit murder - how someone can look someone else in the eye and just…kill them."
"There are some sick, twisted people in the world it seems," sighed Dianne. She went back to reading the paragraph on how to conduct transfiguring spells on living creatures but found her head just wouldn't stick. The image from this morning was burnt into her mind.
"Are you worried?" whispered Annabelle tentatively. "You know, about your mum and dad."
"I wasn't at the end of last year when this all started, but I am now. I used to think Abigail was being a drama queen when she cried about being scared of mum and dad becoming Deatheater targets. Over summer though, after the attacks became focused on Muggles, I started to think that maybe because of us, because we're Muggle-born, we'd put them in danger."
"They'll be fine." Annabelle put a hand on Dianne's shoulder. Dianne turned and smiled at her friend, although the only one she could muster was weak.
The rest of the lesson they spent taking arduous notes on the key spells of 'animated transfiguration' and watching Professor McGonagall demonstrate how to successfully turn a hedgehog into a pincushion. The bell soon rang and the girls began to make their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts.
"Well that was just great," said Annabelle sarcastically.
"Yes, quite riveting," agreed Lucy with a smile as they walked down the stairs to the first floor.
Mhairi cast them a disparaging look. "Well, I thought it was very interesting."
Dianne chuckled. "Of course you did, Mhairi. 'Course you did."
"Excuse me! Wait! Oh, ow, sorry—WAIT!" shouted the voice of a boy from behind them.
The group spun around on the spot to see what the fuss was about.
A tanned boy with dark hair hurried towards them, he was panting and his face was red. "I-I'm sorry," said the boy as he fought for breath, "I just wanted to speak to Miss Campbell."
Annabelle shot him a cold look. "Yeah, well, we're on our way to class right now so maybe later."
"It'll only take a second I swear," the boy said hurriedly. His face was still red, but with exertion or embarrassment, Dianne couldn't tell.
"Fine," said Mhairi with a sigh. "You guys hurry off to DADA. I'll be there soon enough."
They had settled themselves into their Defence Against the Dark Arts class by the time Mhairi stormed through the door looking like she could kill a Manticore.
"So, what did he want?" inquired Lucy, although they all knew what the boy had been after.
"Bloody savages," hissed Mhairi as she threw herself into the seat beside Lucy. "Not even two hours into the first day back and they're asking to meet me in a broom cupboard."
Annabelle laughed. "Broom cupboard? Wow, how classy!"
"And whoever said chivalry was dead," said Dianne with a wink at Mhairi.
Mhairi turned and gave both Annabelle and Dianne severe looks. "It's not funny. I'm being positively harassed!"
"Sorry to be the one to say this," said Lucy, "but I doubt he'll be the last to bother you. You'll have to blind them before they stop pestering you."
Mhairi sat quiet for a moment, her eyes narrowed at the desk and her arms crossed. "Blind," she whispered to herself. "That's it. I'll make them blind."
Annabelle cocked an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure blinding people is against school rules, Mhairi."
"No," she said curtly, "I meant make them blind to me. I'm sure there'll be some sort of invisibility spell lurking about in some of those old textbooks in the library. Then, once I learn it, I can cast it on myself and travel the halls as I please – completely unbothered." She smiled proudly.
"Mhairi," said Dianne, "even if you do find an invisibility spell, it could take ages for you to perfect it. And what happens if it goes wrong?"
Annabelle nodded in agreement. "The easiest, and safest, way would to get your hands on an invisibility cloak."
"Well, I don't have an invisibility cloak so I guess a spell will just have to cut it," Mhairi said with a tone of finality.
"Settle down class," called Professor Melrose as he strode to the front classroom, his dark-blue robes billowing in his wake.
"Wow," breathed Annabelle as she gazed at her teacher with a dreamy look on her face, making Dianne snort with laughter.
"I'm Professor Lawrence Melrose and I will be your new DADA teacher." He smiled at the class. "As you are all aware of I'm sure. It is my understanding that this school has not had many Aurors in its grounds?"
The class muttered in agreement.
"Well, to start off I'd like to give you the chance to ask me anything you'd like. I believe that if we come to know each other better, your learning experience will be much more enjoyable. Now, who's going to go first?" He smirked as he scanned the classroom, studying each face. When no hands rose into the air he said, "Oh come now, no need to be shy. Seriously, ask me anything. Now may be your only chance to discover my favourite flavour of Bertie Botts' Beans".
Amid the numerous chuckles from the class, Annabelle's hand shot up. "Sir, what is your favourite flavour of Bertie Botts' Beans?"
Melrose beamed a dazzlingly white smile as the class laughed again. "A very good question, Miss…?"
"Phipps," said Annabelle smiling at him.
"Miss Phipps, my favourite flavour is toffee. Next question please."
The hand of a Hufflepuff girl shot up, "Have you been in a battle with any of You-Know-Who's people, sir?"
Professor Melrose thought for a moment, and then continued. "I wouldn't say battles as such, but, yes, I have had my fair share of duels with Lord Voldemort's Deatheaters." He ignored the visible flinches from his unabashed use of the dark wizard's title.
A handsome boy from Ravenclaw was the next to ask a question. "What have you gained as an Auror? Oh, and for curiosity's sake, do you have any battle scars?"
"I have learnt many things in my time as an Auror," said Melrose as he leant on the edge of his desk, "most of which have come from my mentor, Alastor Moody." He sighed before continuing. "I think the most important thing I've learnt is that courage can take many different forms, but it is priceless no matter what. As an old Gryffindor myself, I still prize bravery as one of the best qualities a person can have."
The Gryffindors in the class gave a round of applause causing their teacher to blush and smile. The Slytherins in the class looked as though they had something vile smelling under their noses.
"Right," Melrose said, clapping his hands together to get silence, "question time is over - time to get some work done. Firstly, I would like you to write down the key outlines of the course that are written on the board. You may or may not know of the slight change which means we will be learning more about dark creatures and also the Unforgivable Curses."
Professor Melrose walked in and out the rows of desks as the students scribbled down their notes onto rolls of parchment. He allowed them to talk amongst themselves, albeit quietly, which shocked Dianne. She had never had such a relaxed lesson in all her time at Hogwarts. When the bell rang for morning break, the class emptied as everyone headed down to the Great Hall.
Dianne was packing away her things when she heard Annabelle say, "You know I think you may be the coolest teacher we've ever had, Sir…'specially because you were a Gryffindor."
Melrose laughed. "Thank you very much, Miss Phipps. That's very flattering."
The girls made there way to the door but something she remembered stopped Dianne from leaving. She turned to face her teacher, who was sifting through parchment on his desk. "Sir," she said, "you never told us about your battle scars."
Professor Melrose looked up from his work to stare at Dianne, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Yes, I do have battle scars, Miss Stokes. Unfortunately due to the nature of their whereabouts, it would not be appropriate for you to see. Now off you go, I have work to be getting on with."
All four girls felt the blood rush to their cheeks as they imagined an exposed Melrose. With a few giggles of embarrassment, they made their way down the deserted corridor to the hall.
The day went by rather slowly for Dianne. It always seemed to when one was tired and constantly writing. So, she was very pleased when she was able to trudge up to the common room with Annabelle after lunch as Mhairi and Lucy went to Divination. Not wanting leave the cosy common room but wanting some privacy, the girls went to the window-seat and drew the curtains.
"I'm so tired," said Dianne as she laid her head down on a cushion.
Annabelle nodded. "Yeah, me too." They were silent for a moment before Annabelle continued, "Oh, by the way, Quidditch trials are next week."
"That's nice," Dianne sighed as she sank into cushion, closing her eyes. Wait a second, thought Dianne as she sat bolt upright again and stared at Annabelle with wide eyes. "B-b-but…they're so soon!"
Annabelle shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I'm kind of regretting make that resolution…"
Anger started to overrule the feeling of horror in Dianne. "Oh, you think—" she said, her voice rising as she leant closer to Annabelle. She took a light swipe at her friend.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Annabelle said, shielding herself with a crocheted cushion. "Can we speak about something else, please?"
"Fine," said Dianne as she got herself comfortable again. "Have you seen McGonagall about your timetable yet?"
"Yeah," said Annabelle, "I actually did quite well she said. Got an 'O' in Transfiguration, and I got an 'O' in Arithmancy. The rest were all 'E's."
Dianne cocked an eyebrow. "Even Divination? You were crap at it! Professor Whimsey hated you!"
"No, no," said Annabelle laughing, "I failed Divination with a 'P', but you don't need that to go to Gringotts."
"Still want to be a Curse-breaker then?"
Annabelle nodded. "Yeah," she said, picking at the thread-work of the cushion. "I'm really keen on the whole travelling thing. I've never been abroad before. Mum hates travelling long distances and dad would rather spend the holidays fishing in the Lake District."
"Well, if you pull this out of the bag you may find yourself in Egypt unlocking tombs for the Gringotts goblins in a few years time," Dianne said.
Annabelle positively glowed with excitement. "And you? What did McGonagall say about your grades?"
Dianne shrugged. "She was pleased enough, but she said it was a waste that I hadn't chosen what I wanted to be yet. Something about all those 'O's going to waste."
"You still have another year to decide. And anyway, as if it would matter! Your grades are perfect, any employer would be barking not to snap you up!"
Just as Dianne opened her mouth to reply a horrendous high-pitched scream filled the room then was quickly cut off. The common room was as silent as the grave; the other students in the room just as frozen in shock as Dianne and Annabelle. There was a rumbling that sounded like thunder in the distance as someone hurtled down stairs.
"What in the name of Merlin was that?" demanded the voice of a girl.
Dianne tore the curtains open to see the pretty Indian girl, Priya Sarin, from the year above standing, hands on hips, at the foot of the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
"It sounded like it came from outside," said a small 2nd year, his voice shaking as he pointed towards the portrait.
Priya whipped her wand out from her robes and headed towards the entrance without another word. Dianne and Annabelle followed suit, their wands at the ready.
"Thanks," Priya said as she opened the portrait, "it's nice to know I have some back-up."
The both nodded and followed her out into the deserted corridor. It was unnervingly quiet and dark; the only light coming from the flickering candles that lined the windowless walls. The three girls walked cautiously forwards. Dianne could hear her heart pounding in her ears, though she wasn't sure as to why she was so anxious. It wasn't as if Deatheaters could get into the castle…
Another terrified scream reverberated down the long corridor, and, without a moment's hesitation, they sped towards the noise.
Dianne barrelled round a corner, closely followed by Annabelle and Priya, and skidded to a halt. They all looked at each other in confusion; none of them had been sure what to expect, but they sure as hell had not been expecting the sight that was unfolding in front of them.
The suits of armour that normally lined the walls saluting were all animated and stumbling around the place like drunkards at the Hog's Head. Their metal feet clanged and clunked against the stone floor as they ripped down tapestries and knocked paintings causing the inhabitants to squeal and run for cover.
Dianne backed away laughing as a headless suit of armour gave chase to its helmet, but instead of catching it, only managed to send it rolling further away.
"Oh my god," said Priya, fear staining her voice, "it's throttling her!"
Dianne scanned the corridor. That's when she saw it, and her smile faded instantly. Near the end of the corridor was a suit of armour clutching a small girl by the throat; she was dangling from its grasp, kicking her legs violently and clawing at its metallic hands. It shook her hard causing her head, which was turning a hideous shade of purple, to snap back and forth.
"Stupefy!" Annabelle cried. A flash of red light shot from the end of Annabelle's wand and hit the suit in the shoulder, but instead of causing any damage, the spell ricocheted and flew back at the three girls. Annabelle and Dianne only just managed to get out of the way, Priya, however, was not so lucky. She keeled over onto the hard floor, completely unconscious.
"Great job, Annabelle," shouted Dianne. "Just render our back-up useless, why don't you?" She looked up and felt her stomach drop to her feet.
Coming towards them in a crude imitation of Inferi were the rest of the suits, their arms stretched in front of them, their feet scraping against the ground with each step.
Dianne leapt to her feet, her wand trained at the closest attacker, "Reducto!" The suit burst apart in a shower of shrapnel.
Annabelle quickly caught on and together, they made their way towards the girl, blasting everything that moved, was shiny, and was metal out of their path.
"Reduc—" Annabelle began, but her spell was cut short. A suit of armour had come up behind her and had gripped her by the shoulder. It threw her with almighty force into the wall; her head gave a sickening crack as it collided with the stone. With a soft moan of pain, she slid to the floor clutching her head.
"ANNABELLE!" Dianne shrieked. The blood boiled in her veins as she dispatched justice onto the suit that had just clobbered her closest friend. She whirled to see the girl now hanging limp in the suit of armours hands like a ragdoll. Anger raged through her entire being. She raised her wand and reduced the once intimidating metal shell to nothing more than a pile of shiny, silver shards.
The tiny girl fell to the floor where she lay unmoving. Dianne darted towards her and lifted her weak body into her arms. Dianne tentatively put her fingers to the pale, thin neck. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the fluttering of a heartbeat under her fingers. The girl looked young from the looks of her, definitely a 1st year. She had a head of thick blonde hair that was tinged with red. Dianne's mind flew back to the previous night where she had engaged in a small conversation with a girl about Abigail. This was the same girl, Dianne was sure of it.
"WHAT, may I ask, has been going on here?"
Dianne turned to see Professor McGonagall at the top of a flight of stairs in front of a crowd of students who were all pushing to get a better view of the carnage.
"I can explain," she said, clutching the girl in her arms tighter.
"Then by all means, Miss Stokes, explain." McGonagall had stepped forwards away from the crowd to reveal the faces Dianne did not want to see: the Marauders and the 7th year girls.
Dianne looked away from her sister to McGonagall. "I was in the common room with Annabelle when we heard a scream, so we went to investigate along with Priya Sarin. We came across the suits of armour all alive, which we thought was quite amusing at first, but then we noticed this girl," Dianne gestured to the body in her arms. "One of the suits was attacking her so we intervened. The rest of the suits became violent so we had no choice but to destroy them."
McGonagall surveyed the damage as the word 'destroy' left Dianne's mouth. Dianne knew it must have looked bad; three unconscious bodies and a heap of dangerously sharp metal littering the floor.
"You said you were assisted by Miss Sarin and Miss Phipps. Where are they now?" said McGonagall, eyeing Dianne appraisingly.
"Yes, Professor, I was. They're over there; they're unconscious from the fight. I think they might need some help."
Professor McGonagall nodded curtly and turned to the crowd behind her. "One of you run to the infirmary and inform Madame Pomfrey that she is needed urgently on the Seventh Floor corridor."
A boy from the crowd who looked like he was in his 4th year ran off with a cry of "I'll do it, Professor!"
"Now the rest of you, get back to your common rooms at once."
Looking more than a little dejected at the lack of action, the crowd soon dispersed. However, Dianne noticed that Black had grabbed Pettigrew's shoulder, preventing him from scurrying off and gave him a serious look. Pettigrew nodded solemnly and stayed behind with his friend as everyone else left.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Pettigrew, I thought I told the pair of you to go back to your common room," said McGonagall as she marched over to Annabelle to check the poor girl was still alive.
"You did, Professor, it's just that Peter and I have something to say," Black said looking deadly serious. "What happened here, the suits of armour coming alive, was my fault. I had the idea of jinxing the suits to come alive and surprise anyone who passed. I didn't think they'd attack, but I guess I was wrong." He continued, gesturing to Pettigrew by his side, "Peter helped me perform the jinxes."
Professor McGonagall sighed deeply. "I must say, Black, I am not surprised. Although, I am glad you admitted your doings this time. I hope you know you endangered lives today and have gotten three girls severely hurt. You must understand that I will have to give you both detentions as punishments and will be taking 50 house points from you…both of you." She looked pointedly at both of them.
"Yes, Professor," muttered both boys. Pettigrew's face quivered as if on the verge of tears, whilst Black stared unseeing into the distance. They both left soon afterwards but not before Black shot Dianne an apologetic look, much to her surprise.
"I'm here! Where are the patients?" demanded Madame Pomfrey as she bustled up the stairs and into the corridor. "Oh my…" she whispered as she observed the destruction before her.
Madame Pomfrey had soon conjured up three stretchers and had managed, with the help of McGonagall, to place each unconscious body into one. She guided each hovering stretcher down the stairs and out of sight, taking them to the infirmary where they would most likely be spending the night.
"Excuse me, Miss Stokes, but where do you think you're going?" demanded McGonagall.
Dianne stopped in her tracks. She had been leaving for the common room, hoping to find Mhairi or Lucy or, failing that, to go to bed. Her body was even more drained of energy now that she had exerted herself in fighting.
"Back to the common room," she said truthfully, "I was going to find Mhairi and Lucy; they'll probably want to go see Annabelle in the infirmary before dinner."
McGonagall nodded and smiled slightly. It was one of the few times Dianne had genuinely seen her Professor smile. "Yes," she said, "well, I'd like to say that you made me proud with the bravery you showed here today. For that, I award you 50 house points. I also award Miss Sarin and Miss Phipps 50 points each for their part in the rescuing of Miss Tuffley."
"Thank you, Professor." And without another word, Dianne turned and strode off in the direction of the common room.
Tuffley, Dianne thought, the name was so familiar. She was keen to find out more about this girl - this girl who seemed to have issues with her own elder sister like Dianne did with Abigail.
Dianne pushed the thought out of her mind for now as she rounded the corner. She knew how she was going to be spending the rest of her evening; hunting down Lucy and Mhairi, informing them of what happened and having to take them to see Annabelle at the infirmary. She'd probably miss dinner because of it and would inevitably crawl into bed hours later even more tired than she felt now.
She cursed Sirius Black and his moronic marauding ways. One day he'd pay for his idiocy…
TO BE CONTINUED...
I hope you enjoyed that (Y)
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(NEXT CHAPTER COMING SOON...ISH. I dunno really, I've got Prelims remember. I'll see what I can do.)