Chapter 10.
Christmas holiday had begun. Everyone was busily getting out of the castle, doing the trek through the snow to the carriages to get to the train station. Except of course me and a few other students who had decided to stay here for holiday. I pushed my way through the throng of people getting checked off a list of Filch's just to get to the Great Hall for a late breakfast. I was in a bad mood.
I had woken up early this morning to check the willow bark that I was steeping with the lacefly wings. But when I had gotten down to the dungeon, the door was unlocked and cracked open. Fearing the worst, I opened the door to find that the dungeon was a mess. My three cauldrons were all tipped over. The lacefly wings and willow bark, the larkspur and frog spawn, and worse the Wolfsbane brew were all spilt. Tears began to weld up in my eyes as I fumed. I cursed out loud. No one but me and Professor Slughorn had access to this room. I looked around for any more damage. My plants were all wilted, my flasks and beakers shattered. Even my books were scattered about the room, some of them even in the potion spill.
I tried my best to clean what I could up with a mop and broom. The hot tears fell from my face as I picked up my Potion's book from the murky waters of the larkspur and frog spawn mixture.
I got so tired of looking at it all that I washed my hands and angrily left, locking the door and making sure it was locked.
Some students were all hugging one another wishing good-byes and Happy Christmases. I sat at the Gryffindor table and took a napkin and dried the tears off of my face.
"Hey!" exclaimed Lily, coming to sit next to me and grabbing a roll. "Saw you woke up early… Oh," she said, noticing my face, "what happened?"
"Someone got into my dungeon and ruined everything," I growled, keeping my voice down. I stared at my empty plate, clenching my jaw.
Lily huffed.
"Who d'you think did it?" she asked, her voice dropping too.
"Probably someone who is pissed off at me about something…."
"Why? I don't see any reason unless they think you're doing something down there that you shouldn't be doing…."
"I have permission from Professor Slughorn to be working down there!" I nearly yelled. I took a deep breath and gave her a reassuring look. "I'm sorry. I don't have any reason to yell at you…. You didn't do anything…."
She smiled, her green eyes sparkling.
"It's okay," she sighed. "I'm used to it by now. Your fuse is shorter than mine at times. Anyway"—she hugged me—"I best be off. I'll send you a card and your present. Have a Happy Christmas, Sal." She held me at a distance and lowered her voice. "I'll do what I can to find out who did this to you. In the mean time, just stay calm. Ya got that?"
I gave her a weak smile, sniffing.
"Yeah…. I got it."
"Good!" She hugged me again before getting up. "See you soon, love!"
"'Bye!"
I watched her walk out of the Great Hall, catching a glimpse of Snape watching her with sad eyes before sighing to himself and turning back to the Slytherin table. He knew what I was doing in the dungeon, but I don't think it would have been him.
The boys made their merry way into the Great Hall and took seats around me. James was hiding behind a happy grin, Sirius egging him on about something. Remus sat next to me, and Peter on the other side of James. Remus put his arm around me and gave me a half hug.
"How are you this morning?" he asked, giving me a small peck on the cheek.
I rolled my eyes, shook my head, and heaved a sigh.
"Not so lovely as I would have wished."
Sirius looked at me.
"Whaddya mean, Carty? You looked God-awful."
"Thanks, Blacky, for that blunt statement on my looks."
He shrugged.
"Well, he is right," Remus said carefully. "What's wrong?"
I heaved a sigh as the four of them looked at me.
"Hurry up, Sal. Sirius and I have to leave soon," James said, sticking a spoonful of oatmeal into his mouth and swallowing.
I told them what happened this morning. Sirius gawked, a piece of roll sticking to his lip. James glared behind his glasses, Peter clenched his jaw, and Remus hit the table with his fist. I jumped.
"Bastard," Remus growled.
"I bet you I know who did it," James added angrily and confident.
"Who?" I asked, wiping away a tear.
"Snivellus."
"I don't think Severus would do anything. He'd have no reason to."
"Well, we'll try to figure something out," Sirius reassured, standing up. "But Prongs and I need to head to the train."
"Nah, let's make a late entrance."
I suppressed the urge to glare.
"Sal, we'll help you figure it out," James said, not smiling at me, his tone serious. "Have a good holiday."
"You too." I smiled weakly. "Say hi to Aunt Dorea and Uncle Charlus for me.
James's eyes went sad, as Sirius gave him a sorrowful glance.
"Will do."
And with a few Happy Christmases, James and Sirius left to go home.
Peter looked up and down the table.
"Doesn't look like many people are staying this holiday…."
I looked. There were a few Gryffindors, maybe about ten in total sitting. It seemed that way with the other houses. It could be that some of those students lost their parents to You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters.
Remus finished off his pumpkin juice before looking at the two of us.
"Should we help you clean up the dungeon?"
I sniffed.
"That would be lovely."
The three of us got up and went down to my dungeon. I unlocked the door and stepped inside and stood in the middle of the room to soak in the mess. Peter gasped and Remus growled.
"Who in the world would do this…?" Peter asked as he looked in one of the tipped cauldrons.
"I dunno. But I cleaned up some of the potions themselves," I answered, going to a cabinet and taking out some gloves. I handed a pair to Peter and to Remus. "You may want to wear these just in case…."
"Just in case of what?" Peter asked, his face in shock.
"There's broken glass and poisonous liquids all over the floor. Don't need anyone going up to the hospital wing."
Remus put on his gloves and took his wand out of his pocket. He gave it a flick and most of the broken glass off the floor and around the room lifted up and repaired itself. One shattered remnant had not been so lucky.
"Wonder why that is…" Remus muttered, walking over to inspect some of the fragments. It was a vial that had been broken that I had acquired from Professor Slughorn. I didn't notice it before. Dark red liquid surrounded it, fizzing slightly. Blood.
"What's that?" Peter asked, putting down a rag and coming over to inspect as well.
I stood behind them.
"It's blood. Magic won't work on it."
Remus didn't look, but Peter did.
"Blood?"
I shifted nervously on my feet.
"I was going to experiment with adding blood to it to see what it would do," I explained quietly, keeping my head down. "Dad had written something in his notes about the possibility of using a certain type of blood in the potion. He used some of his blood in a potion he gave to David and I when we were kids, at least, I think he did…."
"Isn't blood in a potion supposed to be taboo?" Peter asked, glancing at Remus for the answer.
He shrugged.
"It could be why someone wanted to destroy all of this."
"That doesn't make sense, though," I pondered. "No one knew about the blood except Professor Slughorn, Professor Dumbledore, and myself."
"Did Slughorn have to get Dumbledore's permission for it?" Remus asked, standing up finally and tucking his wand away. Peter stood up too.
"Yes…" I went and got a damp rag and began mopping up the mess. The rag turned red with the blood. My own fumed. Professor Slughorn went to great lengths to get me this blood and now it was all gone.
"How come you couldn't fix it, Moony?"
"I dunno," Remus answered Peter.
As I was taking the last swipe, a piece of glass caught my finger. I winced at the pain, but didn't freak out as much as a normal person would have. I stood up and went to the sink. I dropped the rag into the bottom and began cleaning out my cut with some water. When I was finished I grabbed a clean, dry rag and dried my hands. I turned back around to them.
"It's because that blood can't be touched with magic."
Remus raised an eyebrow.
"So is that why Slughorn needed permission from Dumbledore?"
I nodded.
"I did too, actually. Last week I got the okay to use it. And I was going to hopefully have it all finished this holiday and possibly have the chance to finally test it on a few lab rats injected to see what it would do. But now I can't. And it sucks."
"Injected with what?" Peter asked.
"I can't really say... But I wasn't going to be testing it here. I was to go to St. Mungo's to test it."
"Just to be safe, I assume?" Remus asked, putting a hand in his pocket.
"Yeah. Don't need any rabid rats running around, do we?" I forced a laugh.
Peter actually did laugh at it. Remus chuckled giving his friend a look. Apparently that look said something to the both of them because they both just started laughing really hard. I stood there wanting to ask what was so funny, but kept it to myself. Instead I shook my head at them, giving the room a look. It wasn't anywhere near perfection as I would like it to have been, but I will have to inform Slughorn about what happened in here. I sighed (Remus and Peter were still laughing about something) as I walked over to the Wolfsbane plant that was now dead. Someone didn't want me working on that potion.
"So, who d'you think did it?" Remus asked, putting his arm around me.
It was Christmas Eve, finally a night where I could spend without Peter involved with Remus and I, since he wanted to go to sleep early. The Christmas party had been cancelled since most of the members went home to spend time with their families this holiday. But it benefitted me nicely meaning I didn't have to work on fixing decorations or anything to that nature. I had written to Slughorn telling him that the scheduled date for me to go to St. Mungo's will have to be cancelled due to something going wrong; I didn't tell him what had happened, exactly.
I curled into Remus's side, resting my head on his chest. I could hear his heart beat.
"I don't know," I whispered, staring into the fire, which was dying. "I've been trying not to think about it at all."
"Oh."
"Why? Have you thought about it at all?" I asked, looking up at him.
He kissed my forehead.
"Not too much. I have my theories, though…."
I sat up and looked at him.
"What would be your theories?"
He took my hand and held it.
"What kind of blood was it?" he asked, dropping his voice, giving me a very serious look.
I leaned back and played with his fingers. His own thumb rubbed the bandage I had on the cut from the glass.
I heaved a sigh, trying to find the words. For a second I didn't want to tell him, but another part of me told me I could trust him with the information.
"Werewolf blood," I answered quietly, praying that if anyone was in the Common room they wouldn't hear our exchange. "I don't know where or how Slughorn got it, and I didn't ask. Dumbledore must have known because he okayed it. He asked me why I needed it for my potion, and I told him that Dad had it in the ingredients' list with a question mark next to it. Almost as if he was wondering if it needed blood."
I looked at him, but he was looking into the fire, his face expressionless, except his eyebrows were furrowed some. He was thinking.
I continued. "Dumbledore approved of it after some deliberation and reading through some of my dad's things. He knew my dad when he was a student here, when Dumbledore was the Transfiguration teacher." I stifled a laugh. "Said something about having to give Dad detention since he never paid attention in class because he was always doodling around in his potion's book."
Remus gave a little laugh.
"Kinda what you do now." He looked at me and smiled. "No wonder why you're failing."
I dropped my jaw and glared.
"That is not the reason!" I snarled.
He laughed.
"Then what is the reason?"
"My wand fails. Alright?"
He rolled his eyes, his smiling fading.
"Did anyone know about the blood besides Dumbledore and Slughorn?" he asked, making the conversation serious again.
I sighed and ragged my brain.
"I'm pretty sure not. Severus knows I'm working on a potion in there. He's quite angry about that since I… well, since he thinks that he has to compete with me."
He patted my head.
"I'm not going to be overly critical, but you are better than him. But that's to not boost your ego."
I giggled.
"Thanks a lot."
"No problem. But anyway, it could be because of that blood…."
I sighed, the sight of my dungeon still in ruins in my eyes.
Remus heaved a heavy sigh as well. He nudged me in the side.
"Want to get something from the kitchens?"
I glanced at him. He was smiling.
"Or, if the Three Broomsticks was open, we could go there…."
"We're not sneaking out of the castle," I joked. "Kitchens are fine."
He stood up and held out his hand.
"C'mon then."
I took it and we headed to the kitchens.
The castle was quiet since no one was around. We did, however, catch Snape sulking around the first floor, looking like he was waiting for someone to come by. We gave each other a look and decided not to find out what was going on. When we arrived to the portrait of the bowl of fruit, Peeves was bouncing around the corridor. He saw us and a wicked grin crept onto his face.
He floated over to us and hung upside-down in the air, still grinning.
"What are you perfect Prefects doing?" he cackled.
"None of your business, Peeves," I said, raising my hand to the portrait to tickle the pear.
"Uh uh uh! I wouldn't do that, if I were you!"
I lowered my hand and crossed my arms. Peeves began to cackle even louder.
"And why shouldn't we?" Remus asked, not sounding very persuasive.
"You're not allowed in the kitchens!" Peeves snarled at him, pointing.
"Piss off, Peeves," I sneered. "You shouldn't be talking to Prefects like that."
"Perfect little Prefects! Loony, loopy Lupin and Carty-Warty!"
Remus clenched his jaw and angrily moved around me and tickled the pear, turning the handle when it appeared. The door opened and he stepped inside and waited for me. Peeves cackled, chanting "Loony, loopy Lupin and Carty-Warty!" all down the corridor, spinning in circles.
"He gets on my nerves," Remus growled, shutting the door behind me.
"Yep."
We were instantly greeted by some of the house-elves that were awake. One, whose name was Finch, bowed, his nose touching the floor.
"What can Finch do for young Remus and Miss Sallie?"
"To be quite frank, I'm actually kind of hungry," I said, a little quietly. "Is there any of that pie left from dessert?"
Remus snorted.
"Yes, Miss Sallie. Which pie could Finch get for you? There is the treacle tart, boysenberry pie, and pumpkin pie."
Finch looked up at me, his big blue eyes full of happiness. House elves are so cute.
"Boysenberry," I said with a sweet smile.
Finch bowed and went off to get a slice of pie for me.
Remus made a face.
"I was hoping you'd say pumpkin."
"What, so you could steal it?" I joked, poking him in the side. "I know you don't like boysenberry. With the way you were making that face at me at dinner."
He made a gagging noise with the thought of boysenberry.
"Well, I won't be snogging you."
"Sure you won't be! The only person in your dormitory is Peter, and he sleeps through anything, doesn't he?"
He gave me a sly look, as if he had actually been thinking about it.
"You do know James asked me if we were going to do it, right?" I asked as Finch handed me my pie slice.
Remus did a double take as Finch held him a slice of pumpkin pie.
"Asked you what?"
"If you and I… y'know…."
He coughed awkwardly as I said good-bye and thank-you to Finch for the pies. He bowed as we left, closing the door for us. We walked back to the common room and began to eat our pies. Remus, all the while, making gagging noises as I took bite after bite of mine.
I managed to make him kiss me after all. And I was right, Peter does sleep through anything. Of course, he had to stare at us when we finally woke up the next morning. It was more a look of shock than anything.
"You did what while I was sleeping?"
Remus looked at me all sleepy-eyed, and I rolled over and hugged him.
It was a wonderful night.
I really hope you liked this. I actually have a mystery going on! Can you guess who did it? Super long, but there was no other choice. Continue checking in to see what happens next! Oh! And before you go and click "review this chapter" bare in mind, I did edit some chapters along the way… Redid them, a little bit. Just to make things flow better. Well, see you in Ch. 11!