The morning after Christmas, Remy's undesired visions were back to normal. This put her in a bad mood for the rest of the holidays, as their absence had been like a blessing. A very short blessing. Remy, Harry and Ron were furious with Hermione. They didn't speak to her at all for the remainder of the holidays, or even after that. The rest of the students returned shortly after new years, and the castle was busy and noisy again.
After their first defence against the dark arts class (during which Remy completely ignored Remus, and Harry, Ron and Remy ignored Hermione), Harry stayed behind to ask about Dementor lessons, and Lupin agreed. Their first class was on Thursday.
"Looks ill, doesn't he?" Ron observed as they walked back to Gryffindor tower.
"Yeah, and tired," said Harry. "Is he well, Remy?"
"I'm not sure. He might just be getting old, and tired because of…well, me," she said convincingly. Harry and Ron laughed.
"I wonder what's wrong with him, though," said Ron thoughtfully. There was a 'tuh!' sound from behind them. Hermione was sitting down beside a suit of armour, re-packing her bag.
"What are you tutting us for?" snapped Ron.
"Nothing," she said exasperatedly, swinging her bag over her shoulder.
"Yes, I said I wonder what's wrong with Lupin, and you made a 'tuh' noise," Ron corrected her.
"Well it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" she said with a look of frustrating superiority. Remy's stomach went icy cold. Did Hermione know?
"If you don't want to tell us, don't," snapped Ron. She stormed off.
"She doesn't know," said Ron. But maybe she did?
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When Oliver Wood found out that they had received and lost firebolts on the same day, he looked as if someone close to him had just suddenly passed away. Ravenclaw had lost to Slytherin in the latest Quidditch match, giving Gryffindor a better chance in the running.
"What? Firebolts?? Harry- Remy- let me talk to McGonagall, I'll make her see sense! Why did she take them??" he said frantically.
"Er, they think they were sent to us by- erm, by-" Remy began,
"Sirius Black. He's meant to be after me," finished Harry.
"Yeah, yeah, but- a Firebolt? Who cares who it was sent by!" He raved, apparently nonchalant to the fact that a mass-murderer had very resolute intentions to make his seeker his next victim
"I'll talk to her, you guys. She's insane…" he muttered, before walking away briskly towards the first floor. They shrugged at each other.
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Harry's first dementor lesson took place on Thursday. Remy had decided to be the assistant, much to the disquiet of Lupin. He was probably worried that she was still angry, and would blow something up. Lupin had a large chest with a bogart in it- that would turn into a Dementor for Harry. Poor thing heard his parents again when his patronuses didn't work. Remy heard them inside her own head when he did. James screamed for Lily to take Harry and run- then when Voldemort approached her she screamed for her son's life… it gave her shudders to think about, as she had not only been offered the audio version of the potters' murder in her head, but the visual, too.
By his third go, he had chosen a happy memory to think of. Remy closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to penetrate his thoughts: He had chosen the memory of meeting Remy herself. She and Harry were sitting in the compartment of the Hogwarts express, laughing at something they had joked about. Remy grinned to herself as she exited Harry's thoughts. They had both been so young and carefree… so unlike now, when they had murder and betrayal to worry about.
He was then able to produce a large, silver cloud, protecting him from the foul, hooded creature.
"Oh my god, Harry- even I didn't get it after three goes! It took me ages. I couldn't find a happy enough memory," Remy told him, impressed, when Remus had shut the lid and handed her and Harry some chocolate.
"Isn't it supposed to be an animal?" he asked confusedly, straightening his glasses.
"That's a corporeal Patronus. But that takes time," Remus explained. "The fact that you can produce anything at all after three tries is phenomenal, though," he said amazedly. Remy nodded in agreement.
"I can't make a corporeal patronus yet, either…" mumbled Remy thoughtfully. She wondered what form her patronus might take. (A/N- remember, she can't produce a corporeal patronus yet!)
"I wonder what mine will be?" wondered Harry.
They sat down to some butterbeer, and Remy had had to stamp on Harry's foot to shut him up about loving the stuff. Remus was under the impression that Harry had never set foot in Hogsmeade. After a few sips, Harry asked Remus what was under a dementor's hood. Remy's hand froze around her butterbeer in midair.
"The only people who know are in no condition to tell us. The Dementor lowers its hood to deliver its last -and final- weapon, the dementor's kiss. It's the fate that awaits Sirius Black if the dementors find him," he said quietly. "They suck out your soul," he said with a haunted look on his face. Harry looked horrified. Remy shuddered, but caught Harry's eye and felt a surge of anger.
"He deserves it," she whispered, before taking a gulp of butterbeer. Harry nodded slowly.
"You think anyone deserves that?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, for… for some things," Harry said feebly, looking at Remy and then back down at his butterbeer. Remus looked at Remy meaningfully.
"It's about that thing you told me about, isn't it Remy," he said. Remy shrugged.
"How did you two find out, anyway?" asked Remus suspiciously. Remy automatically snapped at him
"None of your-"
"We overheard a conversation," Harry cut in. Remus looked grave, and Remy was glaring at him ever so slightly.
"I'm sorry you had to find out that way. It's getting late, you ought to get to bed," he said.
They thanked Lupin and headed up to the Gryffindor common room. Both of them were so immersed in horrible thoughts about Black and dementors, that they didn't bother saying anything out loud, and just shared thoughts. Therefore both of them got a fright when they ran headlong into McGonagall on the staircase.
"Black! Potter! Do watch where you are going," she said exasperatedly.
"Sorry, professor," they said.
"Here, your brooms have been checked, and they appear to be perfectly safe," she said, handing them two firebolts. Remy gaped at her, unable to say anything.
"Are you serious?" asked Harry, bewildered, holding his broom out in front of him in amazement.
"No, she's McGonagall," Remy muttered.
"Yes, Potter. You can have them back. All I can say is that you both have a very good friend out there somewhere," she said, smiling, before sweeping off in the other direction. Remy flung her arms around Harry in joy, who blushed slightly, before they both sprinted up to the common room to tell Ron. He was ecstatic.
"Wicked! That's amazing, you guys! You'll kill Slytherin, I know it," he said.
After making it up with Hermione, Ron went upstairs to put away Harry's firebolt, and Remy and Harry stayed to talk to Hermione about her suspiciously high pile of homework- but just moments later, Ron's scream, followed by Ron's self came racing down the stairs. He was holding a bed sheet, at the bottom of which appeared to be blood.
"BLOOD! SCABBERS IS GONE!" he screamed, shaking it in Hermione's face. She looked rather frightened. "AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS AT THE END OF THE BED?"
"N-no, what?" she stuttered timidly. Ron threw something down onto Hermione's arithmancy chart, which as he took his hand away, appeared to be several long, spiky ginger cat hairs.
"YOUR STUPID CAT!" He bellowed at her, his eyes gleaming furiously. Remy broke the silence that followed by sneezing. She was allergic to cats.
"Er… I-" (sneeze) "Have to be somewhere. Ciao," said Remy, sensing a very heated conflict and wanting to remove herself form the tense atmosphere as quickly as possible. She and Harry practically flew from the scene, Remy sneezing violently their whole way out.
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Harry and Remy both agreed. It was going to take a phenomenon to ever mend things between Ron and Hermione. Both were so angry that neither Harry nor Remy foresaw them ever making up. Ron insisted that Crookshanks had eaten Scabbers, and was furious that she had just let him roam around the common room, and that she had never listened to Ron's requests of keeping Crookshanks away from Scabbers. Hermione insisted that anything could have happened to Scabbers, and that the cat hairs could have been there since Christmas, and that Ron had been prejudiced against Crookshanks ever since he had landed on Ron's head at the magical menagerie. Of course, Harry and Remy knew that Crookshanks had obviously eaten Scabbers, and on expressing this opinion to Hermione, they were snapped at by her. But they had other things to worry about. The Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match was coming up, and the Gryffindor team were practising non-stop. This, along with anti-Dementor lessons, seemed to be draining Harry immensely. Wood was training them hard to beat Ravenclaw, much to Ron's benefit, as he got to have a go on the Firebolt. It was excellent- they all agreed that there was no better feeling than flying at top speed on the best broomstick in the world.
The Gryffindor team flattened Ravenclaw in the Quidditch match. It was astounding. Remy, Angelina and Katie seemed to score goal after goal with apparent ease, Remy especially on her new broom, and Harry fought off dementors, before an absolutely spectacular catch of the golden snitch. It had been tantalisingly out of reach, and Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker, had fallen behind. When it was lingering on his fingertips, dark, cloaked figures had swept out onto the pitch. Remy had began to feel hopeless, thinking that yet again the dementors would foil Gryffindor's victory- but Harry had pulled out his wand, cast a quick-thought Patronus and grabbed the snitch, all in the space of one second. Legendary.
While the crowd roared, the team swooped down on Harry, Remy wrapping her arms around him first and kissing him on the cheek. The crowd swarmed out onto the pitch, cheering the new Quidditch champions. It turned out it had been Malfoy, Flint and Goyle impersonating dementors, and the sight of McGonagall yelling herself hoarse at them added to their utter elation.
"Party in the Gryffindor common room!" Fred, George and Remy had cried, hoisting Harry onto their shoulders and, the Gryffindors following, parading back to the castle.
It certainly was an incredible party. The common room had been decorated to the extreme, and after Remy, Fred and George had returned with plentiful stock of food and drink from Hogsmeade, the celebrations began. Hermione remained in a corner, trying to study over the noise, while everyone else went on partying.
"Ron, why don't you lay off?" Remy snapped at Ron, who was eating a cauldron cake, and had just made a loud remark about what a shame it was that Scabbers wasn't here.
"Yeah, give her a break. She's got enough homework to stress her out without you being a prat to her," said Harry.
"It was her cat, not mine. I told her to keep it away from Scabbers," he said indignantly. Harry rolled his eyes and dragged Remy away to the drinks table.
The party went on, until professor McGonagall turned up at one in the morning with her hairnet on, telling them all to get to bed. Everyone filed up to their dormitories, but Remy hung back, waiting for Scott Elbury, a fourth year, to emerge from his dormitory and join her. He had asked her for a date, and when she had asked 'when?' he had replied, 'after the party, of course.'
*
Scott had been very interesting company on their walk around the black lake. They had stationed themselves on the bank and talked and joked(maybe kissing a couple of times…), and eventually lost track of time. Just a usual date. Remy was beginning to wonder why they didn't feel so special anymore. The only time she really felt special was…
"We should get back," Remy said, still grinning from something he had just said. He looked disappointed, but agreed. They made their way back up to the castle together- but just before they reached the grand staircase, someone whispered her name out of the darkness. She told Scott to go on without her, and that she would only be a minute. Remy looked around to see who had called her name.
Mob's head poked out from behind a statue, accompanied by another boy with black hair, startling her immensely.
"AH! HOLY- Mob? What's up?"
"A guy in my house saw us with my motorbike outside, and he's gone to tell professor Sprout!" hissed Mob in despair.
"Little twerp…" said the black haired boy.
"So we need a distraction to divert Sprout, so we can get safely back to the common room without being killed," explained Mob. "Any ideas?"
"Does Professor Sprout have plant senses?" asked Remy abruptly, after a brief moment of thinking. They looked at her strangely.
"Remy, kiddo, this isn't a joke," said Mob, frowning in bewilderment.
"And I wasn't joking," replied Remy brightly. "Goodnight, you guys, I have to get to bed," she said, as if nothing had happened.
"Remy! You have to help us!" said Mob desperately. Remy turned around and grinned.
"Go back to the Hufflepuff common room in about twenty minutes. She won't be there," she added confidently, before bounding away towards the Herbology greenhouse.
*
After successfully setting devil's snare on the mandrakes, attracting almost immediate attention from Professor Sprout (Remy could tell by the screams she heard five minutes afterwards), Remy made her way back to Gryffindor tower. And when she crept back into the common room, she greatly feared that it would be the last thing she ever did.
"BLACK!"
"Hi, Professor McGonagall," said Remy. She was standing in the middle of the common room before all of the Gryffindors, who were in their pyjamas. The attention seemed to have been centred around Ron- that is, until Remy walked into the room.
"How dare you wander the castle at this hour of night! It is extremely dangerous!" she said furiously, her nostrils flaring.
"I was just going for a walk, Professor, keep your hairnet on-"
"Excuse me-?"
"Professor, this is important! There's no time! I really did see him, it wasn't a dream!" urged Ron, who was ghastly pale. Harry was looking at Ron in concern, as was Percy, Fred, George and everyone else crowded around him.
"What's going on?" she asked incredulously, frowning.
"We think Ron has had a bad dream."
"It wasn't a dream, Perce! It was Sirius Black- standing over my bed with a knife!" impelled Ron in a panicky voice. Remy's entire body froze up.
"Mr. Weasley, that is a ridiculous allegation," said McGonagall, as everybody in the common room stared at Ron in shock.
"It's not! I saw him, I swear! My curtains are ripped, I'll prove it! He came in, slashed the curtains, and ran out! Then I screamed, the lights came on, and everyone came over to my bed, and I told them- and he'd already gone! I swear, professor-"
"Alright," said McGonagall curtly, walking over to the portrait hole. "I shall ask sir Cadogan."
There was silence as she walked away, and every head turned to Remy.
"Why would he slash the curtains and leave?" asked Harry through the silence.
"Dunno. Is he mentally unstable?" muttered Remy.
"We thought you might know more about it, Black," sneered a second year boy. Everyone else was staring at her. Remy had to try very, very hard not to lunge forward and strangle him.
"You insolent little twerp- How dare you even insinuate-" she began to snarl-
"Shhh!" shushed Hermione, gesturing to the sealed portrait hole. Everyone listened to the voices outside it with baited breath.
"Sir Cadogan, did you let a man through here just now?" said McGonagall impatiently.
"Certainly, dear lady!"
"You- you did? Why on earth did you let him in! What about the password?" McGonagall asked angrily.
"He had 'em all on a little piece of paper! I have committed no crime, my noble lady-"
McGonagall cut him off by barging through the portrait hole.
"Which foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?" she asked in a deadly voice.
Over the heads of the crowds, Neville's hand ascended slowly into the air, trembling from head to toe.
"Mr. Longbottom, how dare you! How could you have been so utterly stupid? I am very, very disappointed- you have endangered your entire house, and thanks to your actions, a mass murderer has broken into your very own common room! Do you have any idea how much danger you have caused your classmates?!" she shouted. Nobody else spoke.
"And conveniently, Remy Black was 'taking a stroll' when he came in," said a fourth year girl slyly.
"I didn't see anyone! I went out at like 1.15 and came back just then! You saw me come in! I didn't see anything! I didn't even know what you were talking about until Ron said he saw the prick come into the room!" cried Remy in outrage. Many people glared at her, but Harry, Ron, Hermione, Aria, Neville, Fred, George, Ginny and Percy did not.
"I do not believe you have seen Black or had anything to do with him, Miss Black, but what were you doing out of bed?" asked McGonagall, eyes narrowed.
"I was- erm…" she muttered, feeling like a deer in headlights. Everyone was staring at her expectantly. She had to do this without getting Scott in trouble, or revealing to everyone that she had been on a date with him in the middle of the night. That could cause some unnecessary suspicions. She caught Scott's eye very briefly.
"I met up with a guy from another house," she said quickly. Many students nudged their friends and whispered things in their ears, and girls giggled quietly. Remy glared at them murderously.
"And who might that be? What were you doing out of bed?" asked McGonagall angrily.
"Just a Hufflepuff guy. He keeps my motorbike for me. Just muggle mechanical stuff, you wouldn't understand," said Remy, waving the matter away as unimportance.
"I see. And you came back inside, and saw nobody exiting the common room?"
"No," she said fiercely.
"Very well, you will have a detention tomorrow night-"
"With who?"
"Professor Snape," said McGonagall impatiently. She knew Remy despised Snape. "And ten points will be taken from Gryffindor. Mr. Longbottom- you will have detention with me for two weeks, ten points from Gryffindor and everybody is forbidden to tell Neville the Gryffindor password, am I clear?" she said sharply. Neville looked down at his toes in shame.
Remy was numb with shock. she hadn't seen anybody leaving the common room. but had someone seen her going in? she could have been standing right next to him outside the portrait, and she wouldn't have even known. the thought chilled her to the bone. She marveled at fact that Hary was still alive. his life had been on the brink of destruction- and it seemed luck alone had made Black scram. Remy wished there was something more she could do to protect Harry. but there wasn't.