I do not own Harry Potter. Direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be in bold.

It's Finally Happened

Snape brought the trio back to Hogwarts the day everyone else was due to arrive. Ron was still furious with Hermione, and although Charlie was irritated she knew Hermione was only trying to protect her. "A Firebolt, Hermione!" Charlie complained once more as they walked into the frigid January air to await Harry's arrival.

Hermione frowned. "You don't want to be thrown off when you're fifty feet in the air, do you?"

Ron grunted. Charlie couldn't help but giggle. "Come on, Ron. You have no reason to be upset. Just think, if I never get my Firebolt back, Gryffindor might win the Quidditch Cup!"

"Funny!" the redhead retorted. He still thought the loss of the Firebolt wasn't a laughing matter, but he cracked a smile anyway.

"There he is!" Hermione cried out suddenly, waving her arms in the air as Harry pushed ahead in the flow of kids travelling for the front steps. Harry panted as he jogged up to meet them, his face flushed.

"Hey, guys! How was your Christmas?" Harry asked as they started their way into the castle.

Ron snorted. "It was spent with Snape."

Harry gaped at them. "Seriously?"

"Yup. We were the only students left in the castle, so I guess Dumbledore told Professor Snape to take us to his place for those two weeks." Charlie grinned at Harry's expression. "It wasn't so bad, really. How was your Christmas?"

Harry shook his head. "Not as interesting as yours was, I'm sure. Uncle Remus and I just spent it at home."

"Did you take your annual Glamour Potion?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded. Hermione hummed in thought. "I wonder if there is a spell that can cancel a Glamour...just for a moment."

"Library?" Ron asked glumly as Hermione quickly changed course and strode for her beloved library.

"But I just got here!" Harry protested as Charlie dragged him along. "Merlin..."

...

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you."

Charlie looked up from the stack of books Hermione had assigned her. Scarlet stood over her with crossed arms. "Yes?"

"Have you gotten a new broom yet? We have a match against the Gryffindors next week and I'd rather you not use the school brooms."

"Well, I had a Firebolt-"

"No way!" Scarlet squealed. She clasped her hands in excitement. "Where is it? Can I try it? How did you get it?"

"Whoa! I said I had a Firebolt. It was from an anonymous sender and Professor Snape sent it to Professor Flitwick to check for jinxes. I don't know when I'll get it back."

Scarlet was devastated. "But a Firebolt! Surely he's just being paranoid! I'll go have a word with him. A Firebolt! Oliver won't believe it!"

She hurried off and Charlie shook her head. She continued to skim the text in various books and jumped when Hermione uttered a squeal of delight from beside her.

"I think she found something," Rom remarked as he happily shut his own dusty volume. "What have you got, Hermione?"

Hermione read the passage aloud to them. "A Glamour is cast for various reasons, the most common being for simple vanity. However, some cast Glamours to avoid the law. If someone becomes suspicious of a person who is wearing a Glamour, the Glamour can be cancelled for a brief moment by uttering the spell Glamour Cancellius and tapping the person's nose. If the person is wearing a Glamour, the Glamour will disappear and reveal the true person for mere seconds.

"This library does have everything!" Harry marvelled.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ron exclaimed.

They all hurried from the library and through the twisting corridors until they came upon Myrtle's bathroom. The gloomy ghost appeared as they barged in. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon," Charlie greeted the ghost she often visited when she couldn't sleep. "How are you?"

"Depressed, as usual."

Hermione removed her wand and stepped up to Harry. "Okay, are you ready? Glamour Cancellius!"

Everyone watched in awe as Harry's brown eyes melted into emerald green ones. His dark complexion turned a few shades paler and he grew significantly skinner. His black hair grew shaggier and Harry Potter stood before them.

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed as he looked in the mirror.

"There's no doubt about it. You guys are definitely twins." Ron laughed. "I guess long and unmanageable hair runs in the family, yeah?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at Harry. "You look very nice, Harry."

"Thanks. When am I going to change into my usual form again?" Harry asked as he twisted a strand of long dark hair around his finger. "Uncle Remus will freak if he catches me like this."

Hermione checked the book she had taken out. "It said just a few seconds-oh."

Charlie frowned. "I don't like the sound of that."

Hermione flushed. "I suppose I should have read further...the Glamour will be cancelled for a few seconds if it's a spell...but it will fade after thirty minutes if it's a Glamour Potion. Apparently, the potions aren't as strong as the spells."

"What?" Harry cried.

"It's true. Although you do need to keep up on Glamour spells, they give off a stronger cloaking than a potion would," Hermione explained. "That's why you need to take so many of them a year."

"That's not what he meant." Ron rolled his blue eyes. "He's freaking out because he has to go a half-hour as Harry Potter instead of his usual Harry Lupin."

"Oh...well, he'll just have to hide in here for a half-hour." Hermione shrugged apologetically. "We can stay with you."

Harry sighed. "Why is it always-?"

He cut off as giggles erupted from the other side of the bathroom door. Hermione gasped softly and frantically cast a Disillusionment Charm on both Ron and Harry. A second after she finished Cho Chang and her friends entered the bathroom.

Charlie and Hermione pretended to wash their hands as Cho used the mirror. "I would normally never use this bathroom, but Padma is hogging the mirror in our dorm bathroom," she explained.

Ron was standing absolutely still. Cho's friend was standing uncomfortably close to him and he was afraid to move. His nose twitched and he inhaled as he started to sneeze. Harry shot out an arm and placed a finger against his nose to halt it. Unfortunately for him, his arm accidently whacked against the girl's head and she screamed. "Something just hit me!"

Charlie was about to say that was ridiculous when Ron sneezed-loudly. Cho shrieked and raced from the bathroom with her friends hot on her heels. Charlie and Hermione hastily ushered Ron and Harry out of the bathroom. Filch would no doubt be by soon to see what the commotion was about, and Norris had a nose like a bloodhound.

"Well..." Charlie grinned as they started down the corridor, Ron and Harry trailing behind Hermione as silently as possible. "That went well."

"Get this Charm off of me!" Ron hissed.

"I don't think so. You can keep Harry company until the spell wears off. Just hang outside and chat until the half-hour is up. Then find us and we'll take the Charm off of you," Hermione said.

Harry groaned. "Why did this have to get so complicated?"

...

It was just before dinnertime when Ron and Harry managed to find Charlie. She took off the Disillusionment Charm and was relieved to see Harry Lupin standing in front of her. "Well, that worked out quite well."

"You didn't have to stand in the freezing snow for a half-hour!" Ron snapped.

"I am never doing that again," Harry agreed. "Ron and I are going to play chess after dinner. Do you want to play?"

"Professor Lupin just sent me a note. He said I can go to the History of Magic room if I'm still interested in those Anti-Dementor lessons." Charlie wrinkled her nose at the very mention of the awful creatures. "I'll see you guys tomorrow morning."

She entered the Great Hall and ate a quick meal of casserole and bread before hurrying off to the History of Magic room. Remus was already inside waiting for her. "Good evening, Charlotte."

"Good evening." Charlie eyed the large pack on Professor Binn's desk. "What's that for?"

"Well, we very well can't bring an actual Dementor into the school, can we? Luckily I managed to find another Boggart to practice on."

"What do I have to do?"

"I want you to focus on a happy memory and say Expecto patronum. It's a Patronus Charm," Remus explained. "Each Patronus is unique to each wizard. A Patronus is so pure that a Dementor can't stand it. I want to remind you that this is advanced magic, Charlotte. You shouldn't worry if you don't get it right."

"I'll give it a shot." Charlie closed her eyes and focussed on the first time she ever rode a broomstick. "Expecto patronum!"

A silvery mist erupted from the end of her wand. Remus nodded in approval. "Alright, here we go."

He opened the package and a Dementor immediately flew out. Charlie pointed her wand and started the spell, but choked halfway through it when a frigid sensation washed over her and clouded her mind. Her mother's screaming started again and-

"Charlotte!"

Charlie jerked. She realized that she had fallen to the floor. "I'm fine!" She got to her feet and wiped the sweat off of her brow. "Can we go again?"

Remus studied her. "If you're sure. Perhaps you should select another happy memory."

Charlie took a deep breath and prepared herself. Remus lifted the lid of the pack again and Charlie managed to say the spell before she fainted. Gulping, she climbed back to her feet. Remus stared at her worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Charlie whispered. This time she had heard her father shout. "One more time."

Remus nodded, and this time Charlie managed to have a silvery mist escape from the tip of her wand. "You did very well," he told her as he handed her a Chocolate Frog. "Would you like to do this again next week? Same time, same place?"

Charlie grinned weakly. "Sure. That Dementor is going down!"

...

Scarlet found Charlie the next morning and told her Flitwick wouldn't budge. "He even threatened to give me detention! Honestly, how does he expect us to win if our Seeker doesn't have a broom?"

Charlie shrugged. "If the worst happens and I don't get it back by the match, then I'll use a school broom. I'm not buying a new one until Professor Flitwick is certain my Firebolt is dangerous."

Scarlet was crestfallen. "Fine...practice is tomorrow morning, at dawn. I'm trying to book the pitch as much as possible. Flint and Oliver are busy killing each other for time so I just slip in and grab it."

"We'll do great," Charlie promised.

Deciding it wouldn't be worth it to check with Professor Flitwick, Charlie searched for Hermione and found her behind a stack of books in the corner of the Ravenclaw Common Room. She browsed through some books and rolled her eyes. "Hermione, perhaps you should drop a few subjects."

"I couldn't do that!" Hermione cried, shoving aside one textbook in favour of another. "I've been doing so well so far!"

Charlie wondered how Hermione was getting to be at two classes at the same time, but decided that if Hermione hadn't told her yet then it wasn't her business. "I'm going to do my Transfiguration homework. Good luck with...this."

The raven-haired girl worked until it was time for Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had been in gloomy spirits since getting the notice, but seemed rather cheery that day. The lesson was interesting enough and no one got hurt. Hermione asked Ron if he had written his speech and he pulled it out of his pocket for her to peruse. After a few corrections and additions, she deemed it acceptable.

Charlie had another Anti-Dementor lesson after dinner. Her progress was slow, as on good days she was able to cast a silvery mist. She no longer fainted and that was a bonus for her. After a few tries she and Remus had a Butterbeer break.

"Professor Lupin," Charlie asked as she sipped the frothy drink. "What does a Dementor have under his hood?"

Remus looked thoughtful. "No one really knows...and the people who do aren't really with us anymore."

Charlie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, a Dementor only takes off its hood when it's giving the Kiss. The Kiss is given to extremely bad witches and wizards and the Kiss takes away their soul."

"They die?" Charlie asked in horror.

"Oh, no! What the Kiss does is much worse. Without a soul, you can live. You would simply live a meaningless existence with no memories or sense of self," he explained. "In fact, the Minister is going to administer the Kiss to Black when he gets caught."

Charlie knew Remus had been friends with her father, and no doubt had been friends with Sirius Black as well. Biting her lip, Charlie wondered if she truly hated the man enough to wish the Kiss onto him.

And she was admittedly relieved to find that she didn't.

Thanking Remus, she left the History of Magic office, deep in thought. Lost in her own mind she failed to see Professor Flitwick as he came around the corner. "Oof! Sorry, Professor!"

"It's quite alright. I have something for you, Miss Potter."

Charlie gasped in delight when Flitwick held out her Firebolt. "Seriously?"

"There were no jinxes or hexes. You have a very good friend somewhere, Miss Potter. Please, do tell Miss Ezra you have gotten it back. Perhaps now she'll stop staking out my office door and ambushing me."

Charlie giggled. "I will! Thank you so much!"

She tore off down the corridor and danced a little jig. Her euphoria died instantly when Harry raced around the corner with a look of horror on his face. "What's wrong?"

He stopped in front of her and rubbed the back of his neck. "Er...well...Crookshanks has finally eaten Scabbers."

Charlie pressed a hand to her forehead. "Please no."

"Yeah. Ron found his book bag all torn up and his notebook was splattered with a bit of blood and there were a few ginger cat hairs as well. Someone must have let Crookshanks into the Gryffindor Common Room. He isn't happy and is really laying into Hermione," Harry explained.

"Oh dear," Charlie groaned. "So, you want to stick with Ron for a few months?"

"Months?"

"This isn't one of their little spats, Harry. This is huge. And we're going to be in the middle of it." Charlie marched off to find Hermione. Harry groaned.

"But I don't want to be in the middle of it!"