=====================================
HARRY POTTER AND THE MIRROR'S GIFT
=====================================
-----------------------
CHAPTER NINE
-----------------------
It was almost
Christmas, and they were all gathered in Hagrid's cabin; a splendid
fire was roaring in the grate, and an assortment of Christmas
goodies lay on
the table. Besides the usual sweets from Honeydukes, there were
also several
interesting Russian cakes contributed by Jeanne. The cakes obviously
contained alcohol, because some of them were singing softly in
drunken
voices, hiccuping at intervals, while the rest were snoring. There
was also a
large tin containing a variety of biscuits shaped like various
different animals,
which kept wandering around. Several actually managed to jump
out,
but were immediately pounced on and eaten by Crookshanks, who
had
stationed himself next to the tin.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting around the table, helping
themselves
liberally to the food, while Hagrid and Jeanne were sitting near
the fire,
sorting out a huge pile of fir cones, according to size.
"What are all those cones for, Hagrid?" asked Hermione
curiously, giving
a vodka-flavoured mouse to Crookshanks.
"Have ter decorate the Hall," grunted Hagrid, gathering
a pile of sorted cones
and putting it into a basket. "Christmas Ball's comin'. Dumbledore's
throwin'
one 'cos it's Hogwarts' One Thousandth, One Hundredth an' Thirteenth
Anniversary. People from all over th' county should be attendin'."
Jeanne looked up in surprise.
"A Ball?" she said. "I thought this was just for
the normal Christmas feast."
"Won't be much people at th' feast," pointed out Hagrid.
"Everyone's gone
home for the holidays. Only students are these three here, an'
Neville. No,
we don' need so much decorat'ns fer the Feast. It's the Ball that's
the Big
Event. There'll be plenty o' food, an' music, an' dancin'."
He flicked a glance at Jeanne.
"Yeh'll be comin', o' course," he said.
Jeanne didn't look very enthusiastic.
"Maybe," she said vaguely. She sorted out a few more
cones.
"I don't know how to dance," she said, her eyes on the
cones, and seeming
to be talking to no one in particular, "and I haven't got
anything to wear."
"Oh, Jeanne," said Harry, exasperated. "You know
you can jolly well
conjure up something."
"No need ter worry 'bout dancin', neither," said Hagrid.
"The Silver Supremes
are doin' the music, an' when yeh dance to their music, yer feet'll
know what
ter do."
Jeanne looked noncommittal.
"We'll see," she said.
"The Silver Supremes?" said Ron. "Who are they?"
"Ghost orchestra," said Hagrid, still looking at Jeanne.
"Famous. Jus' back
from their world tour. Haven' yeh heard of them?"
"Of course," said Hermione. "They've won lots of
awardsthe Magical Music
award, the Soothing Sounds award"
"You should go to the Ball, Jeanne," said Ron, picking
up a snoring rum cake.
It woke up, hiccupped, and then went back to sleep again. "You
don't have to
dance. Just sit with all of us, and eat all the great food."
"No, she ought ter dance," Hagrid disagreed. "Mix
around more. There'll be
lots o' handsome young wizards there, yeh'll have a good chance
ter
know them."
Jeanne didn't look up. She was still rapidly sorting fir cones.
"I'm not really interested, Hagrid," she said, a rather
bored expression on
her face instead of her usual sullen one. "This kind of thing
isn't really my
cup of tea."
Hagrid suddenly looked sly.
"Neville'll be there," he said. "I'm sure he'll
want ter dance with yeh.
An' Professor Snapean' Professor Lupin."
"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione, looking up in surprise.
Jeanne had finished sorting the fir cones. Her face expressionless,
she picked
up the pink umbrella and started pointing it at each cone, turning
it to a
golden colour.
"I didn't know Professor Lupin was one of Jeanne's admirers,"
said Hermione,
looking at Hagrid.
Hagrid's eyes twinkled.
"'Course he is," he chuckled. "Otherwise, why do
yeh think Jeanie's never
around durin' full moon?"
Jeanne looked up at this.
"Come on, Hagrid," she said, rather impatiently. "I
told you, that's the time
I'm helping Madam Pomfrey."
"Maybe," said Hagrid, "But why durin' full moon?"
"Because," said Jeanne, pushing aside a basket of gilded
cones with her foot,
"That's the time when Madam Pomfrey is busiest."
"It is?" said Hermione, looking interested. "But,
why?"
"Madam Pomfrey usually prepares a tonic for Professor Lupin
during full
moon," explained Jeanne. She had finished the gilding now,
and began to
turn the remaining cones silver instead. "The tonic is quite
tedious to prepare.
So I normally give her a helping hand during that period."
"But, I thought Snape was the one making the potion,"
said Harry.
"Severus is the one preparing the Wolfsbane potion,"
agreed Jeanne,
lowering the umbrella for a while and looking up. "Madam
Pomfrey's tonic
is a different one. It helps to make Professor Lupin less ill
during that period."
"No wonder he's been looking better, lately," said Ron.
He bit on a rum cake, which said, "Ouch!" and then was
silent.
"Remus told Madam Pomfrey not to bother with the tonic, because
it isn't
really that vital for him to take it," said Jeanne, raising
the umbrella again,
"but Madam Pomfrey's too kind to stop making it."
Hagrid was not about to give up.
"Someone's bin fixin' Professor Lupin's clo'es, too,"
he said. "Ain't new,
an' still rather threadworn, but all them patches an' darns have
disappeared."
Jeanne looked amused.
"So you think I mended them?" she said, smiling. "Don't
you think it's more
likely that Remus finally realised it would be easier to patch
his robes using
magic? He should have done it long ago." She bent over the
cones again.
Hagrid stubbornly persisted.
"Yeh avoidin' the answer, Jeanie," he said. "Did
yeh or didn' yeh mend them?"
"If I had decided to fix them, I'd just conjure brand
new robes for
him," said Jeanne decidedly. She looked up from the cones.
"Why are you pushing this, Hagrid?" she asked, smiling.
"You're not jealous,
are you? After all, I do all your cooking and cleaning
and mending."
Hagrid blushed.
Jeanne's smile grew broader.
"You haven't got the hint, yet, Hagrid," she said, her
eyes twinkling wickedly.
"I'm still waiting for a proposal from you. When are you
going to ask me to
marry you?"
It had the effect she intended. Hagrid went red as a beet, and
dropped the
subject for the rest of the evening. Harry, however, noticed Hermione
looking very thoughtfully at Jeanne.
"They would make a rather nice couple," she was
saying softly to herself.
-----* * *------
It was Christmas morning; Harry was sitting on his bed, unwrapping
his
presents. There was the usual sweater from Mrs Weasley
"What colour is yours?" asked Ron from the floor, where
he was busy with
his own pile. He tore a parcel open and groaned.
"I got maroon again!"
"Mine's blue," said Harry. He picked up his last parcel.
It was flat and hard,
and beautifully wrapped, with his name written on it in neat,
flowing letters.
"Who's this from?" he wondered.
Ron came over to look.
"Oh, it's Jeanne," he said. "Mine had the same
wrapping. She gave me a
new holder for my quill."
Harry unwrapped the present carefully. The paper was so pretty
that it
seemed a crime to tear it.
"Oh," said Ron, in surprise.
It was a framed photograph. The photo frame was silver in colour
and
elegantly carved; a soft sparkling light emanated from it, swirling
and
shimmering in an endless whirl. But it was the photograph that
made
Harry's heart skip a beat.
It was a photograph of his parents - together with him! There
he was,
standing in front - he looked younger, around twelve or so - and
his
mother was standing behind him with her arms around his waist.
She was smiling happily. His father stood with one arm around
his
mother, and the other extended forward, hand on Harry's shoulder.
"How did she do that?" asked Ron, gaping at it in astonishment.
Harry couldn't speak. There was a lump in his throat.
He found Jeanne in one corner of the Great Hall, putting the
final touches
on the decorations. She smiled when she saw him.
"Merry Christmas, Harry," she said.
"Merry Christmas," he answered.
"Did you like my present?" she asked, looking at him.
Harry opened his mouth to reply, but the memory of the photograph
came
back to him and he suddenly found he couldn't speak; so he just
nodded.
She saw the expression on his face, and her voice was very gentle
as she said,
"Initially I planned to just give you a photograph of your
parents, HarryBut as
time went by, the idea of including you in the picture kept staying
in my head.
I wanted, myself, so much to see you together with your familyso
I went
ahead and did it. I'm sorry if - if, you know" She
broke off.
Harry found his voice.
"No, I do like it, really," he said. "Thank you."
She smiled, and to his surprise, gave him a quick hug.
"How did you do it?" he asked, when she had let him
go.
Her eyes danced with mischief. She glanced around, to make sure
no one was
listening, then leaned forward and spoke in a low voice.
"Don't tell anyone," she said. "Professor Flitwick
has a computer in his office.
I sneaked in one night and used it. It has a program that lets
you combine two
different photographs together."
Harry was surprised.
"But - computers can't work in Hogwarts," he pointed
out. "There's too much
magic in the air."
"Yes," she agreed, "but Professor Flitwick somehow
managed to charm the
computer into working here. He charmed everything - the software,
the
scanner and the printer. He spent quite a while figuring out how
to do it."
Harry thought of something else.
"Where did you get the photographs?" he asked.
Jeanne smiled.
"Professor Lupin gave me the photograph of your parents,"
she answered.
"I got the one of you from Colin Creevey." She looked
impishly at him.
"He had quite a large collection to choose from."
She laughed, and something at her throat sparkled.
Harry blinked. It was the pendant from Mr Grenivere's shop.
She saw him looking at it.
"Do you like it?" she asked, glancing down at it herself.
"It's from Hogsmeade."
Harry looked closer. Carved on the pendant were two wolves.
He was going to say something, but at this point Neville came
running up with
a parcel in his hands. It was obviously a gift for Jeanne, and
Harry, feeling that
Neville would rather give it to her alone, excused himself and
left.
-----* * *------
"Quite a picture, isn't it?" said Ron.
The Christmas Ball had begun. The Great Hall looked magnificent.
Glittering
Christmas trees ran down the entire length of one side, and the
other three sides
were festooned with shining decorations. The Hall was filling
up rapidly with
witches and wizards, all in their best robes.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing near the entrance of the
Hall, together
with Hagrid, when Professor McGonagall came in, together with
Professors
Lupin and Flitwick. Lupin was still wearing his usual robes, which,
Harry
noticed, showed no trace of patches and frays now.
Professor McGonagall looked at them for a moment, then asked,
"Where
is Miss Graham?"
"She wouldn' come, Professor McGonagall ma'am," said
Hagrid. "Tried me
bes' ter persuade her, but she said nobody'd miss her, there're
so many
other fine folk here an' all."
Professor McGonagall was not pleased.
"This is the School's One Thousandth, One Hundredth and Thirteenth
Anniversary," she snapped. "All the staff are required
to attend."
She signalled to Lupin.
"Remus, come with me," she said briskly. "We're
going to go and get her."
She disappeared out of the Hall together with Lupin.
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other. Then, as one, they
turned
and ran after them. They didn't want to miss the fun.
Professor McGonagall swept up to Jeanne's room, and knocked smartly
on the door.
"I told you, I'm not coming, Hagrid," came Jeanne's
voice faintly from inside.
"Do stop pestering me and go away."
"This is not Hagrid, Miss Graham," said Professor McGonagall,
in a sharp,
loud voice. She gave the door one tap with her wand, and it flew
open.
Jeanne was standing near the door, looking startled. Professor
McGonagall
swept inside and looked at her.
"All the staff are required to attend tonight's Ball, Miss
Graham," she said in
a sharp, rippling tone. "You will accompany me to the Hall
at once. Before
that, though, we have to see that you are properly attired."
She raised her
wand, but Lupin held up a hand.
"Allow me, Minerva," he said.
He pointed his wand at Jeanne. There was a flash of light, and
there was
Jeanne, looking distinctly startled, wearing the blue robes from
Wanda's
Witches' Wardrobe.
Professor McGonagall looked speculatively from Jeanne to Lupin.
"Very nice, Remus," she commented. "I had
no idea you were so well-versed
in ladies' fashion."
Lupin said nothing, but merely stood there with arms folded, smiling
and
admiring his handiwork.
Jeanne opened her mouth to protest.
"We just need the finishing touches, then," said Professor
McGonagall briskly,
ignoring her. She pointed her wand. "Hair," - Jeanne's
hair was piled high, to fall
in curls at her shoulder; "Shoes," - heels appeared
on her feet; "and - makeup!"
Jeanne's lips were suddenly redder, her eyebrows sharper in outline.
"Now, march!" barked Professor McGonagall, and she marched
poor Jeanne
all the way back to the Hall, with Lupin following and looking
amused, and
Harry, Ron and Hermione almost beside themselves with mirth.
Jeanne shrank back when she saw the crowd in the Hall, but Dumbledore
was suddenly there.
"Ah, Jeanne, just the person," he said cheerfully, taking
hold of her arm and
propelling her toward a group of young wizards. "There are
some people I'd
like you to meet. Marcus, this is Jeanne Graham"
Harry filled himself liberally with delicious food from the
tables at one end of
the Hall, and he and Ron took Hermione round the dance floor a
few times,
but other than that, they spent most of the night sitting in one
corner of the
Hall with Hagrid and Neville, drinking and eating titbits, and
watching Jeanne
as she danced with a seemingly endless stream of young wizards.
She did
stop at one point to eat something, during which time they lost
sight of her
because the wizards were all surrounding her.
"Jeanne's having some night, huh, Harry?" said Ron,
as they watched a
curly-haired wizard leading her out for a waltz. "So much
for her saying
she can't dance!"
"The music takes care of that," said Harry, glancing
over at the group of
silver ghosts who were merrily playing away. "Somehow your
feet just
end up doing what they're supposed to."
"Look!" said Hermione, excitedly. "The tall one's
going to try cutting in again!"
They watched as a tall, handsome wizard waltzed up with a blonde
witch.
He smoothly cut in between Jeanne and the curly-haired wizard,
and
whisked her off.
"Curly-Hair's got the blonde now," said Ron.
"She doesn't look too pleased about it," remarked Harry,
as he watched the
wizard lead the pouting blonde away. A minute later, they were
lost in the crowd.
It was almost midnight before Jeanne got away. She came walking
slowly
toward their corner, looking extremely tired. Without saying a
word, she sat
down in an empty chair nearby, leaned back, and closed her eyes.
Hagrid was sitting in the chair next to Harry, his Christmas tankard
in his hand.
He seemed to be making full use of it that night, and showed no
signs of
stopping. He beamed when he saw Jeanne.
"Busy night, eh, Jeanie?"
Jeanne didn't move.
"Musta' broken a lot o' hearts tonight," continued Hagrid,
"all them wizards
cuttin' in for a sixth an' seventh round. Look at Neville here,
only managed
ter dance four times with yeh."
"No, I didn't!" squeaked Neville, blushing rosy red.
Jeanne still didn't move.
"But Jeanie hasn' danced with everyone yet," Hagrid
went on, taking another
swig from his tankard. "She lef' out some importan' people"
Jeanne's eyes were still closed, but her lips moved.
"Shut up, Hagrid."
"she lef' me out," said Hagrid, ignoring her,
"an' lef' Harry out tooan'
Ronan' Professor Lupin - "
Lupin, who was sitting a short distance away, talking to Professor
Flitwick,
looked in their direction.
"Did I hear my name?" he inquired.
Hagrid took another swig from his tankard before replying. His
face was very red.
"I was jus' sayin', Professor Lupin, sir, that Jeanie here
has danced with nearly
everyone in the room - "
" - except me," said a cold voice.
Harry looked up. Professor Snape was standing in front of them.
Hook-nosed, his eyes with a curious glitter in them, he walked
over to Jeanne,
who was now sitting up with her eyes open.
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure, yet," said Snape
smoothly, extending a hand.
Jeanne had gone very pale under her makeup. She sat there, as
if frozen, staring
up at Snape. For a second, Harry thought she was going to refuse
him. Then,
without a word, she got up and allowed him to lead her to the
dance floor.
Harry glanced at Lupin. He was watching Snape and Jeanne with
a curious
expression in his eyes.
Ron, Hermione, Neville and Hagrid were watching in shock. Neville
looked
absolutely horrified.
"I don't believe it," whispered Hermione, her voice
shaking slightly.
Snape was dancing with Jeanne and looking at her. At first, she
returned his
stare; but after a while lowered her gaze and stared at the floor.
Snape,
however, continued to stare at her.
Ron's mouth was slightly open, and his eyes were popping out of
his head.
"It's bizarre," he kept saying. "It's just totally
bizarre."
Harry saw a movement to his left. Professor McGonagall had come
up
to join them.
"Can I believe my eyes?" she inquired. "Is that
Severus Snape with Jeanne
on the dance floor?"
Snape was still staring at Jeanne, his eyes boring into her like
gimlets.
From where they were sitting, she looked very pale.
"I don't think she can take it very much longer," said
Harry. "Neville, why
don't you cut in and save her."
Neville turned white as a sheet at the thought.
Something distracted Snape for a moment, and Jeanne turned to
look in
their direction. Her expression clearly said, "Help me!!"
Professor McGonagall pressed her lips together.
"I do believe we must rescue her soon, before Severus makes
her pass out
on the dance floor." She looked at Lupin. "Remus, would
you care for a dance?"
Lupin had a rather set expression on his face. He got up without
a word
and went off with Professor McGonagall.
They watched as Lupin and Professor McGonagall danced up to Jeanne
and Snape. Then all of a sudden Lupin was dancing with Jeanne,
and
Professor McGonagall was firmly leading Snape to another part
of the Hall.
"Jeanne sure looks relieved," said Ron. "Look,
she's smiling at Lupin!"
Hermione suddenly got up with a determined look on her face.
"Come on, Ron," she said, grabbing his hand. "Let's
go listen to what
they're saying!"
"Hermione, are you bats?" said Ron, as she pulled him
to the dance floor.
"This is daft -"
Harry watched as Hermione dragged Ron off.
"They look good t'gether, don' they, Harry?"
Harry turned to look at Hagrid, who suddenly didn't seem so drunk
after all.
He realised that Hagrid was talking about Jeanne and Lupin.
"Yeah," said Harry evasively, looking over at the dance
floor again. Jeanne
was saying something, and Lupin was smiling.
Hagrid looked at Harry.
"Yeh awful quiet whenever any of us tease Jeanie with Professor
Lupin," he said.
Harry didn't know what to say.
"Fact is," said Hagrid, turning to look at Lupin and
Jeanne again, "firs' time
I saw 'em in the staff room that night, I knew they was together."
Harry looked at Hagrid in astonishment.
"Don' ask me why," said Hagrid. "I jus' had the
feelin'. An' yeh know it too,
same as me. Yeh've seen somethin', haven't yeh, Harry, that yeh
aren't
tellin' the rest of us." He looked at Harry.
Harry tried to arrange his thoughts.
"I don't know how to say it," he said slowly. "To
Ron and Hermione,
it's just a game. Jeanne's just like any other normal person to
them. They
didn't see what it was like in Kamchatka"
His voice trailed off. He looked at Hagrid, and saw that he was
listening intently.
"Jeanne's got stuff going on in her that we don't see,"
Harry continued.
"The memory of all those people she killed still haunts her.
And somehow
Professor Lupin's the only one who knows what's going on inside
her."
He stopped. He couldn't see Lupin and Jeanne any more. The lights
had
dimmed now, and the music was becoming slower and more romantic.
"That night in Kamchatka when we first got her away from
Deorg, she tried
to kill herself," said Harry. "She conjured up a knife
and was going to stab
herself. And Lupin stopped her. He knew exactly what to say to
make her
put the knife down. I wouldn't have known what to do; all I could
do was
stand there and watch."
Hagrid was still listening. He had set his tankard down on his
knee, and it
sat there, flickering and forgotten.
"There's some other stuff I saw too, which - which I can't
mention," said
Harry. "But they knew I was watching them. They seemed to
trust that I
wouldn't gossip or tell on them."
"An' yeh didn't," said Hagrid.
Harry was silent a moment.
"Professor Lupin hasn't had an easy life," he said.
"He deserves a chance
to be happy. I just want it to work out for them, and all this
idiotic teasing
isn't going to help."
He stopped, because Ron and Hermione had come back. Ron was furious.
"Hermione, you're nutters," he said, sounding exasperated.
"Why on earth
should there be anything between Jeanne and Lupin? Sure, he helped
get
her out of Kamchatka, but since she's been at Hogwarts, they've
hardly
been seen together. She's always at Hagrid'sor helping Nevilleor
with
Madam Pomfrey. I bet she even spends more time with Snape, discussing
Potions, than she's ever been with Lupin!"
Hermione was strangely quiet. She sat down in the chair next to
Harry,
her eyes wide.
"What's the matter?" asked Harry.
Hermione's eyes went even wider.
"They're in love," she said, in a strange voice.
"What?" said Ron, "Are you crazy?"
"I saw them looking at each other, before the lights dimmed,"
said Hermione
in a low voice. "They're in love, Ron."
"Rubbish, they were talking," said Ron, "and after
that they didn't say a thing.
I didn't see them exchanging any funny looks."
Hermione was silent. There was a slightly awed look in her eyes.
Harry got up.
"Time to call it a night," he said. "I'm going
to bed."
Harry had hardly entered the Gryffindor common room when he heard
Hermione calling after him.
"Wait a moment, Harry," she gasped, running up, and
panting.
"What is it?" he asked, startled.
She didn't speak for a while, trying to catch her breath. Then,
she looked
at him with an eager expression in her eyes.
"I'd like - I'd like to borrow the Marauder's Map,"
she said.
What?" said Harry. "What on earth for?"
"It shows - it shows you the location of every person in
Hogwarts," said
Hermione, still panting a bit.
"So - ?" said Harry, then stopped and looked at her.
"No way," he said.
"But -"
"Forget it, Hermione," said Harry, becoming cross with
her. "Why don't
you just leave them alone? It isn't any of your business anyway.
If there
really is anything - which isn't likely - then it's between them
and them alone."
He turned, and started going up to the dormitory.
Hermione followed him.
"But Harry - "
"No, and that's final," said Harry. "If you want
to spy on them, just follow
them and see where they go."
"I tried," said Hermione. "The dance has ended.
People are leaving. And
they've disappearedthere's no sign of them."
"Good," said Harry, "and good night to you!"
And he went into the dormitory, and shut the door.
However, he couldn't sleep. He lay a while, listening to Ron's
snoring.
Then he slowly got out of bed, and felt about in his trunk for
the Marauder's
Map.
He found it. He was about to unroll it, but stopped.
"What are you doing?" he said to himself. "Lupin
gave you this Map. How
can you use it to spy on him?"
He started to put it back, then stopped.
"After all, I wish them well," he said to himself. "I
just want to know whether
it's really working for them or not."
He took out his wand, muttered "Lumos!" and unrolled
the Map.
He looked in Lupin's room, then in Jeanne's, but they weren't
there.
Puzzled, he slowly scanned through the entire Map. Dumbledore
was still up,
talking to some people in his office. Professor Flitwick was in
his bedroom.
Snape was talking to Filch. But where were Jeanne and Lupin?
"It's not possible," he whispered. "They don't
seem to be anywhere in Hogwarts."
He examined the Map a while longer, puzzled. Then, feeling ashamed
of himself
for being such a busybody, he rolled it up and put it back in
his trunk, and went
back to bed.
-
