Part 29 – Unfortunate Word Choice
"Miss Lupin-"
"I didn't do anything!" Mina exploded, successfully attracting the bewildered attention of half the Hall, "It was self-defense!"
McGonagall's expression slid seamlessly from startled to suspicious. "What was self-defense?" the professor demanded, beady eyes narrowed behind square specs.
Oh. Shit. So apparently the Divination professor still hadn't blabbed about their little incident the week before...
"Uh..." Mina drawled, stalling while her brain spun together a plausible tale, "There was this... this bloody great big giant spider. Ya. Size of a dachshund, I swear. And I didn't mean to hurt him, but when something fanged and hairy crawls across your face in the middle of the night, it's just instinct. I tried to find him after I threw him against the wall. I wanted to take him to Kettleburn, to make sure the beast was ok-"
"Miss Lupin," McGonagall interrupted, mouth a tight, colorless gash in her somber face, "Why in Merlin's name would I be coming to talk to you about a spider?"
Mina shrugged and countered, "I don't know. Why are you?"
"I'm not!"
"Well, alright then," the girl hurriedly agreed, "Glad that's settled. I really need to get to Potions-"
"Sit," the professor ordered.
Mina did, glumly. She'd been so close to escaping breakfast without reprimand. Damn Mondays.
The boys gave her looks of mingled concern and confusion as McGonagall shooed them and a few stragglers away. Soon, the Great Hall stood otherwise empty.
Finally, the rigid Scot sat on the bench beside Mina and regarded her with a fair amount of frustration (and just maybe a miniscule nugget of affection). "I have been informed that you missed your detention last night," McGonagall began, "I assume you have a very good reason?"
Professor Giles is a fucking lunatic, and (shocking as it sounds) I don't want to have to punch him again.
"Er," Mina said instead, "Cramps?"
McGonagall closed her eyes and sighed, scolding, "If you were feeling poorly enough to neglect your obligations, then you should've gone to the nurse-"
"Because she loves me."
"You need to be more respectful of Professor Giles's time," the woman continued, ignoring the outburst, "Especially with his recent injury-"
"You can't pin that on me!" Mina crowed. Striking a faculty member was probably the closest she'd come to getting expelled (which was saying something), even though she really had been defending herself against the arsehole's insane gibberish and bruising grip.
(Seriously, she had a dark purple handprint on her wrist. If it weren't for glamour charms, she would've had to go around in long sleeves.)
(Still, with her record, she was kind of nervous about being believed.)
Seeming kind of... sad, McGonagall placed a gentle hand on Mina's shoulder. "Of course not," the prim woman soothed, "My dear, I'm sorry if you feel like you're being persecuted, but the other professors and I really don't go around inventing ways to blame you and your friends for everything that goes wrong in the school. We do our best to be fair to all our students, even... rambunctious ones like you. And we certainly wouldn't be cruel and petty enough to punish you for an old man slipping in the shower."
Mina raised a speculative eyebrow, repeating (with some disbelief), "He slipped in the shower?"
"I'm afraid so," answered McGonagall, "Poor soul got a nasty bump to the head. And he isn't terribly fond of Madame Mary either, so he refuses to let her sort the bruise."
Holy shit, Mina thought to herself, Am I actually getting away with this?
(The girl really wished she would've known that before spending the whole weekend in a twitchy haze of paranoia.)
"I'll let the absence slide this time," McGonagall went on, oblivious to how much trouble Mina should've been in, "But I expect you to be punctual and well-behaved during the remainder of your punishment. And please be kind to Professor Giles. I don't want him overexerting himself. He's been looking quite haggard since his accident."
Mina nodded, mutely.
Strange tapping and footsteps echoed inside the wide Hall. Seconds later, that Moody fellow appeared in the doorway, leaning heavily on a cane.
Immediately, Mina's gaze was drawn to the thick wooden peg that had replaced his left leg from the knee down.
"Good morning, Alastor," McGonagall greeted brightly, a girlish smile gracing her weathered face and a faint flush climbing her slender neck, "How was Morocco?"
The gruff auror stiffly answered, "Found what I was looking for. Is he in? I need a word."
"A one-legged man brings dire news from the south..."
No. Fucking. Way. Mina thought to herself.
Seeming almost coy, McGonagall replied, "We weren't expecting you until later in the day, so I believe Albus stepped out for a bit. He should be back within the hour. Perhaps you'd like some breakfast while you wait?"
"Kind of you, but no thanks," he grumbled. His wary eyes tore themselves away from McGonagall and landed on Mina. "Lupin," Moody muttered, "Giving Minerva a hard time already?"
"Where's your bloody leg?" the sandy-haired she-wolf blurted.
"Mina!" snapped McGonagall, horrified and embarrassed on the girl's behalf, "Goodness sake, young lady! Show some manners!"
With a gravely chuckle, Moody declared, "It's alright, Minerva. A bit refreshing actually. People have been awkwardly avoiding the subject since I had the damn thing off."
McGonagall's flush spread to her face, growing darker and more annoyed.
Moody caught on quickly. "Oh," he backtracked, running his free hand through his grizzled dark gray hair, "I didn't mean- not you. You're not people."
Mina would've liked to come to the ineloquent auror's aid but was unable to resist snickering quite unhelpfully at the unfortunate turn of phrase.
Huffing indignantly, McGonagall stood and snarled, "I have a lesson. I trust you will both get yourselves where you need to be." After a sweep and a storm, the professor vanished out the staff door.
"Damn," Moody drawled, "Every time..."
Mina jumped to her feet. Feeling kind of high off yet another inexplicably lucky exoneration, the girl laughed, "From that display, I'm going to assume they don't teach Art of Seduction during auror training."
Glaring, rugged battle-worn face twisting in displeasure, Moody growled, "No, but they certainly teach Art of Turning Snotty Little Girls into Woodlice."
"Someone's cranky," Mina teased.
Moody whirled around, starting toward the door. "C'mon," he ordered, "I might as well take you to class now that I've got some time to kill. Can't have you running around on your own."
"I don't need supervision," the girl insisted playfully.
That elicited a hearty chuckle from Moody. Cane and peg tapping against the stones, he limped along and declared, "There's an impressively thick file in my office that says otherwise. Where are we heading?"
"Potions," Mina replied. They walked a few moments in silence before she guessed, "Was it a landmine? No... a bear trap?"
Moody rolled his eyes. "Nothing that exciting," he grumbled, "It actually happened years ago. I was Swansea, taking down this mad bastard who was torturing his muggle neighbors. Let my guard down for half a second and got grazed by a curse. Nasty, dark rotting thing. Killed most of the nerves and muscles below my knee, but the healers managed to at least slow the spread until lately. It was either cut out the damaged tissue or say goodbye to an appendage I'd miss quite a bit more. A two-month suspension seemed like as good a time as any to have it dealt with."
"Ouch," said Mina. The explanation made sense; during her blindness, the girl had been able to tell Moody from the smell of decay that lingered around him; she was happy to note that the smell was gone. Now, he smelled like exotic spices and rich soil. "Well, at least you're up and about," she declared, "So... is that what you were doing in Morocco? Getting your leg chopped off?"
"Amputated," Moody corrected, "And no. Mungo's did that. Quick and painless." He stopped for a moment, shifting all his weight onto his remaining foot and lifting the peg into the air, knocking his cane sharply against the dark wood as he stated, "I was picking up this beauty. Fraxinus dimorpha. Species of ash that grows only in the one area. Hard as a teenager in a whorehouse. A woodworker friend sorted it for me, charmed the living daylights out of it, too. Would probably take a dragon to break, and soon as I get more used to using it, I should be fit to resume my duties next month."
"Neato," chirped Mina, "So... you're not here delivering dire news?"
Suddenly unreadable, the man asked, "Why would you say that?"
Mina shrugged. "No reason... so is that a no?"
(Fucking Giles was just in her head; there was no way any of his crazy ramblings would come true.)
(And even if they did, total coincidence, like Mina's prediction about Greta Rudiger's near drowning.)
Moody frowned and growled, "Mind your own business."
"You don't have to tell me what the news is," the girl pestered, "Just so long as you wouldn't describe it as dire."
"What do I look like?" the brawny man snapped, "A bloody thesaurus? It's just something I need to discuss with Dumbledore. And it's none of your concern."
Fuck.
The remaining journey to the Potions classroom was a bit uncomfortable, so much so that Mina didn't even think of the fact that arriving late to her lesson with an auror escort might give the wrong idea.
"Oh-ho!" Slughorn cried jubilantly, fat face breaking into a fat smile beneath his fat, walrusy moustache, "What's this? You've finally nabbed her! Good show, old fellow! Do make sure the charges stick this time!"
(He'd never liked Mina, and the dislike had only grown since she was accused of (but never prosecuted for (and only half guilty of)) raiding his stashes of Polyjuice and Veritaserum; unfortunately (for the both of them) Mina had scored high enough on the Potions OWL to earn herself a spot in the NEWT class and had promised Remus she'd continue with the subject (since it was supposedly so important).)
Glaring heatedly, Moody growled, "Horace, I don't appreciate your insinuation. This brave girl and her friend over there selflessly saved the lives of a good chunk of my department, and they battled two Death Eaters to do it."
A sizeable portion of the sixth year stared in awe; the way gossip travelled at Hogwarts, the entire student body would know before nightfall.
Mina had to fervently command herself not to blush. "He's kidding," she declared, offering a deranged grin in an attempt to salvage her reputation, "I'm a dangerous criminal!"
Moody turned to leave, but not before he gave her a shove in the direction of the other Marauders. "That's nothing to joke about, Lupin," he muttered, "Now behave yourself. And stay alert."
Pouting over being scolded and outed for her heroic deeds, Mina stomped across the room to join Sirius at their lab table.
He sniggered, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
"Yes, well," Slughorn began again, flustered, "As I was saying. I'm quite certain the culprit is in this class. I'm not going to point any fingers-" (But he would glare pointedly in Mina's direction.) "-I'm not even going to involve the headmaster as long as the missing vial is back on my desk before the end of the day."
"What's missing?" Mina whispered.
Sirius bent down close to her ear, his breath a delightful tickle. "Amortentia," the lad replied, "Slug-guts brewed up a batch to show us today, and apparently someone helped herself to a large vial before class."
"Ugh," Mina said in disgust, "Love potion? Who's stupid enough to mess with that?" She blinked. "And what makes you think it was a girl? Boys are perfectly capable of developing unhealthy obsessions. Just look at Prongs."
With a smirk, Sirius murmured, "Galleon says it's a bird."
"You're on," answered Mina.
At least some things were still normal.
xxXxx
"You still haven't told her?" James angrily accused, leaning against the wall outside the girls' loo, "You said you were just waiting for her sight to come back! I thought you talked about it after straight quidditch last Wednesday! I thought that was why Sunny was acting weird all weekend!"
Sighing wretchedly at the very idea of continuing to keep the secret of his abuse and his increasingly severe nightmares and claustrophobia, Sirius quietly declared, "I know. I tried. But she was all over me. I had a hard enough time just keeping her from ripping my trousers off-"
"Ew."
"And then Evans was there-"
"Stop."
"And I couldn't find our bloody shirts-"
"I will have you neutered."
The boys glowered at each other.
"And then what happened?" Peter squeaked, pale eyes wide with curiosity.
James and Sirius each thumped him on a different shoulder.
"And then," Sirius hissed, "Instead of the very fun things my very sexy girlfriend was very eager to do to me-"
"I can perform the procedure myself at any time. I'll tie you down and use a fucking rubber band."
"I spent the rest of the evening convincing Sunny not to obliviate Evans."
Blinking in confusion and hopefully forgetting his horrific threats, James wondered, "What? Why?"
Sirius huffed, "Because you told the bloody prefect about..." How could he phrase our illegal Animagihood in the middle of a crowded hallway? "The, uh, origin of our nicknames."
James caught on quickly (much more quickly than Peter did), and the specky git had the grace to look a bit ashamed. "Well, that's not so bad," he insisted, "Lily is trustworthy. She even gave the heads-up about the Rudiger thing."
"Funny you should mention that," Edgar Bones interrupted, the tall Ravenclaw pushing his way out of the crowd, "I've been meaning to talk to you about it."
Making a face, Sirius demanded, "How long have you been lurking there, Ed?"
Ed returned a goofy, lopsided smile. "Long enough to be really curious about the origin of your nicknames," he chuckled, "But apparently only people James wants to shag are deemed worthy of learning such classified information."
Ignoring Sirius's bark of laughter, James grumbled, "State your purpose, Bones."
"Wotcher, Ed!" Mina greeted brightly. Emerging with Mary from the lavatory, the girl added, "Want to do me a favor and confess to these dumb sods that you stole the Amortentia?"
Flicking cinnamon fringe out of his similarly colored eyes, Ed warily responded, "Er, well, I didn't. I'm already in a splendid relationship, which is sort of what I wanted to talk to you about-"
"Give it up, Sunshine," Sirius interrupted, the group setting out for Muggle Studies, "It was probably Heloise Sinclair. With obvious mental illness like hers, she'll never snag a man unless she's got a mind-altering substance to add to her arsenal."
Mina snorted, "Sinclair spends more time staring at my tits than you do. I highly doubt she's trying to snag a man."
The assorted males were quiet for a few moments. If their brains were anything like Sirius's, they were all imaging Mina with the tall, blonde, unfortunately unbalanced but undeniably attractive Slytherin.
Very little clothing was involved in the daydream...
But Ed really seemed to be on a mission and was the first to pull himself out of the daze. His long cheeks went a bit pink, and the lad coughed awkwardly before announcing, "Right. Well. Anyways. Bernie and I have been dating for nearly a year now, and-"
"Bernie?" Mina repeated, giving a put-upon sigh, "Shit. First Macmillan, and now you? Why does everybody have to come out to me? I swear I don't have any problem with the gays! Stick your cock wherever you like! Just keep it away from me if you want to keep it!"
That bit pink almost immediately became all-over red. "Bernardette," Ed gritted, "Bernardette Kemp."
At mention of the Kemp name, the humor instantly evaporated. Like water turning to steam with an angry hiss.
"Hear me out," the Ravenclaw pleaded, a hint of desperation and terror creeping into his deep voice, "Bernie doesn't want to see her sister hurt. And Paulette didn't mean it. She was just upset about what happened to Greta. What would you do if you thought someone had tried to kill one of your friends?"
"I'd destroy them," Mina snarled, "But I'd do it to their fucking face."
(Attacking a Marauder was foolish but usually not life-threatening; they were always looking for a good fight or feud or brawl or battle to pass the time. However, attacking a Marauder from behind was just plain suicidal; they were Gryffindors, after all, and cowardice offended them in a way that simple violence could not.)
Ed nodded, kind of wide-eyed, very deliberately keeping his distance. "Mistakes were made," he conceded, "Paulette would like to apologize, but she's too scared to come out of her dorm. So I thought, I dunno, maybe some sort of... parley?"
Though obviously still irate, Mina appeared to be sincerely considering the offer.
Her mind was very similar to Sirius's, so he figured it was a good bet that the girl was thinking about how much fun she could have pretending to be a pirate.
"Will there be rum?" Sirius joked.
xxXxx
The curse on the Defense professorship was well-known and well-documented. In the five years of school the Marauders had thus far completed, they'd had the privilege of being taught by five different instructors, none of whom returned after their rookie seasons, only two of whom even lasted the full term.
One of whom died. Stung on the cock by a bloody scorpion.
(Ok, that was actually a rumor the Marauders had spread. James couldn't remember the real cause of death, only that it had been as dreadfully boring as the professor himself.)
Now, already a week into sixth, the post was still open.
Until Dumbledore stood up at dinner. "Good evening, all," the old man declared, smiling beatifically through his silvery white beard, "I hope you've had another fruitful day of learning."
"Not really," Mina grumbled quietly, "I had another disappointing day of losing respect for my own fucking gender."
(Halfway through Muggle Studies, the Amortentia thief had revealed herself to be Alcina Zuniga. A bloody Ravenclaw. A bloody prefect. She'd been foolish enough not only to steal the enormous vial, but also to break it and splatter its contents during the lesson. Those unfortunate souls who'd been seated immediately around her (most of the first three rows; also known as the "Splash Zone") were still in the Hospital Wing with the mortified nurse, who was doing her absolute best to prevent an orgy while Slughorn sorted out the tricky antidote needed for topical exposure to such a powerful love potion.)
Smirking, spinning the galleon he'd won through his fingers, Sirius hugged his girlfriend closer and chuckled, "Don't sulk, Sunshine. We fought them off, didn't we?"
Mina glared. "Warren Grover and Aksel Augustine invited me to be the meat in a Ravenclaw sandwich," she growled, "And Tim Hightower wrote a sonnet about my vag. Nearly every girl affected tried to mount you. The only way it could've been worse was if there'd been any Slytherins present."
Sirius's smirk widened. "I dunno," he said, "Things could've gotten interesting with you and Heloise Sinclair-"
From the bitten off gasp of pain that followed, James assumed Mina had finally found an effective way to end her boyfriend's juvenile amusement toward the incident.
(James was sure his own face was still scarlet after the many confessions of undying love and propositions of... other activities he had received while valiantly helping herd the victims to the infirmary.)
"-And so it is my pleasure to introduce your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." Apparently the headmaster's speech had continued despite the Marauder sidebar. Gesturing toward the tall, gaunt, ghostly pale woman standing in the shadows behind him, Dumbledore announced, "Miss Elisaveta Lazarov."
The restless hush in the hall became a squirming mass of indistinct whispers.
"Blimey, is that-"
"One of those Lazarovs-"
"She's really-"
"He can't expect us to-"
"But I didn't pack any turtlenecks-"
"Somebody pass the bloody garlic bread-"
Across the table, grinning like her birthday had come early, Mina breathed, "Wicked."
xxXxx
Lily fancied herself an enlightened individual. A tolerant person overall. She had always been a firm believer in such adages as "don't judge a book by its cover," "there's some good in everyone," and even "it's never too late to mend your ways."
However, just the name Lazarov had been enough to give the girl a rather severe case of spine-rattling chills, to make her dread walking back to the Tower alone.
Dumbledore was a genius and all, but sometimes the girl could only conjure stunned disbelief for the strange choices he made. Then again, he always had his reasons...
"Evans."
She whirled and was surprised to discover James Potter sauntering beside her on the way out of the Hall.
The smile he gave was nothing short of dashing. "Can you believe it?" Potter inquired, running his fingers through the perpetual disaster on top of his head, "A Lazarov. Sometimes I think Dumbledore's gone a bit round the bend."
Nodding, Lily quietly replied, "The decision is quite... odd. But I'm sure he knows what he's doing. He wouldn't hire her if he thought she posed a danger to us." After a brief beat, the redhead added, "I heard about what happened. With the Amortentia. Are you all ok?"
Potter chuckled, his high cheekbones taking on a distinct crimson stain. "Varying degrees of," he declared, "You and Remus missed quite a show. It was kind of a new experience, having girls embarrassingly throw themselves at me for once instead of the other way around. I'm starting to see why you weren't a fan."
It was Lily's turn to blush. She tried to hide the color behind her hair. "Starting to see?" she teased, "I was under the impression you were a little sharper than that."
Hazel eyes bright with laughter, Potter responded, "Depends who you ask."
"PRONGS! WOULD YOU MOVE YOUR SKINNY ARSE ALREADY?"
He sighed and waved ahead to his waiting friends. "Must be off," he announced, "We've got this pirate thing with Ed-"
Lily genuinely had no idea how to react to that information.
"Then we have to make sure Mina gets to her 'Divination Appreciation' seminar on time," Potter continued babbling, "McGonagall was all over her for missing last night. Anyways, see you at breakfast."
And then he was gone. Before Lily could give in to the humiliating urge to request an escort back to the Tower. Before she could miss the days when he would've followed her there without being asked.
xxXxx
There was the Marauder Faction, which (as the name suggests) was made up solely of Marauders. (Mary refused to attend the parley; she said she had better things to do than play pirate... as if that was possible.)
Then there was the Kemp Faction, which included not only the five Kemp sisters (Hufflepuffs Paulette, Bernardette, Yvette, and Cosette, and Gryffindor Suzette), but also Ravenclaws Ed Bones, Greta Rudiger, and Hamish McDougal.
"You brought the bloody Head Boy?" Mina chuckled, taking the middle of the five chairs set on the empty side of the wide table that had been conjured in the Astronomy Tower. Sirius sat to her left, Remus to her right, James and Pete rounding out the edges.
"Well, you brought swords," spat Suzi, glaring viciously. The third-year was definitely all lion.
"You didn't?" Sirius said with a bright wink, successfully flustering the fiercest and youngest Kemp. He rattled the cutlass on his belt and decreed, "We thought it was implied."
Arm around his willowy blonde girlfriend, Ed groaned, "I told you before, I didn't mean anything to do with sodding pirates! It was just an unfortunate word choice!"
"The word choice is the only reason we agreed to come," James announced. For the fifth or possibly sixth time, he switched his patch from one eye to the other, getting his absurd hair more hopelessly tangled in the process.
Nodding, force-feeding crackers to the stuffed parrot on his shoulder, Peter agreed, "Avast, ye scalawags."
Ed began banging his head against the table. Remus looked as if he was seriously considering joining the activity, rubbing his temples and muttering about being friends with nutters.
Dark-haired Hamish McDougal cleared his throat. "Right then," the tall Scot began, "I was asked to mediate a bit of a misunderstanding-"
"Is that what she called it?" Mina challenged, smirk turning positively feral as she stared down Paulette, "All five syllables in the correct order? I'm impressed... or perhaps the word is astonished."
Paulette continued to cower between her sisters. The slender, pretty blondes were rather hard to tell apart. But there were clues. Paulette was of course the terrified one; Bernie was with Ed; Suzi was a bit shorter and wore the attitude and matching Gryffindor colors. But the other two remained interchangeable.
(Sirius honestly could not remember which one he'd gone into the broom closet with... it was getting a little embarrassing already...)
"I asked Hamish to come," Greta Rudiger piped up. She looked a lot better than the last time they'd seen her, but since the auburn seventh-year hadn't just been nearly drowned by a hysterical hippocampus, that was to be expected. "The whole episode in the Hospital Wing," she declared, "It just... it got out of hand. Everyone said some things they shouldn't have, but there's no need for it to escalate." She held her friend's hand, prompting, "Go on, Paulie."
Brown eyes wide and bloodshot, voice an insanely high squeak, Paulette stammered, "I know you didn't try to hurt Greta. I know the whole thing was an accident. I mean, I know that now. B-But at the time, I just... she almost died. I saw her get dragged under, and I saw Davies pull her out of the lake. She wasn't breathing, and she looked... I thought... you were being so mean, and Greta was almost dead, and I didn't... you said it wasn't your fault, but I didn't believe you, and I couldn't stop picturing Greta all cold and blue, a-and you said those terrible things to Cecily..." She sniffled pitifully, croaking, "I'm sorry I tried to hex you. I really am. I'm not just saying so because you scare me. I feel bad. It wasn't right, what I did. I'm not that kind of person. And I'm sorry."
Mina, after having remained remarkably quiet and straight-faced through the entire jumbled apology, suddenly burst out laughing. She held her sides and laughed and laughed and laughed, wobbling precariously in her seat. (Remus held her upright, grumbling something about keeping the girl from falling on her stupid sword.) After far longer than was typically appropriate, Mina wiped tears out of her eyes and realized that she was being gaped at in bafflement. She chuckled, "Right. Oh. Accepted. All that shite. Just, want to hear something hilarious?"
The entire Kemp Faction remained confused and paralyzed.
But Mina took that as permission to giggle maniacally and explain, "I had completely forgotten about all of this until Ed reminded me today."
Now it was her fellow Marauders who took a turn staring at the girl like she'd gone mental.
Mina didn't just forget people who'd slighted (let alone physically threatened) her. She had an actually bloody list, for Merlin's sake. She kept it tacked to her headboard; individuals were known to earn spots for not covering their noses when they sneezed.
But, then again, she had been acting a bit tense and distant all weekend. Sirius assumed it was because she knew something was up with him and was annoyed that he hadn't told her. He'd been so busy trying to work up the courage to explain about his nightmares that the young man hadn't given much thought to an alternative theory:
Maybe something was up with her.
"Anyways," Mina chirped, picking her teeth with the hook hand she'd somehow acquired, "Is that it?"
Shaking herself out of speechlessness, Rudgier asked, "Oh. Well... is it?"
Mina shrugged. "I'd suggest a yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum to seal our truce," she sniggered, gesturing at the baffled Head Boy, "But you brought the King of the Prefects, so maybe another time." She stood abruptly, addressing her fellow Marauders. "Who's up for some pillage and plunder?"
"Ooo!" cried Pete, jumping to his feet and nearly losing his parrot in the process, "Me!"
"No," Remus sighed. He hauled himself upright and chided, "You have detention, Sunny."
Her face fell, an odd darkness creeping into her gaze. "Moony," she whined, "Do I have to? I wanted to reread Treasure Island. Plus, Giles made me drink so much bloody tea! I nearly pissed myself on the walk back!"
No, that wasn't true. Sirius was the only one still up, and he saw Mina run back from her detention that night, pale and sweating and stumbling, snapping something about needing the loo before she disappeared upstairs until the next morning. She hit James with an unusually severe stinging hex at breakfast when he teased her about the 'Divination Appreciation' seminars.
And then she skipped the one on Sunday night...
Sirius sensed a pattern.
"Oh, wait," squeaked one of the interchangeable Kemps, "There is something else!" Smiling sweetly, the girl inquired, "Can Suzi still train with your team? She was really excited-"
"Shut up, Coco!" Suzi hissed, red-faced once again, "You weren't supposed to say anything about that!"
With a kind grin, James chuckled, "You're always welcome, Suzi. Mina was quite impressed with you-"
"Shut up, Prongs," Mina interrupted, rolling her eyes, "Merlin, first the one-legged wonder auror, now you. Why is everyone so determined to erode my reputation?"
"So... that was... true?" Ed asked hesitantly, amazed and admiring in equal measures, "What that bloke said this morning? You really fought Death Eaters?"
More hush. More awe.
Mina looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable. (Just one of the girl's fascinating contradictions: she reveled in being the center of attention, unless it was for doing something selfless or heroic.)
"Wasn't the first time," she insisted, "And it wasn't a big deal. Just like fighting Slytherins, except without the detention afterward. Speaking of which-"
"Right," said Remus, he and the other Marauders resuming their exit. He gave the Kemp Faction a polite but slightly insincere smile. "I'm glad we cleared this up. I hope you all have a pleasant evening-"
"No, wait," said the other interchangeable (probably Yvette), "There was another thing. I mean, we were saving it in case we had to, you know, bribe you, but you should still probably know. I mean, as long as you're not going to hurt her..."
Arching a skeptical eyebrow, Mina demanded, "What are you talking about?"
The girl under Ed's arm primly cleared her throat, carefully announcing, "Well, Alcina Zuniga. Haven't you wondered why she stole the love potion?"
"I assume because she's colossally stupid and pathetic," Mina answered, "There's more?"
Bernie nodded importantly. She bit her lip, fluttered her big brown eyes. "Her dormmates complain about it all the time," the blonde explained, "She has notebooks full of poetry. She has pictures. It's kind of creepy."
"And really rather sad, you know?" Yvette contributed, "She's not awful looking. I mean, she could get any boy she wanted-"
"But she's hung up on one she can't have," finished Cosette.
Sirius groaned. "Oh, bloody hell," he murmured, not surprised, "Not this again. I thought Mina had frightened away all my groupies-"
Before anyone else could answer, all five Kemps snapped, "Not you!"
(Eerie. They were fucking eerie. And apparently rumors of a hive mind weren't without merit.)
James giggled at him quite unmercifully until Bernie announced, "Zuniga is completely obsessed with Potter. She was planning on slipping him the Amortentia."
xxXxx
Whoever had the bright idea to construct a classroom only accessible by ladder deserved to be summarily executed. Most preferably in a manner that could not be mistaken for anything but a gross human-rights violation.
Mina growled as she gracelessly hauled herself through the hole in the floor, struggling to get her fingers and toes out of the way of the heavy trapdoor before it slammed shut. Her gaze swept the dim tower cell; her fist tightened, calloused palm almost squeaking against the dense yew of her wand. "Show yourself, you bald bastard," the girl hissed.
"Right here, Miss Lupin," replied Professor Giles. The squat, ancient man frowned at her from the other side of his desk. He was sporting the drab olive waistcoat again, along with small rheumy eyes and a salt-and-pepper half-tonsure. However, the brilliant black starburst on his wide forehead was a recent development. He cleared his throat with rather forced propriety, but Mina spoke before he could.
"You're a fucking cunt," she snarled.
For a supposed psychic, Giles looked awfully shocked by the remark. (Or maybe the word was appalled.) "Miss Lupin," he drawled, "Such language is inappropriate and uncalled for-"
"And you've got some bloody nerve complaining about me to McGonagall," Mina continued. She wanted to hex him. Oh, she wanted to hex him so damn bad. "I say one word about what you did," the girl continued, "And you're on the next train out. That's if my friends don't get hold of you first."
Giles sighed, "It was my intention to apologize. I am not in my right mind while having visions, and if I frightened you-"
"You did not frighten me!" insisted Mina, "And you were not having fucking visions! You were spouting nonsense! I will bleed? That's your idea of a prophecy? I bleed at least once a month like clockwork, you stupid shite!"
He didn't seem to get it. And then he did, and his craggy face turned maroon, his tiny wrinkled mouth puckering in distaste.
"You can't announce something that's obviously inevitable and claim it's a prophecy," Mina continued. She'd been thinking all day about what to say, all the evidence that proved the Divination professor was a fraud. "That one-legged man bit? Nice try, arsehole, but Moody was scheduled to see Dumbledore today. And the recent amputation was no big secret-"
"Miss Lupin," Giles interrupted, leaning forward slightly, "Please. Sit."
Mina narrowed her eyes. "No."
"Would you like something to drink?"
"That would be a fuck no."
Rapidly approaching utter exasperation, the professor grunted, "Then kindly allow me to get a word in."
"I'm not interested in what you have to say," Mina answered honestly. Her arm was starting to ache from the force she was exerting to keep it from flying up in a volley of spells. "I only came to tell you to leave me alone."
Huffing, Giles declared, "I can't do that, Miss Lupin. It is vitally important for us to discuss what happened on Thursday evening."
"Vitally important my arse-"
"I need to know what you did," the old man insisted, "And I need to know what I said."
Mina stared for a moment, finally chuckling, "Oh, let me guess. You don't remember anything when you have 'visions'?"
Giles's impatient, rather goatish expression said yes.
Laughing again, Mina spat, "Well, isn't that convenient? Especially seeing as how you almost broke my arm."
His eyes went wide.
And, once more, Mina chuckled. "For a supposed psychic," she taunted, "You're fairly easy to surprise."
The professor sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out through his wide, hairy nostrils. "I'm terribly sorry if I hurt you," he murmured, "Really. I had no idea-"
"Save it," Mina interrupted, "I'm not interested. Just stop tattling to McGonagall, and we can go back to ignoring each other."
"As I stated before," Giles countered, "I must know what you did and what I said. Believe what you will or won't about the incident, but please humor me. You needn't show up for the remainder of the week if you just-"
Mina laughed right in his face. "What part of this aren't you getting?" she growled. The girl waved her wand to release the glamour on her right wrist, revealing the swollen purple handprint encircling it. "We have reached the point of mutually assured destruction," she explained, slowly, "You'll get fired if I talk. I'll get probably get expelled if you do. So we both stay quiet, and we both go on with our lives as usual. That, of course, means I was already going to blow off the rest of the punishment, and there's not much you can do to stop me."
After a moment of tense silence, the professor touched his stunted, yellowed fingertips to the discolored bruise on his forehead. "This was you," he observed, coming rather abruptly to a realization Mina had assumed was obvious, "I thought I fell against the floor-"
"Nope," said the girl, smugly, "I punched you in your fat head. It was mostly self-defense, but also a bit because you plain old pissed me off. Are you going to whine now, you big baby? I only hit you with my left."
Frowning as his voice took on that obnoxious goat-like bleating quality, Giles declared, "Young lady, striking a seer is quite unwise, especially if he is in the middle of imparting a prophecy."
She snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Please," he pleaded, "Would you just... I hate not knowing. Do you have any idea what it's like to lose chunks of time? To have someone tell you you've done something horrible and not even be able to remember?"
Oh, fuck's sake... Remus always said the same bloody thing about his transformations...
"Fine," Mina groaned, "But you're not psychic! You're... I dunno... epileptic."
She took the professor's silence as assent and crossed the room to throw herself into the horrible wood chair in front of his desk. "You made me drink tons of tea," the girl announced, "I wasn't really paying attention, just staring off into the smoke-"
"Do you do that often?" Giles asked. He regarded her like a science project.
Growling, Mina replied, "If this is going to turn into a smoking is bad lecture-"
"No," murmured the old man, "I mean, staring into the smoke. Capnomancy is using smoke to divine the future-"
"Oh, Hufflepuff's hemorrhoids, shut up!" she groaned, "You want to hear this or not?"
Giles nodded, clearly affronted.
"Anyways," Mina continued, "I thought you'd fallen asleep. I was going to leave, but your cig was about to burn your fingers, so, being the wonderful person I am, I went over to save you. You, however, being ungrateful and pervy and weird, grabbed my arm and started having some kind of fit, spouting a bunch of gibberish-"
"Word for word," the professor prompted, "If you can."
Mina huffed. "You said, You will bleed," she grumbled, "A one-legged man brings dire news from the south. And Death flies on emerald wings." She paused for a moment before finishing, "And then you said something about my mother, which is mainly why I hit you."
"What did I say?"
Unbidden, the memory of the eerily flat voice seared through Mina's mind: "The dreams... your mother fears the dreams."
"Something about my mother," she paraphrased, trying to stress with her menacing tone alone that further inquiries would not be tolerated. She stood abruptly, patience exhausted. "There," the girl spat, "Now do us both a favor and stay the fuck away from me."
She was almost to the exit when the professor spoke again. "I'm told you have trouble sleeping," he announced, "That can be a side-effect."
"What are you babbling about now?" Mina growled, struggling with the trapdoor, which seemed to be heavier and harder to open than she remembered.
"Your Gift," the squat man murmured creepily, "There's no denying you possess... something. I couldn't tell what without more investigation."
Mina scoffed aloud. The door was well stuck. "Right," the girl snarled, "You have an epileptic fit, and suddenly I'm a psychic-"
"My Sight has greatly diminished with age," the professor explained irritably, mournfully, "I haven't had a vision like that in nearly twenty years. Why do you think I ended up here? Teaching filthy, thankless, ill-mannered brats? A vision like the one I had shouldn't have been possible, not without another strong psychic power for mine to feed off. I've been waiting so long-"
"For the last time!" Mina shouted, "You are not bloody psychic! I'm certainly not either! Fuck's sake! That's the whole reason I'm being punished-"
"You correctly predicted a drowning," snapped Giles. He rose to his feet, slowly, but stayed behind the desk. "I've spoken to several students for whom you did readings," he said, "You did provide an astonishing number of remarkably accurate forecasts. Do you have any idea how rare-"
"I'm a decent con-artist," Mina bellowed, yanking furiously at the trapdoor, "And most of the school is terrified of me. If I said it was going to rain fire, half these idiots would invest in dragon-hide bodysuits and run screaming at the sight of every comet and lightning bug." A thought struck her, and she pointed her wand at the professor. "Open the fucking door," the girl spat.
His wrinkled face remained impassively annoyed. His dark gaze unhinged. "Miss Lupin," he drawled, stepping out from behind the desk, stalking closer, "Be reasonable. Together we can unravel the mysteries of the future. Imagine how pleased the Dark Lord will be when I tell him my Gift has returned. When I present you as another noteworthy seer."
Holy shit. He wasn't just a delusional old codger: he was a bloody deranged Death Eater.
Why didn't I report him? the girl mourned, I really have to stop being so nice to people...
xxXxx
While Remus generally didn't approve of his friends tagging along on prefect rounds, the sandy-haired werewolf could sometimes be persuaded to make exceptions.
On nights when his sister had detention and when there was a Lazarov loose in the school, those exceptions were fairly easy to attain.
James and Sirius were quick to take advantage.
And while James was quick to take other advantages (mainly strolling ahead with Evans and doing his best to be charming and not quite as offensive as expected), Sirius had other ideas.
"You know she's been off, right?" the black-haired teen inquired, acutely aware that they were stalking the immediate vicinity of the sexier Lupin.
Remus nodded. "I thought it was about you," he said, "But apparently not... ideas?"
Still kind of absurdly pleased that his friend and brother and future-brother-in-law hadn't once threatened him since the summer, Sirius answered, "Giles."
The werewolf frowned, remarking, "She's annoyed by the concept of Divination in general, but that's not it. She would've complained all weekend if something had happened."
"She would've complained if nothing happened," Sirius pointed out, "If nothing happened, then she should've ranted about the whole experience. But not a word, not even when Prongs brought it up. That tells me something did happen. And it must've been big."
"Lily," Remus called, "Do you mind if we walk by the North Tower? I'd like to check on Mina."
The pretty redhead was halfway through a reluctant smile when she glanced over her shoulder. "Oh," she said, weirdly entranced by James's light banter and smoothly subtle flirtation, "Of course. That's no problem."
They were there in minutes.
They were met by whispers. And then shifty Slytherins, one of whom was directly related to Sirius.
"You're sure he said eight thirty?"
"Yes."
"What time is it?"
"Nearly ten."
"Shouldn't we-"
"You should shut your mouth. He might be a half-senile old joke, but he's held in high esteem. He'll fetch us when he's ready, and until then, we'll wait like good little soldiers."
Sirius shoved ahead to round the corner first, glaring at Regulus and another Slytherin from their own year, Evan Rosier. Both lads wore their black hair neatly to their jaws; they stood with aristocratic grace that had been bred in over many generations. However, the difference between them was obvious (at least to Sirius): Regulus was nervous; Rosier was not.
"What are you doing here?" Sirius demanded, eyeing the scene with blatant suspicion.
Strangely, Regulus still looked like a toddler caught sneaking biscuits before dinner. "Waiting to speak with Professor Giles," he said. Lying and not even doing a good job of it. "We had an appointment, but I suppose he's running a little behind-"
"Is the door locked?" asked Sirius. Teachers didn't typically lock themselves in with students, especially not male teachers alone with female students. But entitled Slytherins wouldn't be waiting at the bottom of the ladder unless the door was locked...
"Oh," Regulus murmured, flustered, "Well... yes... but I'm sure Professor Giles is just... um..."
"We don't have to explain ourselves to filthy blood traitors," Rosier drawled, eyes so black they looked like nothing but gaping pupils sunk into the round, dopey face that had always reminded Sirius a bit of a guinea pig's.
"You do, however, have to explain yourselves to prefects," Evans announced as she, James, and Remus arrived. Hands on hips, the redhead surveyed the scene and declared, "You're both breaking curfew. Return to your common room at once!"
Upper lip curling in piggy snarl, Rosier growled, "The day I'm ordered around by a mu-"
"We're going," Regulus interrupted. He grabbed his so-called friend by the arm and dragged him away. Before they vanished, Sirius's brother sent one last pleading glance over his shoulder, eyes darting to the ceiling.
Sirius tried the trapdoor. It was, indeed, locked.
Soon the three boys were pounding on the heavy slab, firing off every spell they thought might get them past (from Alohomora to Incendio), but nothing seemed to work.
"Calm down and stop trying to destroy the castle," Evans chided, standing back and being useless, "I don't know what you think is going on, but I'm sure there's a perfectly innocent reason for the door being locked. Professor Giles was probably just trying to keep Mina from running out on her punishment."
Puffing and growling, searching his mind a suitable explosion curse, Sirius muttered, "Something is wrong, Evans, and if you're not going to help, then kindly shut your gob."
James slapped him on the back of the head and then went right back to banging on the trapdoor.
"Oi!" Mina shouted, her wonderful voice barely penetrating the thick wood, "Who's out there?"
"It's us," Remus called, "Are you alright?"
There was a low laugh. "Ya, I'm fine," the girl answered, "Giles went nuts again, so I had to stun him. He did something to the doors and windows. None of them will open."
Wide-eyed, Evans announced, "I'll go find a professor."
"I'll come with," James offered gallantly. "Back in a flash," he yelled as he jogged away, "Don't worry, Sunny!"
"I'm not worried," Mina complained, "I'm bored. There's only so much space to draw on Giles's fat bald head."
Sirius chuckled. But then he had to ask, "What did you mean he went nuts again?"
Silence.
"Sunny," said Remus, somehow both scolding and anxious, "What happened?"
She groaned. Judging by the thud, she probably hit some body part against the trapdoor. "I didn't think it would be such a big deal," the girl grumbled, "I was handling it-"
"Oh, clearly," Remus snapped.
"You just bitched yourself right out of a story, Moony."
Though he tried very hard not to, Sirius immediately found himself laughing at the outraged expression on his friend's scarred face.
"It's not funny!" Remus roared, "Mina, you promised! You promised you'd be more careful! You promised you'd stop charging headfirst into dangerous situations-"
"I didn't know, alright!" Mina fired back. Another thud on the other side of the thick wood. "I thought he was just a creepy old perv!" she announced, "I had no idea he was a psycho Death Eater-"
"WHAT?!"
"Excuse me, gentlemen." The voice was soft, but not in a kind, soothing way: in a way that suggested the owner wouldn't waste energy shouting because she wanted to be refreshed when it came time to begin the vivisections. "Vould you mind explaining vhy you are out causing disturbances so late?"
They stared at the skeletally thin, ghostly pale woman standing in the doorway.
Sirius had to remind himself not to reach up and cover his neck. "Er," he began, "Sorry, Professor Lazarov. Our friend is stuck in the Divination classroom."
"I'm being held hostage by a mad old goat," came Mina's muted response, "He went crazy and drew cocks all over his head. Then he started rambling about getting them tattooed on permanently, so I figured it would be best to stun him. Because I'm nice like that."
Lazarov glared up at the trapdoor. She'd shed the shapeless, unremarkable robe she wore at dinner, and Sirius was surprised to see the woman in ragged jeans. The shirt the professor wore was similar to one Mina owned and called a "peasant top"; Sirius liked when his girl wore the flowy white garment hanging tantalizing off one slim shoulder...
Ahem. Anyways, Lazarov's peasant top was firmly on both the woman's bony shoulders, the fabric a bright purple that brought out a hint of the same shade in the sleek black hair hanging down her bony back. She scowled in annoyance, the tips of fangs almost visible behind pale lips.
"You are the children who play tricks," she accused, an elegant finger waggling at them in admonishment, "I vas told about you, and I vill not tolerate such foolishness-"
"She's really stuck!" Remus wailed. He always looked so sad and pitiful when he fretted about his sister; sometimes it made even Sirius want to hug him. "Please," the sandy-haired werewolf continued, "I think Professor Giles tried to hurt her. He could wake up and try again-"
"Moony! He's like a hundred years old! Give me some credit!"
Lazarov stared, arching a razor-thin eyebrow before finally demanding, "Not a trick?"
The two Marauders emphatically shook their heads; Sirius did his best to look innocent, which, as always, was an awful lot of effort.
Sighing, the professor took her wand out of her pocket and strode forward. She waved and swished and flicked, muttering to herself for several long minutes before reporting, "The charm used is very strong. There may be a password to release it-"
"Balls," Mina guessed, "Crystal balls. Tea. Tarot. Con. Grift. Scam. Flim-flam... Uh... little help, lads? I don't actually take this asinine subject."
"Scrying," Sirius tried, "Palm reading. Astrology-"
"Numerology," Remus ventured, "Cartomancy-"
"Oh!" Mina declared, "He's into all the -mancy words! Try some more of those! Shit, what were the ones he told me... er... tasseomancy... capnomancy..."
Searching his brain for years of half-listened-to lectures, Sirius listed, "Pyromancy. Hydromancy. Alectromancy-"
"Bibliomancy," Remus rattled off quickly, "Crystallomancy. Oneiromancy. Cleromancy. Lithomancy. Chronomancy. Astromancy-"
"Necromancy," Lazarov drawled.
There was a quiet click, and Mina immediately threw open the trapdoor. She jumped down the ladder and grabbed her brother and boyfriend into one big hug. "Go team," she chuckled, grinning distractingly against Sirius's neck.
xxXxx
The announcement was made at breakfast: all Divination classes were cancelled until further notice.
That was it. Nothing about Professor Giles attacking and quite possibly trying to kidnap a student. Nothing about the skull-and-snake tattoo that had been discovered on his wrinkled left forearm. Nothing about aurors dragging the raving old man away to face more intensive interrogation...
Although Lily understood that Dumbledore didn't want to start a panic, she couldn't believe that he was just going to cover up the fact that there'd been a Death Eater working in the school for almost two decades.
Lily felt her eyes and throat welling up, again, because... because it wasn't fair. They were supposed to be safe at Hogwarts...
"Evans," she heard, someone sitting beside her as a warm arm wrapped around her, "Hey. It's alright."
"It's not," the redhead sniffled, turning her face into the thin yet surprisingly solid chest, "I actually liked Professor Giles. He was always so... knowledgeable."
Potter was quiet for a moment, giving her a soothing squeeze. "Everyone missed it," he murmured, "The bastard was a good liar. That's all. But he's gone now, so we don't have to worry about him."
Lily snorted; nothing like an unattractive noise to accessorize baggy, bloodshot eyes and unwashed hair. All night they spent giving their statements to the aurors. Mina Lupin was still up in Dumbledore's office, sassing and snarling her way through probably the fifth rendition of the sodding story.
"Mail's here!" Pettigrew announced.
Barely, Lily resisted the urge to ask the pale, podgy lad how long he'd been seated across from her. How much of her blubbering he'd witnessed. Instead, she sat up and inquired, "Why is your owl green?"
Wrestling with the hysterical beast, taking a verdant wing to the face, Pettigrew grunted, "I tried to transfigure her into a parrot."
While Lily continued to stare in confusion and concern, Potter just chuckled. His arm was still around her shoulders; he had yet to make a single arrogant or insensitive comment, and it was really rather... nice.
"Scylla was being difficult though," Pettigrew continued, finally snatching his letter from the flailing bird, "I asked Remus to help, but he would only make me a stuffed one. Such a shame. Just didn't feel like real piracy without a real parrot."
Marauders. They were all so... bizarre.
Pettigrew opened and began scanning the letter, but he froze with a dripping spoonful of oatmeal halfway to his mouth.
"Pete?" asked Potter.
Light blue eyes filling with shocked, devastated tears, Pettigrew croaked, "My dad is dead."
xxXxx
As soon as Regulus was out of sight of his band of cronies, Sirius wasted no time tackling the smaller boy into a nearby alcove. Sirius ignored the wails and struggles, slapping one hand over his little brother's mouth and using the other to expose his little brother's left forearm.
His little brother's blessedly unblemished left forearm.
"Thank fuck," the teen sighed, indulging in a hug of pure relief and joy before Regulus finally succeeded in squirming free from the embrace.
"Brute," he spat. The younger Black spent a few moments angrily straightening his uniform to its original flawless state. "Was that really necessary?"
Glaring, Sirius countered, "When I find you standing outside a Death Eater's office in the middle of the night? What do you think?"
Regulus frowned. "As I told the headmaster when he rudely summoned me this morning," the slim fifth-year recited, "Professor Giles asked to see us. We assumed it was because Rosier had given me all his notes and essays from last year. I've only been using them to study, but I thought I must've slipped up and turned in something too similar. I thought I was about to be accused of plagiarism. It was quite nerve-racking."
Sirius stared. Then he said, "Good cover. Plausible. Requires admitting slight wrongdoing, but not enough to actually get you in trouble. Now why were you really there?"
Bristling, turning a pink around the ears, the Slytherin hissed, "Are you calling me a liar?"
"I'm calling you a decent liar," Sirius answered, "Which is a compliment. After that display in the tower last night, I was starting to think you hadn't taken any of my teachings to heart."
"Ignoramus," murmured Reg.
"Reg," Sirius snapped, "I'm not playing around... just tell me you didn't know what he was going to do."
Gray eyes sad, soulful, Regulus sighed and grudgingly admitted, "I didn't know. About anything. Rosier said we were supposed to pick something up and then deliver it. He wouldn't tell me what or where or why."
Pick something up and then deliver it... Godric's gonads, it was true. Giles was going to kidnap Mina and more than likely hand her over to his "Dark Lord." All because of a stupid prank, all because people were dumb enough to believe she was bloody psychic.
"If you hurt her," Sirius growled, "Any of them. Or let them be hurt, I swear I will never forgive you."
Pouting, looking so painfully, foolishly young, Regulus drawled, "I know how much you value you your little hodgepodge family."
Sirius grabbed his arm again before he could storm away. "I asked you to come with me," the Marauder declared, "You still can. It's never too late." He swallowed hard, dreading the moment he'd be forced to let go. "I'm always going to be your brother, Reg, but as much as I'd like to, I can't force you to do the right thing."
Regulus rolled his eyes and yanked his arm away. "Touching," he said, "Really. Let's do this again sometime, but without the discourteous assault." And then he was gone.
Groaning wretchedly, Sirius sank to the floor and spent a few minutes cursing his parents and their Dark Lord to the deepest depths of the most horrible hell. After, Sirius took out the Map and scanned it for signs that Mina and Remus had finally been released from the headmaster's office.
They were still in that dreaded room, surrounded by a semi-circle of important adults: Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody, both Prewetts. James's parents had been there for a few of the very early hours of the morning, but they'd gone back to headquarters already, presumably to supervise the interrogation.
Because a crazed old Death Eater had tried to kidnap Mina. Because he thought she possessed psychic powers.
Fuck's sake. It was the second week.
xxXxx
"I'm not psychic." It was becoming a mantra. "There's no such thing. You just gave me detention for not being psychic."
Dumbledore sighed wearily. The twinkle in his eyes was so much less twinkly than normal.
And that made Mina sad. But still. "How many times do I have to say it?" the girl demanded, "How many different languages? Because I only know two. Iway amway otnay uckingfay ychicpsay, youway idiculousray astardsbay."
From the exasperated intake of breath, Mina guessed that Dumbledore was also familiar with Pig Latin.
Oops. "Uh..." Mina searched for an excuse. Her stomach growled. "Low blood sugar?"
"Professor Giles seems quite certain of your Gift," the headmaster stated, "And he is an expert-"
Though she really tried not to, Mina burst out laughing. "Expert?" she giggled, feeling kind of giddily delirious (along with shivery and sick), "The mad twat who was hauled out of here in a straight-jacket? Even if he weren't, you know, absolutely bonkers and in league with the sodding Dark Lord-"
"Mina," Remus scolded quietly.
Groaning, Mina sank further into her usual chair. Over the course of her school career, it had molded perfectly to the contours of her body. Oh yes. The chair was always there to lovingly cradle her buttocks through every interminable lecture and barrage of disappointed looks. Such a lovely, loyal chair. And such an interesting shade of purple, heliotrope mixed with amethyst, dappled with little silver stars.
Mina was going to steal it when she graduated; the plan had been brewing in her mind since third year.
"Miss Lupin," McGonagall murmured.
(Fuck. She looked sad, too. What was wrong with everybody? Mina was unscathed, and the Death Eater was getting locked up; that was the ideal ending for these situations. They should be throwing a party.)
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" McGonagall asked. The soft, non-admonishing tone was a bit weird. "We spoke just this morning-"
"I don't know," the girl bellowed, "I don't know, alright? I thought he was messing with me, to teach me a lesson about the fortune telling thing. And if I told the boys, they would've royally fucked him up and probably gotten expelled with me. I wasn't sure anyone else would believe-"
"Of course we would believe you!" shouted McGonagall, hand flying to her throat in a gesture of astonishment, "You were attacked, my dear girl! We don't take allegations of that nature lightly!"
"I punched him in the face," Mina announced (trying not to sound too proud), "I punched a professor. I didn't want to be expelled, and I wasn't sure you'd believe that it was self-defense."
Everyone was staring at her like she was nuts again. Fucking hell, Mina hated that.
Sighing wearily, McGonagall declared, "You should've come to me right away. We do not tolerate professors being inappropriate or abusive toward students. Professor Giles would've been sacked right away-"
"And no one would've known he was a Death Eater," said Mina, "So apparently I did you people a favor. How do you repay me? By repeating dumb questions and denying me breakfast!"
After a brief beat, Gideon Prewett drawled, "Wait... you said you weren't totally sure why you didn't tell right away... does that mean you had a feeling about him?"
With a glare Sirius tried not to get caught calling "the Shriveler," Mina snarled, "Other than hatred and disgust, I have no feelings whatsoever about that mad old goat."
"You realize you put yourself in a great deal of danger?" Moody grumbled, peg-legging back and forth across the office, "Doesn't matter what you thought or how it all turned out, not reporting physical abuse by a professor was incredibly stupid."
The girl shrugged. "Well, now I know... really, this is cruel and unusual. Can we get some bloody pancakes in here?"
xxxxxxxxxx
Hope ya'll were paying close attention because a lot of this chapter is setup for future chapters. Mwahahaha.
Reviews inspire me. And with the skyrocketing summer heat making trips to the beach more and more tempting, you guys definitely want me inspired to occasionally stay home and write ;)
