After Harry's third Occlumency lesson-which was surprisingly brief-he sped back into the common room like Voldemort himself was after him, surprising everyone in there.
"What the Hell happened?" Harley called after him, but her only response was the slamming door behind her little brother. That was not good, and the bad mood Harry had come in with was met the next day in Potions by a matching one from Snape.
Actually, it was even worse from Snape, whose black eyes were clouded and his face set in a more tense than usual grimace. In less than five minutes two of the Gryffindors had had ten points each taken from them, and even a Slytherin was not immune to Snape's anger, when he got twenty points taken off for simply asking a question. (Granted, it was a dumb question.)
He was eerily silent as he walked around the room, only talking to take five points from Fred for not stirring slowly enough. Harley alone had not received the brunt of his anger. She wanted to stay behind and ask him if he was all right, but felt that would be prying. Aside, she did not want to upset him more. She knew that when she was angry, she was better off left alone.
Back in the dorms, Harley caught Harry saying something about a Penseive and Sirius Black. He stopped talking when Harley entered the room, followed by the twins and the other students Snape had taken his anger out on.
They had nothing to do, as Harry, Fred, and George had been banned from Quidditch after a fight with Malfoy, but Harry was not planning to be idle.
"I need to talk to Sirius," he said.
Harley scoffed. "Okay, sure, just send Hedwig with a nice, detailed note. Or why not try the Floo Network again? That worked wonders last time."
"Actually, that's just what I was thinking," Harry said, green eyes shining behind his glasses. "If we can create a diversion to get Umbridge away from her office for a little while, I can talk to him in her fireplace, because we know it's not being monitored."
"Seems like a lot of unnecessary risk to have a conversation. Is it about the Order?" Harley asked.
Harry looked impatient. "Yes-no. Both. It's about Order members."
She glared at him. "One of the Dark Lord's visions?"
Harry shook his head. "A different kind of vision. Not mine...just, I can't talk about it. Please, trust me?"
"Okay," Harley sighed. "What can we do?"
She saw the identical gleam in the twins' eyes, and they smiled. "Leave it to us," Fred said.
"We know just the thing," George added.
They worked out a time and day, going over everything fairly quickly. Harley looked at the things that they had created, the Charms they planned on using, and felt a surge of pride. Let Hermione fawn over pigheaded Quidditch players, she loved dating someone as brilliant as Fred was. It didn't matter that he actually was a Quidditch player, or that he got low OWL scores, what mattered was that he was actually a genius, an inventor, and much stronger than anyone thought he was, including his parents. Harley had always hated the way that Molly kind of skipped over the twins because they had been troublemakers and not prefects or Head Boys. They were just as, if not more, important than Percy or Ron or the other two boys.
He pulled her aside once everyone had gone to sleep and said, "You know what this means, don't you?"
Harley nodded, having been dreading this day for months. "You're going to leave. Do not misunderstand, I cannot blame you for leaving. I just...it will be so lonely here without you." She ran her hand down his crooked tie. "You bring life to the place."
He tilted her head up and smiled, "Just a few more months and you'll be in your shop. Floo connected, Apparition accessible. And then we will be the most powerful Wizarding couple in Britain. First two small shops...then, the world!"
She giggled. "You are insane, but I bloody love your ambition!" She kissed him hard, trying to tell him things that she was unable to say aloud. He was the only person to make her feel so light, so happy. "Is everyone asleep?" She asked him.
He nodded, and without thinking he took out his wand and cast Muffliato on the whole common room, making sure they could be undisturbed.
What the twins called Operation Bugger Off was going to take place. Harley was nervous, thinking of all the things that could go wrong. She also didn't like keeping a secret like this from Snape, who trusted her as Head Girl, even though she was not in his House. She hoped this would work.
Watching the madness unfold was something that Harley would never forget as long as she lived. It was more than brilliant, and she could see that even McGonagall was vastly impressed at what the twins had done. It was some serious Charm and Potions work, and she wondered if Professor Snape had seen what they did. He had not been in the main hall when the bulk of their work was released. Flitwick had kept a piece of the chaos contained, almost as a trophy to the twins for their skills.
Finally, after they flooded the hall, the boys made their big speech, which was also a pitch for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes at 93 Diagon Alley, sent a Summoning Charm for their brooms, and left Hogwarts in a most spectacular manner fitting for them. A great way to close out their prank-littered academic career.
With the boys gone, Harley was feeling a little forlorn, but there were still some things to give her amusement, like the fact that the prank war the twins had started did not end when they left. No, it got worse, from sneaky Slytherins bringing things in from Zonko's, to Hufflepuffs putting plants that caused abrasions on the skin in Umbridge's office, to the odd creatures first year Gryffindors borrowed from Hagrid to hide in her desk, and of course, there was Peeves.
Harley had avoided the poltergeist like the plague as much as possible. He was amusing, but not when he popped in front of you, dropping your books down three staircases, and consequently making you miss the entire beginning of Potions class. Or when he took your wand and pretended to curse your Head of House. After seeing McGonagall's fear that she wanted to use the Killing Curse on her, Harley never got in the way of the poltergeist again.
Now, Harley loved to sit back and watch what Peeves did, because he was the only one whom the Frog Lady could not punish.
Just when she was thinking that she could get through this horrific year and her NEWTs without too much further incident, she heard the commotion out back by Hagrid's house. When the fifth years returned to the room, she heard the tale of how Professor McGonagall was now in hospital thanks to Umbridge's minions. Hagrid was on the run, just like Dumbledore.
This was the worst year yet, and there was still two weeks to go, and NEWTs to take.
The NEWT class was taking an extra study hall, monitored by Professor Flitwick, when there was a bit of a commotion at the door. Harley felt a hand on her back, and saw Professor Snape gesturing for her to come with him. Closing her books, she followed him out of the Great Hall.
"Dare I ask what calamity has occurred now, sir?" She asked.
"Boggart at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Possibly more than one, drawn here by all the fear, I believe. Umbridge refuses to see to it, said I could if I was so fearful of them. Fearful! That woman is an abomination to the Wizarding World."
"Why am I here, Professor?" Harley asked,
"You and Miss Spinnet were asked to accompany me. As part of your final Defence grade," he said, disdain evident in his tone. "Spinnet is already waiting at the doors. Go put your books in your dorm and meet me there as well."
Harley spluttered, "What-how-she knows! She has to know that Spinnet and I despise each other. She wants to get me in trouble, doesn't she? As punishment for what I did in her office when the whole DA was confronted."
Snape said, "I do not think a teenager has ever threatened to curse her before."
At the doors, Snape stood between the two girls. "I will say this once: any funny business and you will wish Umbridge was the one punishing you. Do you both understand me?" He spoke to them both, but his eyes only lingered on Alicia. "This is not a joke. Aside from the boggarts, there are centaurs and something making a loud, very suspicious noise in that forest. This is no time for petty arguments."
As they walked on the grounds, Alicia said, "Umbridge won't let us practise actual spells, and yet she wants us to go tackle a boggart or three? This is a death mission because of the DA, and she knows we're the most likely two to get in trouble!"
Harley arched her eyebrows. "Huh. We actually agree on something." The two girls followed Snape but the second they reached the forest, a dark, cold feeling settled over all of them.
"Professor?" Harley's voice was already wavering. This was no boggart.
"Go back to the castle," Snape said. "Both of you, right now!" He stepped in front of them, taking his wand from his pocket.
Harley had been about to say she would stay, but paused. She could not defeat a Dementor, because she was unable to produce a Patronus. "I cannot leave you to contend with them alone, sir," she said.
Alicia scoffed. "What help would you be? You can't cast a Patronus. Another sign you're a Dark witch."
"Spinnet, this is not the time or the place to be acting like a smug little child. Ten points from Gryffindor, and one more crack like that it will be detention with me from now till term ends, do you hear me?" Snape asked. "You both need to go back to the castle. This is too dangerous for you."
"You-Know-Who is back: isn't that danger enough to be in, especially for Muggle-borns like me?" Alicia said. "I'm not running away."
"Nor am I," Harley said.
"Stubborn Gryffindors," Snape muttered. "Fine. Wands at the ready, both of you." Leading them into the forest, they could all see the Dementors clearer. There were two of them, fluttering just inside the trees.
"Perhaps I am being paranoid, but is it not a bit odd for Dementors to be right here? Wouldn't they be better off in areas where Death Eaters have been spotted than at a supposedly safe school?" Harley asked. "You know, where there's a lot more fear to feed on?"
"Astute as always," Snape commented. "They-get down!"
The Dementors swooped across their heads, narrowly missing the three of them. They seemed to be more intent on Severus, and Harley thought it was easy to guess why. Lord knows what he had seen in his life. The first one dived straight for him, faster than he was, knocking him to the ground.
The second swooped over the girls and Harley could hear her own worst memory...something from deep within her mind, that her subconscious held onto.
Screams. It was her mother, shouting at someone to spare her son. Someone with a serpentine voice telling her mother to move aside. She refused. A spell. One last cry from her mother, and then her baby brother began screaming. She heard a high, cold laugh before there was nothing but Harry's cries.
Footsteps. She was terrified, what had happened? Why couldn't she hear her mum any longer? Was she hurt? Was the laughing man coming back to hurt Harley, too? No, this was a different voice, deeper and smoother. She heard new cries, cries that made her cry, too.
She heard her mother's name over and over, "Lily...oh, Lily, no…" She was crying with the man, feeling what he felt somehow. She wished he would hear her and come to get her. More voices, and then the man who had been crying left, leaving her awash in fresh tears. Why did he leave her? Why did he not take her with him? Why did he leave her all alone?
A strong voice broke through Harley's nightmare. "Expecto Patronum!" Harley saw a bright silver doe dash at the Dementor above her and Alicia, chasing it away.
She could not stand up. She was cold, shaking, and crying, though she was better off than Alicia, who was in the foetal position, whimpering. Harley heard Snape call her name, but his voice was cut off in a yell as the other Dementor came at him again.
Harley saw with horror that it was going to Kiss him, to steal his soul. "No! Professor!" she cried. This was her only chance to save him, but how could she conjure up good memories when she felt like she'd never be happy again?
She thought about the few times she had been happy, and most of those times involved the professor. The meanest man, Neville's biggest fear, the bane of Harry's existence, yet he treated her kinder than anyone had, save Fred, of course. He had given her encouragement, praise, wisdom, and so much more.
How could she sit there and let his soul-his bright, good soul, despite what others believed-be destroyed, consumed by this monster?
"Not on my watch, you bastard," she panted. "Expecto Patronum!" From her wand, a burst of bright light came forth, taking the shape of her Patronus: a large bat, which swooped over the professor, straight at the Dementor.
She heard it screech, and it was gone. She did it: she cast a Patronus! Swaying on her knees, trying to stand, she saw the professor getting to his feet, also very unsteady. She felt chilled to the bone, and very weepy, much like her three-year-old self had been.
Snape came behind Harley, an arm protectively around her, steadying them both. He was shaking worse than she was. "It's all right. It's all right, I'm here."
Turning to see if Alicia had gotten up, Harley saw that another Dementor was heading their way. How many were out there? Alicia was still on the ground, crying, and the Dementor went straight for her, her fear and anguish as delectable to it as a raw steak was to Fang, Hagrid's dog. The girl was incoherent, stuck in her dark memory, and unable to save herself.
Unable to bring up any good memories featuring her longtime tormentor, Harley tried to hold onto her thoughts about the professor as she sent her Patronus out the second time, to save the life of the girl she had wished dead many times over.
When it looked like the coast was clear, Harley helped Snape pick Alicia up and get her to walk to the castle. She was still weeping lightly, but at least they didn't have to carry her.
"Harley, there's a cauldron of your cocoa potion in my office. Please bring a flask of it to Madam Pomfrey's for Miss Spinnet."
Harley nodded and went to go, but Snape grabbed her arm.
"Are you all right?" His dark eyes searched her face, but she was as impassive as he was, all signs of her earlier tears gone.
"I will be, sir," she said, and went to go get her potion to give to Alicia. Once she'd brought it to the infirmary, Snape told her to meet him back in his office as he walked away.
Pomfrey fussed over Alicia, ignoring Harley as much as she could, as if Harley hadn't also been attacked by Dementors.
Once the nurse left, Alicia turned her haunted hazel eyes to Harley. "You saved my life."
"Yes, I did." No need to demur. What happened had happened.
"I thought you hated me. I thought...people like you couldn't produce a Patronus."
"I do hate you. I just didn't think that a Dementor deserved to eat something as rotten as your soul," Harley snapped, gathering her dirty cloak and leaving the room without having Pomfrey check her over.
Snape was waiting for her in his office, and she was glad he had thought to brew more of her potion as she drank a flask of it. The professor had already drained his, but he still looked shaken. She assumed that she did as well.
"You did excellently tonight, Harley. I am very impressed with you, and I am also in your debt," Snape said.
Harley shook her head. "No, sir, you're not. Your Patronus saved me, and I could not sit there and let that thing hurt you. You were right: when someone I cared about was in need, my Patronus showed itself. Now, sir, what are we going to do about Umbridge? First Dementors attack my brother and cousin, and now this. Am I wrong to think that there is something going on here?"
Snape sighed, hand tightening on the flask he held. "Harley, I told you my post here has something to do with the Order. I cannot get on that woman's bad side, lest I risk my position, and Dumbledore would kill me. Yes, she is most likely behind it, but there is nothing we can do at the moment."
Harley nodded. She understood, especially after seeing what had happened with McGonagall, Dumbledore, Trelawney, and Hagrid.
"Go get some rest, please. I do not know what you saw, but I know how badly those things make you feel. Your last NEWT test is tomorrow, don't forget, right before the fifth years take their OWLs. You need your strength." He held the office door open for her and she wished him a goodnight.