"This is meant to be a friendship- not you controlling me!" Draco hissed. It had been a month since the two of them had decided they should try and become friends.
"I can only control you if you let me!" Holly pointed out with a smug smile painted across her face. Malfoy then shot her a death stare and in result, they returned to square 1; not that they had ever really left it!
After the lesson, Draco practically stormed out of the classroom.
"What did you do this time?" Ron asked as Holly walked out, trying to contain her laughter as she could see Draco over-dramatically strutting down the corridor.
"I was being 'controlling' because I told him to pass me all the ingredients. I mean it's not my fault he was doing it wrong!" Holly said rolling her eyes.
"Well why don't you tell him how to do it if he's not getting it!" Suggested Hermione. In truth, Draco had been doing it right all along it's just Holly didn't want to admit that.
"Please he's a drama queen!" Ron scoffed. "He wouldn't take advice from anyone, never mind Holly!"
"He has a point!" Said Holly shrugging her shoulders.
"Just a suggestion!" Hermione said. "It's not like every time you didn't follow my advice you were nearly killed!" She muttered so the other two couldn't hear her.
"What do we have now?" Ron asked. "I left my timetable in the dorm!" The two girls rolled their eyes- they both knew that was Ron-ish for 'I lost my timetable but I'm not going to admit it.
"Defence against the dark arts. The new teacher has finally got here!" Hermione said. She was bored of supply teachers. She just wanted to learn something.
"Took their time!" Holly said.
"I'm sure they had a very good reason for not being here!" Hermione said. "We might have another warewolf. It has just been a new moon!" She whispered as not everyone had figured out that Professor Lupin had been a warewolf.
"Hello class. Sorry I haven't been in for the past few weeks. I was only just told yesterday that I would be teaching defence against the dark arts this year!" Said a young man who couldn't be too much older than the students themselves. "My name is Professor Zorander." Most of the girls in the class either exhaled deeply or fluttered their eyelashes when the Professor turned around to write his name on the board. Holly didn't understand why everyone immediately started swooning over the new Professor because he was young. All the students were younger than him but people took a look at most of them and didn't care about a possible relationship with them.
"Does everyone have their wands?" Asked the Zorander. Everyone looked at him as if he was stupid. "I was just checking. When I went to Ilvermory, there was one kid who never had his wand with him. Wouldn't surprise me if he's been put in a local wizarding jail for the accidental exposure of magic to muggles." A faint whisper drifted across the room as they discussed how strange the new teacher was and undoubtedly, how that made him 'so cute!'
"Well anyway thats a story for a different day! Today we will be practising protective spells. Get with a partner!" Hermione and Ron went off together and Holly paired up with Luna.
"Hi Luna!" Said Holly, a small bit of exitement in her voice at the thought of just being able to do as they pleased.
"Oh. Hello Holly! Have you ever done any defensive spells before?" Asked Luna, her icy blue eyes blinking.
"Well I protected myself and my Godfather from a swarm of dementors in my third year with a patronus charm." Holly admited as she thought what her time travelling self would be doing. Probably sleeping since they went back quite a few hours.
"Wow! Do you think you could do it now?" Asked Luna hopefully.
"Um. Maybe!" Holly said, searching her mind for the happiest memory she had. Then, her brain locked on her 15th birthday celebration. Everyone was there and they were all being so nice to her. "Expecto Patronum." As Holly cast the charm, a large silvery stag emerged from her wand. It was nice to see that part of her father remained within her in the form of her patronus. After a few seconds, Holly realised that everyone was staring at her. This caused her to break her concentration and her patronus dissappeared.
"Miss Potter is it?" Asked Professor Zorander. Holly nodded her head quickly. "Excellent patronus! 50 points to Griffindor!" Holly blushed, all the Griffindors started clapping and the Slytherins started whispering to each other. Why did you make me Luna? Just why?
The end of that lesson couldn't come fast enough. When Professor Zorander said they were free to go, Holly practically ran to get out of the room. That was until he called her back.
"Miss Potter. Can you come here a moment!" Holly exhaled, annoyed that she couldn't go and hide in the common room. She turned on her heels and entered the classroom, shutting the door behind her.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Asked Zorander while sitting on his desk.
"My third year." Holly quickly answered.
"Yes there were alot of dementors then. On the hunt for the murderer Sirius Black right!"
"He's not a murderer!" Holly snapped without thinking. Oh shit! How do I get myself out of this one?
"No? How would you know that?" He enquired, curious as to why the fifteen year old infront of him was defending a mass murderer!
"Well. Um. He." Nothing was coming to mind so she had to tell the truth. "It was Pettigrew!" She blurted. Professor Zorander looked very confused.
"Pettigrew was one of the murder victims!" He said with a raised eyebrow.
"No! He was an unregistered animagus! He cut off his finger and turned into a rat! And everyone blamed Sirius." Holly said, almost without breathing.
"How do you know all this?" He asked suspiciously.
"Um..." Holly didn't want to out Professor Lupin by saying he was best friends with a suspected murderer. "He was best friends with my dad. He wasn't even the secret keeper for our hiding place!" Holly wasn't sure if she had said too much. So she just left, not wanting to be interrogated any farther.
"What was all that about?" Asked Ron who was waiting outside the classroom with Hermione.
"He just wanted to know where I learned the patronus charm." Holly said. She was technically telling the truth- just not the whole truth!
"Oh. Well Ronald here has suggested that since we didn't go to Hogsmede much last year because we were all too busy sorting you out so you didn't die, that we should take a quick visit!" Hermione said in that voice that let the other two know she thought it was a bad idea.
"I'll go with you Ron!" Holly said, just to annoy Hermione a little.
"You two are idiots. But I'll come with you because if I don't you'll both die! Or at least get in trouble. But knowing you for the past four years leads me to believe that dying is the more likely option!" Said Hermione as the trio reached the portrait of the fat lady.
"Periculum autem comr." Hermione announced and the portrait swung open to let them in. Ron went up to the boys dorms to get changed so they wouldn't be caught as Hogwarts students if they were seen and Holly and Hermione went up to the girls side.
They entered their room and got changed into regular clothes. Holly grabbed her invisibility cloak and the marauders map before the two went to meet Ron in the common room.
"Took your time!" Ron said, standing up from the chair next to the fire.
"Ronald we are girls- unlike you, we go through our entire wardrobe twice before we pick a pair of pyjamas!" Hermione said as they exited through the portrait hole again.
The trio waited for no one to be near them before they draped the cloak over their heads. Holly then checked the map to make sure no one was near them and they went through the secret passage that lead straight to Honeydukes.
The shop was empty, there was no one inside, not even a worker. The trio took this opportunity to steal just a few sweets before trying to leave. Even though Ron had lived in a magical world his whole life, he kept forgetting that locked doors weren't an issue.
"Don't tell me that we're stuck in Honeydukes!" Ron whispered.
"At least we won't starve if we are!" Added Holly optimistically.
"Oh please! Wake up both of you!" Hermione said, pushing infront of the other two. "Alohamora!" She said and the door gently swung open with a cold breeze.
"How do you remember all that?" Ron said, astounded by Hermione's memory.
"Yeah the last time I remember you using that spell was in the first year!" Holly added.
"I remember it because neither of you do. I swear I have enough memory for all of us to share!" Hermione said while the other two rolled their eyes.
Once the trio was outside and out from under the invisibility cloak, they noticed that the whole village was temporarily abandoned. The large gate that was usually wide open was locked and all the shops that were usually bright and colourful were all dark and empty.
"Why is everything closed?" Holly muttered.
"Maybe it's a sign that there is a killer coming to get you two for being stupid sometimes!" Suggested Hermione. And as she did, a voice from behind them made them jump.
"I thought we established the exact opposite two years ago!" The three turned around to be greeted by a smiling face.
"Sirius!" Holly said, throwing her arms around her Godfather. "What are you doing here?"
"Yeah sorry to break it to you but just because we know the truth doesn't mean that everyone knows your not a raging lunatic and mass murderer!" Added Ron as the four of them began to laugh.
"Let's just say that that new defense against the dark arts teacher really likes dogs and is willing to give me somewhere to stay!" Hinted Sirius with a small wink. Just as he did, someone emerged from the three broomsticks. Like lighting, Sirius turned into a dog and ran and sat down on the cold floor.
"What are you doing here?" Shouted Madame Rosmerta from the door of the pub. "Can you not see the village is closed? How did you even get in?" She was rapidly approaching them now and the trio knew she would recognise them all- Ron and Hermione from being here before alot and Holly from just being Holly!
"Well! Look who we have here! Potter, Weasley and Granger! What are you three doing in Hogsmead?" She said while placing her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow at them. "If you leave now, I'll forget you were ever here. Now shoo! All of you. And take your dog with you!"
The three kids and the dog all left. This time they had to go through the gate which meant that they would get into trouble if they were seen coming back into the castle. They threw the invisibility cloak over themselves, apart from Sirius- he went in dog form. Before they entered the castle, Holly checked the marauders map to make sure no one was there to see them. Luckily, no one was there and the invisibility cloak was pulled off them and stuffed into Holly's bag. Just before they entered the school, Sirius stopped. The trio was confused as to what he was looking at but then they realised that Holly was holding the marauders map. The map sirius had helped make. The map that Sirius, James and Remus had made together. Looking back, Sirius realised that Peter did nothing to help them make it, he just sat and watched as the other three drew it out and charmed it. Then he looked up at Holly, Hermione and Ron. He could see James, Remus and himself in them. Thankfully, they didn't have anyone who represented Peter.
The three said goodbye to Sirius as he went back to Professor Zorander's office- where they now knew he would be staying as a dog- and they all went up to the Griffindor common room. Holly was obviously exited that Sirius was in the school and that she could visit him almost whenever she wanted. She jusy hoped that he had bought the mirror with him and somehow managed to keep it undetected.
"Do you think Dumbledore knows?" Asked Holly when the common room was empty.
"Knows what?" Ron said, slightly confused at the random question.
"That there is a certain dog living with a teacher."
"I doubt there is anything he doesn't know!" Hermione pointed out.
"Then why doesn't he give him somewhere to stay?"
"Come to think of it, I'm not sure!" Realised Hermione.
"Should we tell him?" Suggested Ron.
"I think we should. I mean he is a human being. He deserves somewhere proper to stay!" Said Holly.
"Well we can do that tomorrow before breakfast because Professor McGonagall will be here in two minutes reminding us that it's lights out for the older students." Hermione said after checking the time. And sure enough, McGonagall walked the portrait hole precisely two minutes later, telling Holly, Ron and Hermione that she wouldn't leave until the three of them had gone to bed.
Knowing that Sirius was somewhere in the castle meant for Holly that she actually had a good nights sleep. It was the first time in months that she hadn't woken up in the middle of the night and just stayed awake.
"Holly. Holly wake up we're going to be late!" The next morning, Holly was awoken to Hermione shaking her rather violently and telling her to get up.
"Wait. What time is it?" Holly asked, sitting up and reaching for her glasses.
"Its 7.40! I wanted to let you sleep in since I know you've been having trouble but then when I checked on you just now you were still asleep." Hermione said while pulling the tired girl out of bed.
"I'm up don't worry. You go have breakfast I'll just get ready." Holly said while picking up her robes from where they were draped on the end of her bed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Anyway I still have a couple Honeydukes sweets left over!" The two of them laughed as they thought back to the previous night.
"Ok I'll see you first lesson then." Hermione said as she walked over to the door. "Bye!" She said before shutting the door behind her so Holly could get ready.
As Holly got dressed, she thought back to her sleepless nights. Did I wake Hermione? Was I that bad Once Holly was ready, she made her way down to potions. Why did I take potions? It just means I have to endure Snape for a whole extra year! Holly got there early so she just sat at the back of the classroom, waiting for everyone else to arrive. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps and assumed it was just the rest of the class, but when she looked up there was only one person- Draco Malfoy.
"What's wrong with you?" Holly said furrowing her brow. Malfoy's eyes were red-rimmed and his breathing was shakey.
"Why would it bother you?" He sneered.
"Well I don't want to be that girl who saw someone had been crying and didn't do anything about it!" Draco glared at Holly as she said this.
"Oh yeah. Lets tell the whole school that Malfoy cried. Why don't we also tell them that your little dog friend is here?" Holly's eyes widened- did he know that Sirius was Sirius or did he just think that she was breaking the rules by having a pet that wasn't on the list at the start of each year?
"Yeah! I know who that is! Your Godfather was disowned by my mothers family. He deserved to be!"
"Don't you fucking dare say a thing against him! He did the right thing!" Holly went up to Draco and pointed her wand at his face.
"Potter! Lower your wand from Mr Malfoy's face!" Snapped Snape as he entered his classroom. He looked a little scared as Holly whipped her head to look at him. "If you don't lower your wand you will have detention for the rest of the month for endangering another students life intentionally!" He said in a surprisingly calm voice. Holly lowered her wand and put it in her pocket.
"20 points from Griffindor for threatening a student and 10 from Slytherin for being in the classroom unsupervised without anyone's knowledge! Now take your seats."
"Yes Professor." Both of them said while walking to the back of the room. A few seconds later, the rest of the class filed in and took their seats. Snape stood at the front as he usually did and wrote the instructions on the board. As the class started on their potions, Holly and Draco stayed silent. Somehow, both knew what the other was going to get so they got away without talking to each other.
"I'm sorry." Holly said eventually, just as Snape was about to dismiss them.
"No. It's my fault. I shouldn't have provoked you." Draco said, surprisingly being kind about it.
"Ok. Just don't say anything about him to anyone. There are a few people who don't really like him." Holly said, shooting a look at Snape."Also he's still pretty wanted."
"I promise. Anyway, I still want to try and be friends."
"Class dismissed!" Snape called from the front of the room and Draco just left. He left Holly with a huge question.
Why does he want to be friends?