Title - When You're Strange
Chapter title - Patches
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Romance/Friendship/Drama/Fantasy
Disclaimer - I do not own the Harry Potter, books or films, in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the books or films. For this chapter I own, Holly, Imelda, Martin, Scott Wood and Malorie.
Chapter Word Count - 2010
To: chrissylu9 - Thanks for letting me know! xx To CRAZYNERDGIRL - Haha, thanks!
To: DiamondOfNight - Thanks for the review! And don't worry, the romance won't be coming until the later years. I completely agree second years would only be like, twelve. What twelve year old has a proper relationship?! I'm trying to make it as much like growing up as I can, with rumors, crushes etc. And thanks so much for the criticism, I always appreciate them they help me get better. (I hope!) So glad you're enjoying it! Thanks again. xx (:
To: The Girl Who Hides In Shadows - Firstly nice user name, I like it. And secondly, thank you! Glad to know you're enjoying this, and others (: xx
A/n - Please leave a review, let me know what you think. I'd really appreciate it!
James and Sirius tried to get hold of the snitch so Malorie could practice but the quidditch balls were kept under lock and key in Madam Hooch's office. Instead they settled for throwing an apple as hard and fast as they could and have her catch it before it hit the ground. And she was getting pretty good at it too until she got distracted and got hit in the eye by a speeding red apple.
James must've apologized a hundred timed before they'd even put their brooms away. Malorie insisted she was fine, other than feeling like her eyeball was about to sink back into the socket at any moment. James insisted on taking her to Madam Pomfrey and so the pair of them, along with Sirius found themselves trudging through the halls on the Saturday afternoon.
As James was so happy to point out, Malorie was much less coordinated on foot than she was on a broom. And so when she tripped on a loose shoe string and went crashing into one of the many statue's at Hogwarts, neither of her friends were surprised. What did surprise them though was that the wall behind the statue opened up to reveal a long narrow passage.
"What the-" James gawped.
"Where do you think that goes?" Sirius leant forward, peering into the darkness.
"Eh?" Malorie turned in her spot on the floor, jaw dropping when she saw the hole where the wall was supposed to be. "Wicked." She grinned climbing to her feet. "I say we take a look."
"I say you're a genius." James grinned and the two boys followed her inside.
There were two exits out of the tunnel. The way they came in and through a portrait near the divination classroom.
"Well, that was a waste of time." Malorie huffed as she tenderly poked at the flesh around her eye. It was beginning to feel swollen.
"Not half." James agreed, wincing as her face came into daylight again. "We really should get that looked at. It's going purple."
"You're both idiots." Sirius commented, falling into step between the two. "If that one passage got us from one place to another in half the time it usually takes, I'd bet 10 galleons there were a ton more of them all over Hogwarts."
"If there were more passages why don't people use them?"
"Maybe no one knows about them."
"Mm." James thought for a moment. "Hospital wing before her eye falls out and then we'll find Remus... He'll have something to say about secret tunnels I'm sure."
"Why on earth are you wearing an eye patch?"
Remus and Peter were by the lake, beneath a tree. Malorie was rather unhappily sporting an eye patch for the next three hours whilst the potion Madam Pomfrey had given her reduced the swelling and bruising around her eye. James had stopped apologizing and started laughing instead. Until she kicked him in the shin.
"I was practicing quidditch, using an apple as a snitch but then James tried to take my eye out with it." She flopped back onto the dewy grass with a sigh. "What do you know about secret passageways around school?"
"Well I've always presumed Filch had someway of getting about so quickly... Why?"
"That's actually a good point. I bet Filch knows all of them." Sirius grinned, dropping to the floor and loosing himself in thought. "I bet if we used James' cloak and followed him, we'd find out."
"We haven't even started lessons yet and you're already trying to get us detention." Peter snorted as he pulled grass out at the root.
"We found a tunnel earlier." Malorie explained for the lost looking Remus. "And you can't go follow old Filch tonight, Remus and I need the cloak."
"Oh I forgot, you two are a thing now. I expect you'll be sneaking out to snog on the astronomy tower like the fifth years." Sirius chuckled along with James, rolling away from Malorie when she aimed a punch at his arm.
"Actually I was going to make sure my transformation is correct. It's no good if I look like some sort of over grown sheep dog is it?" She scowled. "And Remus was going to show me where he goes during the full moon, so if he doesn't get a chance to find me, I can find him instead."
"We'll all go." James decided. "Although, you'll have to transform since the cloak doesn't really fit the four of us under properly."
"Or, just Remus and I could go as planned."
"And miss out on you turning into a werewolf? Not a chance." Peter finished the conversation for them as Lily and Alice came over.
"What happened to your eye?" Lily reached out to touch the patch but Malorie jerked her head back.
"Quidditch practice-"
"Oh don't!" Alice interrupted. "Holly has done nothing but jabber on about quidditch all morning. We came out here for a break."
"You came from one quidditch fan to three of them." James gestured to himself, Malorie and Sirius. "You're out of luck."
"Oh c'mon Alice. Let's go to the library." Lily sneered at James in annoyance as the messy haired boy merely grinned. "See you at dinner Mal."
"Malorie!" She called but the red head didn't hear.
James and Sirius took Remus and Peter to the tunnel to show them after lunch whilst Malorie headed back to the hospital wing so Madam Pomfrey could check on her eye. As she was on her way down there however, she very almost landed flat on her face when she tripped on her shoelace again. This time she made the smart decision to stop and tie it. As she stood back up she found herself face to face with none other than Regulus Black who was staring curiously at her eye patch.
"Uh.. Hi. Regulus, right?" She offered a smile, not sure what to expect of the first year.
"Yeah. How did you-"
"I'm friends with Sirius."
"Right." He nodded a little. "How is he?"
"He's ok." Malorie shifted from one foot to the other. This was the most awkward conversation she'd ever had. "I'm sure he'd like to speak to you."
"I doubt it."
"What do you mean?"
"He's a Gryffindor, he's supposed to hate me now."
"He doesn't hate you."
"How do you know?"
"Cause I know your brother." She shrugged. "Besides, I'm Gryffindor and I don't hate you."
"What happened to your eye?" He ran his hand through his hair, something Malorie had seen mirrored in Sirius.
"Quidditch practice."
"Are you on the team?"
"No but I'm trying out." "Oh. Well, good luck." He stepped passed her, hesitating on continuing down the hall. "Is Sirius trying for beater?" She nodded. "Tell him good luck."
"Will do."
Malorie returned to the common room with a smile on her face. Not only had Regulus had a pleasant, if somewhat stilted conversation with her, her eye had returned to normal and she no longer needed her eye patch.
"I figured we'd just sit here and wait after dinner until everyone's gone to bed." She heard James say as she plopped into a chair by the fire. "You're eye looks better." He smiled.
"Yep." She grinned. "I saw Regulus on my way to the hospital wing." She noticed Sirius' eyebrows rise. "He thinks you hate him you know."
"I don't ha-"
"I know. I told him that. We also got talking about quidditch and he asked if you were trying out, so I told him you were."
"And?"
"And he told me to tell you good luck."
"Did he really?" Sirius seemed a little skeptical but beneath that, Malorie could see he was pleased. "Shall we go to dinner then?" He asked, changing the subject and everyone climbed to their feet in agreement.
After dinner Malorie watched as Sirius hurried his steps to fall beside his brother. They exchanged a few words and he then returned to the group with a smile. Malorie was happy that what was presumed to be a growing hatred between the family had been subdued between siblings. At least for the moment.
Back in the common room Malorie had to sit and reassure Alice and Lily that she wasn't dating Remus. Imelda was still convinced otherwise and Holly, who knew how ridiculous it was, found the whole thing hilarious.
"Honestly, Lils! I'm twelve why would I want a boyfriend?"
"You can't deny that you're always with him." Alice commented.
"Them! I'm always with them!" Malorie dropped her head onto the table, wincing as she made contact with the wood a little too forcefully.
"Aw, come on. Leave her alone." Holly giggled. "I think she's had enough for tonight." The raven haired girl stood from her chair with a yawn. "I'm going to bed."
"You mean you're going to re-read Quidditch Through The Ages?" Lily teased. Holly flicked the red heads ear and headed off.
It wasn't long before Lily and Alice followed suit, failing to hide their giggles when Malorie said she was going to sit with the boys for a while. She groaned as she dropped onto the sofa, lifting her legs and resting them on Peter's lap.
"Something wrong?" He asked.
"Imelda has told the girls that me and Remus are dating."
"And they believe her?" James snorted.
"Lils and Alice do. Holly thinks the whole thing is brilliant."
"Well, according to Martin in the year above, Scott Wood thinks Holly's brilliant." Sirius chimed in.
"Really?" Malorie let out a loud laugh. "Brilliant. Holly has no interest in boys unless they're holding a broom and a quaffle."
Soon enough the rest of Gryffindor house had gone off to bed and the boys were stepping under James' cloak. Malorie double checked that the common room was empty before transforming into her preferred form of a red fox and heading out of the portrait hole. Remus had told her to head for the womping willow, since she couldn't see the boys to follow them. She headed there quickly, knowing that the boys would have to move slow so as not to be revealed from beneath the cloak.
She managed to get outside relatively quickly, waiting just a little way from the womping willow. She had no idea why Remus had said to meet there but presumed he had some secret hiding place. It was a while before the boys showed up, apparently Filch had been skulking by and heard Peter sneeze.
Remus made the boys stay beneath the cloak just incase someone came outside and Malorie stayed as a fox. She watched as he picked up a long stick and edged closer to the tree. He poked a random knot at the base of the trunk and the tree grew very still as Remus gestured for them to follow him. Malorie followed him through an opening and once they were no longer in the open she returned to herself. The boys appeared soon after.
"The womping willow?" Sirius asked, incredulous. "You hide inside a violent tree?"
"This tree has only been here since last year. Dumbledore had it planted here to hide this passage." Remus began explaining.
"Another passage." Peter noted. "So there are more."
"I presume." Remus nodded as he lead the group on.
"Where exactly does this tunnel go, Remus?"
"The Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade."
"The what in where?" Malorie's eyes grew wide and she heard James snigger behind her.
"Remember I told you about wizarding villages?" He asked and she 'hmmed' in agreement. "Well Hogsmeade is one. The shrieking shack is a house there. It's supposed to be haunted."
"James, when did you hear about the shack?" Remus stopped, turning to face his friends.
"Last year I think." James shrugged, ruffling his hand through his hair. "Why?"
"Cause before I turned up it was just an old house that no one lived in."
"Before you-" Malorie frowned. "You mean people heard you as a... A wolf and thought it was ghosts?" Remus nodded grimly. "Idiots. What kind of ghost howls?"
