Heyyyyyyy! How are you guys doing? CHRISTMAS IS ONLY FEW DAYS AWAY AND I'M SOOOO EXITED! Christmas time is my favorite time of the year, I just love the feeling you get around then. The past week has been quite eventful for me. I lost my iPhone. With all my chapters and my drafts written on it. Clap Clap Clap and the first prize for stupidity of the year goes to... ME! I did everything I could think of to retrieve it but it seems like it's lost forever. Being the unlucky girl that I am, I lost it the day after I had finished writing the chapter and I must say that it was probably the best chapter that I had ever written. And now it's all gone. I did remembered some stuff but it's not as marvellous as the original. I hope you'll still like it and please, Review.
This chapter contains bad words so if there are any little children reading this, cover your eyes when you get there!
I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER!
"As soon as she's gone, you'll go through the one eyed witch passage and meet me in Honeydukes okay?" Ron and Harry had just left the Great Hall, walking side by side and discussing how they would sneak Harry out into Hogsmede.
Harry nodded. "Okay. We just gotta make sure Hermione doesn't get wind of it. I don't want her up on my case again."
"Well sorry to disappoint you, but I can be up on your back all I want." A voice said behind them. Both boys jumped slightly as they turned around to see Hermione standing there, hands on hips.
Ron scowled. "Shove off Hermione, you're not his mother."
Hermione shot him a equally poisonous glare back. "I know that Ron, but you and I also know that as soon as Alice hears you're planning to sneak into Hogsmeade, she'll want to go too and I can't let her do that." She shot another look at the red-head. "I made a promise to myself that I'd make sure she stays safe, and Harry too! Do you think I'm just going to stand here and twiddle my thumbs while you go sneaking off against school rules...again?" She made sure to put extra emphasis on the last word. Hermione may have let them drag her along before, but this time it wasn't some harmless venture in the halls after hours, and it wasn't something they had to do out of necessity either. It wasn't like with the Sorcerer's Stone or the Chamber of Secrets, because with those instances there was a actual legitimate reason for what they did, but what the boys were trying to do this time was just pointless recklessness that with their luck would wind up getting both Harry and Alice killed.
"You're just being a pain in the arse. Can't you ever just stop being such a bossy know-it-all for once? In case you didn't know, nobody really likes that kind of person." Ron snapped back.
The bushy haired girl's face grew red. "I am NOT being bossy Ron, I'm being mature, unlike some people I know. I'm just worried about my friend's safety and-" Ron cut her off.
"That's it. I'm tired of you always getting in our business, and we're not your friends! Just because we let you tag along all the time doesn't mean anything except that we felt bad for you! Why do you think we're the only one's who let you hang around? It's because you're annoying!" Ron looked surprised at himself, but he didn't make a move to apologize.
Hermione's facial expression changed from to surprised, to sad, to hurt, until it finally settled on a mix of anger and stubbornness. "Oh, well excuse me!" She snapped. "Excuse me for caring! I'll just leave you two here to be expelled shall I!" She turned her heel and began running towards the staircase. When she reached the top, she turned around, eyes watery.
"But know this, Ron Weasley! If something happens to them, it'll be your fault!" And with that, she disappeared behind a door. Harry looked at Ron, shocked. He was Hermione's friend, and just because he wasn't agreeing with the bushy haired witch's way of dealing with things at the moment didn't give him the right to verbally attack her for it.
Harry opened his mouth to say something but Ron cut in before he could. "Forget it Harry, I'm going to see Fred and George." Ron turned back the way they just came and stormed back into the Great Hall, dodging a glaring Alice Black in the process.
Alice walked up the the messy-haired boy, crossed her arms, and shot him a very pointed look. "You could have at least told her you were her friend Harry. Of all people at this school you should know just how sensitive a topic that is for her. Hermione was just trying to help, in her own way of course, but trying none the less."
Harry sighed. Alice was right, he knew, but that didn't mean he really liked it. Harry honestly hated when his friends fought, he was never sure exactly whose side to be on. "I know that Alice, but then Ron would get mad at me and I really don't want to get back into the whole 'you-are-a-traitor' thing again...it was bad enough dealing with it the first time." Harry ran his hand through his hair irritably and Alice just shook her head at him disbelievingly.
"Merlin Harry, you really can be impossible sometimes. You'll have to apologise to her sooner or later and I'm not letting this one slide until you do."
They arrived to the common room and Alice said the password. The door swung open and the two Gryffendors walked into the common room, "And since I'm a good friend, I'll try to get her cooled down before you apologize, just to make it easier on you." With that said, Alice smiled cheekily and veered off to the girl dormitories to take a shower.
"What would I do without you?" Harry asked.
"Hmmm, probably die." She turned around at the base of the stairs and winked, then disappeared up the stair case.
Forty minutes later, Alice came stomping down the stairs, startling a couple of first years who were playing an intense game of chess over by the brightly lit fireplace.
"I give up!" Alice threw her arms up in the air before plopping herself down on one of the many couches scattered around the circular room, irritably blowing a strand of ebony hair out of her face.
"I'll take it the conversation didn't go well?" Harry walked over and sat down beside the agitated girl. "What did she say?"
Alice scowled darkly. "Nothing, she gave me the silence treatment the entire time I was in there, and I couldn't get a single ruddy word out of her!"
"Alice, I think you mean silent treatment, not silence treatment." He let go a small smile.
"Whatever." She spread her legs on his lap and nestled her head on his shoulder. Her hair was still wet but Harry didn't mind, she kind of smelled good, the scent of the shampoo, something Harry couldn't replace, lingering on the clumped black strands. They stayed like that a good twenty minutes until Harry noticed her slowly falling asleep.
"Hey, Alice, wake up! I still have my homework to do! I can't do anything with you falling asleep on me." He lightly shook her shoulder.
"But I'm comfortable..." She mumbled against his neck. Her breath tickled his skin and Harry suppressed a shiver. It was pretty cozy, he thought, the warmth of the fire was just right, and the common room was almost empty. It was, for the moment, peaceful.
Harry sighed. Too bad his Potion assignment would never be finished if he put it off. "Come on! Get off me!" Harry started pushing her away but laughed when he touched her side and she let out a shriek. Harry smirked.
"Tell me Alice, are you ticklish?" He asked.
"Yeah why?" Her gray eyes widened when she saw Harry's smile. "Wait! No! I'm not! Please Harry don't–"
And thus Harry started tickling her without mercy. She shrieked and tried to get up but Harry kept bringing her back to him. She tried kicking, screaming for help but nobody was around. Nobody would have taken her seriously anyway because of all the laughing. They wrestled on the couch and both of them screamed as it tipped over and fell backwards, both third years tumbling out and rolling onto the carpeted floor. They fell silent and looked at each other. Alice snorted loudly and they both burst out laughing. Anyone who saw them at that moment would think they'd both gone nutters.
"Well, Well, Well. What do we have here? You two seem quite cosy..." They looked up and saw Dean and Seamus looking down at them, smirking. Harry suddenly realised that the position he and Alice were in was very compromising. She was straddling him, one of his hands on her waist while the other was on her thigh. He felt his cheeks redden considerably and they both automatically untangled themselves, bolting to their feet and each moving back to a respectable distance away from the other.
Seamus laughed. "Oh no, you two can carry on! We were just passing by..."
Dean wriggled his eyebrows at Harry. "We just thought you might want to know that the twins were going to arrive soon. And you know...we didn't think you'd want them to know what you two were, uh, doing Right there..."
Alice's eyes widened, face flushing. "W-we weren't doing anything!" She looked to Harry for help but he looked just at a lost for words as she was. Seamus and Dean didn't answer, they just gave them a suggestive look before going up the boy's staircase. Harry and Alice stayed silent, not even looking at each other. A few seconds later, the twins came in and looked at them both.
George raised an eyebrow. "Did we miss something?"
The next morning was the day of the Hogsmeade trip. Harry and Alice, who had, as expected, decided to join him, followed Ron to the carriage station. They bid him goodbye and waited until Hermione was gone as well to put their plan into motion.
"Alright, the cost is clear. Let's go get your cloak already!" Harry laughed at Alice and they sprinted back to the castle. As they climbed the stairs, he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, wondering if she had thought about the previous night's events. He hoped she didn't. It was hard enough for the both of them, one being Black's daughter and still not trusted by so many in the school, and then with Harry being the boy-who-lived and got enough stares in the hallways as it was. He couldn't begin to imagine how people would react if wild rumors started flying around about the two of them.
Once they got the cloak, they rushed down to the statue of the humped-back witch. They were just turning the last corner when they came nose to hooked nose with their least favorite professor. Harry mentally groaned.
"What are you two doing here?" Snape asked suspiciously, permanent scowl predictably plastered on his thin face.
"I don't know. What are you doing here?" Alice asked raising an eyebrow. Harry slapped her arm. Now was not the time to get in trouble with Snape. Not when Hogsmede was on the line.
"I'll be the one asking the questions Miss Black, thank you." Snape drawled. He turned his gaze on Harry. "So, what are two idiotic Gryffendors doing wondering the halls at this time?"
"We just came back from the carriage station. We were going back to the common room." Harry said, trying to look as honest as he could, though having a sinking feeling that he was failing miserably.
"Were you now?" Snape looked over at the statue and Harry felt his stomach flip. He couldn't know. Fred and George said it hadn't been discovered by the professors.
"Yes." Harry mentally rolled his eyes, did Snape really have to question everything he said?
A cold smile spread across the potion master's face, black eyes flashing. "Well then, I suggest you do just that and go back to your common room, where you belong. I beloved that would be in the opposite direction from here..."
"Oh and you can just–" Harry put his hand over her mouth.
"Not now..." He hissed in her ear and started pulling her away, until at last Snape was out of sight. Harry let out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding and Alice pulled her arm out of his grasp, sending him a look like acid.
"Why didn't you let me speak! I had a really good one coming up!" Alice voice turned into a whine and Harry only just suppressed a grin.
"Alice, you'd just give Snape a reason to assign us detention. Do you want to spend three hours scrubbing cauldrons in the dungeons? Besides, we'll never have a chance of sneaking out if Snape starts trailing us around. " Harry said. Alice may have been stubborn and impulsive but Harry knew she wasn't stupid.
"Well you didn't have to be so rough about it!" She huffed.
"I know, and I'm sorry okay? Will you accept my apology?" He looked over at her.
"hmpf! She said, crossing her arms, and this time Harry did laugh. She could be such a little kid sometimes.
"Will I be forgiven if I buy you candy when we get to Honeydukes?" He smiled as her eyes lit up.
"Only if you buy me the fancy kind!" She smirked and he nodded.
"Sounds like a fair deal to me."
"What took you so long? It's been over an hour!" Ron said as they appeared beside him.
"We had a few, um, errands to run..." Harry glanced at Alice, who was happily munching on her Cherry Jellies. Ron tried to take one but Alice slapped his hand.
"шахта."
They set off to the Owl Post office, where Ron rented a medium sized tawny own and sent a few letters to his parents and to his brother Bill while Harry and Alice tried to find what was the smallest owl of the whole office out of boredom. Once they were done, they visited Zonko's and Honeydukes while Alice blackmailed Harry into paying for half of the things she wanted.
"Merlin, I pity the bloke who'll end up marrying her." Ron whispered to Harry. Alice turned around and glared at him.
"I heard that." She said.
They walked on the main street for a while, the weather, they deemed, was much too nice to stay inside.
"So where do you two want to go now?" Ron asked.
"Shrieking Shack." Alice autmatically said. Ron cringed.
"Do we have to?" Alice turned.
"I wanna see it." She just smiled "Is there a problem with that?" She raised an eyebrow.
"No, no. it's just... Nearly Headless Nick said not even the Hogwarts ghosts go there..." Ron looked nervously past the bright shops and student filled streets over in the direction the shack was in.
Harry frowned. "But I thought you said you went with Hermione on the first visit?"
"Hermione did... I didn't." Ron grinned sheepishly and shrugged.
Alice turned from the conversation, looking up lazily at the clouds. "Well, I don't really care. Let's just go already." Alice started walking, not even glancing back to see if they followed. Ron looked at Harry, searching his friends face for any sign of support, but Harry just shook his head and grinned.
"Let's just go before she leaves us behind. Besides, you're the one with a ghoul in his attic." Grinning cheekily, much too like Alice's smile for Ron's liking, he turned and started following the black haired girl.
"Why do always have to say yes to her? You're always agreeing with anything she says, does, or thinks. What about me? I've been with you since the first year on the train!" Ron jogged up beside him and Harry just pretended that he didn't hear. He didn't know why he always did what she wanted him to do either. He just knew it made her happy and Harry liked seeing her happy.
They climbed to the top of the hill where the Shack was. It was, they could see, a very old buildng. Rotten wood planks made up the whole of the structure and dark flaking paint was peeling everywhere. Every window was boarded shut with nails, and Harry guess, probably a few spells as well. Out of the corner of his eyes Harry saw Ron jump as a gust of wind sent a groan emitting from the structure. Even the grass around the old building looked deader then it should and Harry was starting to understand his friends nervousness, he could only imagine what it must be like at night.
"Okay, you saw it. Can we just go now?" Ron said, anxiously looking and the Shack. Harry had to agree with his friend. Though he would normally never believe in a old ghost tail, he was starting to wonder if there was more to all those stories they he'd first thought. It was the wizarding world, after all, and that left open a lot of possibilities...
"Do you think we can go inside?" Alice asked Harry. She, Harry noticed, was completely ignoring Ron. He was starting to wonder if this might all be partial payback for how he treated Hermione earlier, and if that was it she was doing a very good job.
"No! That's enough! Let's just go. I–" Ron stopped abruptly as they heard voices from the other side of the hill.
"It's the ghosts!" Ron whispered. It wasn't ghosts though. gradually, they saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle climbing the Hill.
"Harry! The cloak, quickly!" Alice whispered. Harry and Alice hid under it, instantly disappearing and leaving Ron standing seemingly all alone, knowing the consequences if someone saw them in the village, especially if the ones who saw them were Malfoy and his two goons. Merlin knows what a tattle tail that twit was, and the last thing either Harry or Alice needed was for the blond snitch to go running off to Snape. Malfoy saw Ron and smirked. Alice wanted to punch him.
"Git." Harry elbowed her, successfully silencing Alice as the three Slytherin boys drew closer to their hiding place.
"What are you doing here Weasley? Shopping for a new house are we?" Ron's ears turned crimson and Crabbe and Goyle sniggered, not smart enough to come up with any reply half of what Malfoy did and consequently taking took great pleasure in listening to him bash others. Though every one of them hated Draco's guts none could say he wasn't good at getting under people's skin.
Malfoy swaggered over to Ron. "I suppose you'd like having your own room. I heard you whole family sleep in the same one...Is that true Weasley?" Harry and Alice grabbed Ron by his arms, making sure not to grab his cloak and make any suspicious movement. Malfoy was a prat but he wasn't stupid...well, not as much as they'd like at least...
"Leave him to us..." Alice whispered. She and Harry looked over at a nearby puddle of mud and nodded at each other. They both took a handful and...
SPLAT!
The mud hit Malfoy right in the back of the head, and leaving his perfected platinum blond hairdo covered in globs of brown muck. He spun around trying to see where it had come from while Crabbe and Goyle just stood there, dumbfounded. Ron, on the other hand, was laughing so hard he had trouble keeping his balance.
SPLATTER!
Another hit Goyle right in the face.
"Head! 60 points for Potter!" Harry whispered.
SPLOTCH!
"Crabbe's arse! 100 points for Black!" Alice laughed, but it didn't last long.
Draco turned to where they were hiding and pointed. "It came from there!"
Alice's face fell. "Oh Crap..." Goyle and Crabbe ran towards them, arms out in front like they were some kind of mummies from a cheesy muggle horror flick. Harry moved away but Crabbe grabbed Alice through the cloak and pulled her down. Then came the chaos. The cloak slipped and for a split second, she made eye contact with Malfoy.
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGGGHHH!" Malfoy screamed and began running down the hill. Crabbe and Goyle let go of them and followed Malfoy in the same fashion, bellowing and tripping over themselves the entire way down. Harry and Alice stayed there, half covered by the invisibility cloak, and watched as Crabb's mud covered backside was the last thing to disappear down the hill. It almost would have been comical if not for a certain something that was bound to come next. Suddenly, Harry realized what that something was.
"We have to get back to the Castle before Malfoy..."
They hurriedly climbed the stairs of the Humpbacked witch passage and just as Harry was about to open the secret entrance, Alice grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Leave the cloak here, It'll be too weird if someone sees us come out of nowhere right in the middle of the corridor." She said. Harry nodded and they hid it under last step of the stairs so that no one would find it, even if they did happen across the passage. They climbed out of the statue and had barely moved an inch away from it when they heard footsteps bounding off the stone walks of Hogwarts, and they were heading right their way. It was Snape, bearing a mixed expression of triumph and malevolance.
"Potter, Black, follow me." He said, a cold grin not so unlike the one he'd worn just that morning spreading across his face. They followed him downstairs to his office and, with a grimace, Harry remembered the last time he'd went there. He chanced a glance over at Alice, who seemed more annoyed by the fact Snape was leading them down to his personal domain than nervous. Maybe it had something to do with the numerous detentions she'd already received in Potions, and for a moment Harry couldn't help but wonder if his friend was slightly senile.
The office was just like Harry remembered: dark, dank, and gloomy. The air was cold and humid and the only source of light in the room was the three candles on Snape's desk, most likely charmed to resist being melted due to the lack of wax present on the desk and how they were already burning when they entered. Jars lined the walls, each containing something Harry didn't (and didn't wish to) recognize. He adverted his eyes away from the floating shapes with a slight shudder as something moved inside one of the containers. The second time, he concluded, was no less disturbing then the first.
"Sit." Snape demanded. They both sat, Harry stiffly while Alice made herself comfortable, slumping in the wooden chair and crossing her feet at the ankles. Snape remained standing.
"Mr. Malfoy just told me about the strangest story I've ever heard. Can either of you two guess what it may be?" They didn't answer. Snape looked between the two
"He claimed to be up by the Shrieking Shack earlier when he ran into Mr. Weasley, apparently alone."
Alice grinned. "Wow professor, your one-hundred percent right, that is strange! Ron checking out the shrieking shack? Alone? And here I thought he was too spooked to go near it!" Harry mentally face palmed. Sometimes he wished he could cast a silencing charm to make her shut up the moment she thought of saying something stupid, like right then for instance...
"I wasn't done thank you, Miss Black. And if I hear one more cheeky remark pass out of that oversize mouth of yours I can guarantee you and both your friends will soon regret it!" Snape spat at her. Even Alice seemed a bit shocked at the venom in his voice. The professor glared at her, daring for another outburst.
After it was clear there would be none he continued. "Mr. Malfoy states that he was standing, talking to Weasley, when a ball of mud hit him in the back of the head. Do you have any idea of how this could have happened?" Harry tried to look as surprise as he could.
"No." He said. Snape's eyes narrowed.
"He then witnessed the most incredible thing. Maybe you can guess that?" His eyes bore into Harry's, but both he and Alice remained silent.
Snape smiled triumphantly. "He saw your heads, Potter and Black, floating, in midair None the less..." Snape said. There was a long pause.
"Now, what on earth would your heads have been doing in Hogsmeade? If I recall correctly, I seem to remember that neither of your heads, nor any other part of your bodies, are allowed in Hogsmeade. So, would you like to explain why they were seen in Hogsmeade?"
"We know we aren't allowed, and there isn't anything to explain...sir." Harry said, annoyed.
"It sounds like Malfoy is hallucin–" Alice began.
"Do not lie to me and Malfoy is not hallucinating! I know that you two snuck into the village so give it up and admit it!" Chest heaving, the professor took a deep breath, bent down and rested his hands on each arms of Alice's chair and leaned in till his long hooked nose was only inches from her face. "If your head, was in Hogsmeade, so was the rest of you. Now, I want to know how you got out, and if you do not wish to be expelled, then I suggest You. Tell. Me." His eyes glinted and Alice turned white.
"We've been in the Gryffindor common room the whole time." Alice said softly. Even she knew this wasn't a good time to push things.
"Can anyone confirm that?" Snape asked. Alice stayed quiet and Snape smirked, standing up.
"So" He said. "Everyone from the Minister of Magic to the people in Hogsmeade have been trying to keep famous Harry Potter and heiress Alissa Black safe from Sirius Black, but the famous Harry Potter and heiress Alissa Black are much too important to worry about that aren't they? Let the ordinary people worry about their safety! Famous Harry Potter and heiress Alissa Black do what they want, where they want, and when they want! Isn't that right?" Harry tried to keep his cool, but it was too late for Alice. She'd come out of her momentary shock at the bait Snape had thrown, as he undoubtedly knew she would.
"Pretty much, yeah." She shot back. "I can do whatever the hell I want!"
Snape drew back from her face and took his hands off the chair, standing up to his full hight and towering over the two thirteen year olds. "How extraordinarily like your mother you are Miss. Black." Alice proudly lifted up her chin, defiantly looking him straight in the eyes. He sneered. "She, just like you, seemed to think that the world belonged to her, that she could take whatever she pleased and let others deal with the mess she left behind. After all, she was Victoria Konstantinov, heiresses of the Romanov Dynasty, who where we, petty little nobodies, to tell her what to do? Yes, all she did was cause trouble and hide behind her bloodline to avoid consequences. Probably the only thing she was really good at." He turned his back to her. "That and getting knocked up by a mass murderer that is." He'd gone one step too far. Harry hadn't even known Alice's mother but hearing those words made him want to tear Snape's head off. Alice's thoughts were probably even worst.
"Shut the fuck up!" Alice bolted to her feet, the chair chattering to the gray stone floor as she clenched her hands into fists at her sides, gray eyes flashing. Snape glared at her.
"What did you just say to me girl?" He said slowly.
"I told you to shut the fuck up, Snape! You don't know a bloody thing! You don't what she's been through! You don't know what you're talking about so you can shut the fucking hell up! You're nothing, nothing but a cold and heartless creep!" Alice screamed.
"Oh yes I know. I know all about that Miss Black. And maybe you should think a bit for about who exactly you should be placing that little label on." Snape actually had the nerve to smirk. Harry looked at Alice, waiting for her to snap, but instead she suddenly looked surprised, and then something Harry never would have expected...she looked vulnerable.
Harry understood they were talking about something terrible, something Alice had never told Harry about. But how in the world did Snape know about it? If Alice never told him, who told Snape?
Their conversation seemed to end there and Snape turned towards Harry while Alice just picked up the chair and sat, eyes wide, staring blankly down at the floor.
Snape's mouth turned upwards. "Turn out your pockets Potter." Harry didn't move. All the things he had bought in Hogsmeade was there.
"Turn out your pockets, Potter." Snape repeated. Slowly, Harry took out the Zonko's bag, the Honeydukes bag and the Marauder's map.
"Ron gave them to me last time he went." Harry quickly said.
The greasy haired professor arched a eyebrow. "And you kept them all this time? How...touching."His eyes fell on the map. "And what is this?"
"Just a bit of parchment." Harry said. Snape took it and began looking at it from different angles, studying to much too closely for Harry's liking.
"Surely you won't need it anymore?" he said. "Why don't I just throw this away?" His hand moved above the candles on his desk.
Harry's eyes went wide and he gasped. "No!" Snape smirked.
"Ah, let's see then..." He took out his wand and flicked it at the paper.
"Reveal your secret!" Nothing.
"I, Professor Severus Snape, demand you to reveal your secret!" Snape said, hitting the map with his wand. Slowly, words appeared on the surface. Harry heard Alice, who had retrieved her senses, gasp.
'Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.'
Time froze and nobody spoke as Snape lost the little bit of colors his face had.
'Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony, and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git.'
Harry would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious, but he could see the sly grin stretching on Alice's face. He wondered vaguely if she knew something he didn't.
'Mr. Padfoot would also like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor.'
Alice snorted as Snape's face turned green.
'Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.'
They all waited in silence for Snape's explosion, but as the seconds ticked by still none came. He calmly walked to his fireplace and threw powder in it.
"Lupin, in my office. Now!" His voice was shaking with anger ad Harry felt his hands clamp onto the arms of his chair. Seconds later, Lupin came bursting out of the fireplace in a burst of emerald flame, brushing off dust from his shabby robes.
"You called, Severus?" He said. He the spotted Harry and Alice sighed as Alice winked at him. Though there was still a bit of a disturbed look left in her eyes, Alice seemed to have bounced back after the incident with the map.
"Yes." Snape spat out, his face contorted with fury as he strode back to his desk. "I asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this." Mooney, Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail's names were still shinning on the map in black ink and an odd expression passed on Lupin's face as he stared at the parchment.
"Well?" Snape said. Lupin didn't answer, he seemed to be doing some quick thinking.
"Well?" Snape repeated, growing impatient. "This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Do you have any idea where he could have gotten it?"
"Full of Dark Magic?" Lupin repeated. "Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry got it from a joke shop... Zonko's I presume?"
"I don't think so Lupin, do you really think a joke shop would sell such a thing? You don't think it more likely that he got it from...the manufacturers?" Snape's jawbone was rigid and his eyes were blazing with anger. Lupin looked at him.
"You mean from Wormtail and his friends? No... I wouldn't think so. Unless... Harry, Alice, do you know those people?" Lupin asked.
"No." Harry quickly said.
"Well there you have it!" Lupin smiled. "He probably got it from Zonko's...from Ron or one of his other classmates." At that exact moment, Ron came bursting in the room, completely out of breath.
"It... was me... who ga...gave the map... to... Harry... and Alice... from Zonko's... bought it... ages ago..." He said, coughing between every other words.
"Well!" said Lupin, clapping his hands together and looking around cheerfully. "That seems to clear that up! Severus, I'll take this back, shall I? It is, after all, my area of expertise!" He put the map in his robes "Harry, Alice, come with me. Ron, we'll see each other later."
Harry and Alice followed him to his office, not saying a word. Once they were there, Harry couldn't bare the silence anymore.
"Professor, I–"
"I don't want to hear explanations" said Lupin shortly. "I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you didn't hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around. Do you know how many people risked their lives to assure the safety of yours? Have you any idea how dangerous it would be if this map came into Sirius Black's possession? Harry, your story is a legend and there would be no greater shame than to repay your mother's sacrifice by giving Sirius Black such easy way to find you." Harry lowered his head in shame, and Alice bit her lip beside him.
"Professor...Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?" Harry asked
"Because..." Lupin hesitated. "These manufacturers would have thought it very amusing to lure you out of the castle."
"Do you know them?" Harry asked.
"We've met." He said, smiling, Harry thought, a little wishfully. "Now I hope you understand that I can't give you your map back."
He nodded sadly and sighed. "Yes, Professor." It wasn't like Harry didn't expect it.
"Alice, I have to talk to you. Can you leave us Harry?" Lupin asked. Harry looked at Alice who gave him a small smile.
"I'll see you later." Harry nodded and smiled back before closing the door with a soft click behind him.
Ron was waiting for him in the common room, sitting in a red armchair. Harry had thought about going back to the statue and retrieving the cloak, but he thought better of it.
Ron rose and rushed over. "It's my fault" he abruptly. "It was my idea to sneak you out–"
Someone suddenly cleared their throat behind them. It was Hermione, holding a crumpled letter to her chest. Ron scowled.
"Come to have a good gloat?" said Ron. "Or have you just been to tell on us?"
"No."She frowned, tears welling up in her eyes. "I just thought you ought to know...Hagrid just lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed..."
:D Okay I'm pretty proud of it. And it's a lot longer than usual cause it's Christmas and stuff. Some people requested so Harry/Alice moments so I hope you'll be happy with them! I have to say that I was inspired by another story which has the best Harry/OC moments (It's called 'You were always there' by OpenBookLina and it's awesoooome! Go read it people!) so yeah thanks to that! I want to wish you guys a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I wish you health and happiness!
шахта means 'mine' in Russian.
Thanks to my AWESOME editor shadowkat678 who is an excellent writer. Please check out her work, it'll be worth it! If my stories are readable, it's thanks to her so imagine the awesomness (that's not a word, I know.) of her work!
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS... IS REVIEEEEEEEEEWS!
Merry Christmas again,
GailyGail.
