Christmas Time At Hogsmeade
"Mr Black, you will be serving detention with me tonight at Seven o'clock" Professor McGonagall said wearily, all to used to the marauders' behaviour, even Remus Lupin, who was a prefect.
Sirius wasn't at all put out by the detention, on the contrary, his grin got even wider, his silver eyes twinkling with his own brilliance. Detention was definitely worth being able to watch Snivillus burst into song every time Lucius Malfoy passed by.
"Okay" said Sirius, before he turned to James and smirked. "Looks like I'm definitely going to beat you in most detentions this year, Prongs, I'm four ahead."
"Don't be so sure about that Padfoot, I still have some tricks up my sleeve" James said, returning the smirk, making them look even more like brothers with their identical expressions.
"Oh yeah?" Sirius challenged loudly.
"Yeah," said James in a voice just as loud.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah"
"Oh y-" Sirius started, hey had gotten steadily louder as they went on.
"Will you two shut up? Think of some other way to challenge each other" Remus snapped, it was too close to the full moon for him to put up with their usual childish behaviour.
"You're right, I have another way" said James with a sly smirk that could rival a Slytherin.
James suddenly reached forward and ran his hand through Sirius' hair, effectively messing it up.
Sirius stared open mouthed at his best friend for a few minutes before angrily shouting "It's on Potter!" and without further notice, James took off at a run, Sirius hot on his tail and Remus sighed, picking up his friends' abandoned school bags.
"I'm probably going to regret asking this," Professor McGonagall sighed as she sat at her desk, "but what was that about?"
Remus frowned, not quite understanding the question. He hadn't noticed anything off. He looked in the direction his friends had just left and he realised that McGonagall wasn't quite as accustomed to the James' and Sirius' antics as he was.
"It's James and Sirius" Remus said as he left the room.
McGonagall frowned at his short answer, he obviously though that 'it's James and Sirius' explained everything, and now that she thought about it, she supposed that it did.
Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping Harry in the hospital wing for the rest of the weekend, being her usual over-protective self. Briar spent a lot of her time visiting her twin, being allowed in more often than others since she was a family member.
She and Harry spent a lot of time sitting next to each other silently, staring at the remnant of their broken brooms. But silence between twins was never just silence, they were still communicating, saying a thousand silent words of comfort. No matter how many times Hermione told her it was ridiculous to be this upset, Briar couldn't help it, she loved flying and she loved Quidditch, but most of all she loved her broom and with her Nimbus being broken beyond repair, Briar felt as though she has lost one of her best friends.
Visiting Harry was also a great excuse to avoid Fred Weasley, who despite being one of her best friends, was now her crush and she still couldn't face him without blushing furiously. Fred had tried to talk to her on no less than five occasions and each time Briar had managed to duck away. She had now taken to staring down at her marauders map and making sure Fred wasn't near her. She near she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't help it.
There was an upside to being in the hospital wing with Harry so often. She was able to be there when Ginny Weasley, blushing furiously, turned up with a get-well card she had made herself, which sang shrilly unless Harry kept it shut under his bowl of fruit.
Once Ginny, still blushing as red as her hair, had shuffled out of the Hospital wing, Briar had laughed herself silly, making Harry glare at her furiously as a blush spread up his neck.
It was on the Sunday that Harry finally confided in her that she had seen the 'Grim' again.
"It was standing on the stands at the match," he said. "When I turned back it was gone."
"Oh, Harry-" Briar started in exasperation.
"Look, I know you think it's stupid," Harry cut in hurriedly. "But I've seen it twice now and each time it was followed by a near fatal accident. The first time I had been run over by the Knight Bus and then this time I feel fifty feet from my broomstick"
Briar was silent for a moment. She supposed she could see where he was coming from, but she just didn't believe in the grim, death omen. If she started believing in things like that she was sure she would drive herself mad.
A sudden thought occurred to her.
"Harry…" Briar started, her voice taking on a hesitant tone that it had never contained before. "What colour eyes did the Grim have?"
Harry looked at her like she was mad.
"What? Why would that matter?" he asked and Briar just shot him a look, communicating silently for him to just tell her and he rolled his eyes but said, "a sort of greyish colour I suppose…why?"
Briar shrugged in what she hoped was a casual manner, even though her insides had frozen and said, "No reason" in her best nonchalant voice.
A grim-like dog with 'greyish' eyes. There was only one thing she knew of that fit that description…her Uncle Padfoot. So he was still on the grounds. That thought wasn't exactly comforting.
Briar frowned to herself. Why would Padfoot bother coming to a Quidditch match if he wanted to kill Harry? To scout out his victim…maybe freak him out? Briar dismissed that idea as quickly as she thought it. If her uncle Padfoot was mad, had betrayed them and was out for vengeance, she was pretty sure he would just come in a vicious attack. The incident with the Fat Lady only confirmed this idea in her mind.
On Monday, Malfoy seemed to be even more annoyingly smug than before. Briar had spent almost the whole day fingering her wand and glaring at the Slytherin, knowing that she couldn't afford to hex someone two badly after the incident with Snivillus.
Malfoy spent almost all his time taunting Harry. He was almost beside himself with glee at Gryffindor's defeat. He had finally taken off his bandages, and celebrated having the full use of both arms again by doing spirited imitations of Harry galling off of his boom.
Malfoy spend much of their next Potions class doing Dementor imitations across the dungeon; Ron had finally cracked (under the spurring on of Briar) and slung a large, slippery crocodile heart at Malfoy, which hit him in the face and cause Snivillus to take of fifty points from Gryffindor, forty from Ron and ten from Briar, who had been beside herself with laughter.
That afternoon, Briar was much more cheerful in going to Defence Against the Dark arts, knowing that the full moon had passed, which meant no Snivillus. She had spent it in her uncle Moony's office in her animagus form, keeping the werewolf company. She thought that it was perhaps a lot more fun and thrilling when the potion didn't work.
"If Snape's teaching Defence Against the Dark Art again, I'm skiving off," said Ron as they headed towards Moony's classroom after lunch.
"Don't worry, my uncle Moony's feeling better" Briar said happily and they quickly made their way into the classroom, the other three looking immensely relieved.
Despite being better, her Uncle Moony was still feeling a few of the effects of the full moon, seeing as it had only just passed. His old robes were hanging more loosely on him and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes; nevertheless, he smiled at the class as they took their seats, and they burst at once into an explosion of complaints about Snivillus' behaviour while Moony had been 'ill.'
"It's not fair, he was only filling in, why should he give his homework?"
"We don't know anything about werewolves, two rolls of parchment!"
"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" Her uncle Moony asked, frowning slightly and she knew it was because he, like her, could tell exactly what Snivillus had been trying to do.
The babble broke out again.
"Yes, but he said we were really behind, he wouldn't listen-"
"-Two rolls of parchment!"
Her uncle Moony smiled at the look of indignation on every face.
"Don't worry. I'll speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."
"Oh now," said Hermione, looking very disappointed. "I've already finished it!"
Briar chuckled and rolled her eyes. Leave it to Hermione to do the work as soon as it's given, whether it was given by a greasy git or not.
They had a very enjoyable lesson. Uncle Moony had brought along a glass box containing a hinkypunks, a little one-legged creature who looked as though he were made of wisps of smoke, rather frail and harmless looking, but Briar knew better from the many Care of Magical Creatures books she had read.
"Lures travellers into bogs," said Uncle Moony as Briar copied off of Hermione's notes. "You notice the lantern dangling from his hand? Hops ahead – people follow the light – then-"
The hinkypunks made a horrible squelching noise against the glass.
When the bell rang, everyone gathered up their things and headed for the door, Briar and Harry among them, but-
"Wait a moment, Briar, Harry," Uncle Moony called. "I'd like a word."
Briar and Harry shared a glance before they doubled back and watched uncle Moony covering the hinkypunk's box with a cloth.
"I heard about the match," said Moony, turning his back to his desk and starting to pile books into his briefcase, "and I'm sorry about your broomsticks. Is there any chance of fix it?"
"No" Briar sighed sadly and her uncle Moony gave her a sad look and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, knowing exactly how much she loved her broom.
"Mine neither," said Harry. "The tree smashed it to bits."
Uncle Moony sighed.
"They panted the Whomping Willow the same year that I arrived at Hogwarts. People used to play a game, trying to get near enough to touch the trunk. In the end, a boy called Davey Gudgeon nearly lost an eye, and we were forbidden to go near it. No broomstick would stand a chance"
It was Briar's turn to sigh this time. She knew her uncle Moony was blaming himself for what happened to Harry's broom. He had a tendency to blame himself for anything even loosely associated with his condition.
"Did you hear about the dementors too?" Briar asked through gritted teeth, still feeling the simmering anger inside of her at the awful creatures.
Uncle Moony looked at them quickly.
"Yes, I did. I don't think any of us have seen Professor Dumbledore that angry. They have been growing restless for some time – furious at his refusal to let them inside the ground…I suppose they were the reason you fell?"
"Yes," said Harry and he hesitated, but then the question seemed to burst from him before he could stop himself. "Why? Why do they affect me like that? Am I just-?"
"It has nothing to do with weakness," said uncle Moony sharply, knowing what Harry was going to say, as Briar had asked that very same question when they first got to Hogwarts. "the Dementors affect you and Bambi worse than the others because there are horrors in your past that the others don't have."
A ray of wintery sunlight fell across the classroom, illuminating Moony's grey hairs and lines on his young face.
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them. even Muggles feel their presence, though they can't see them. Get too near a Dementor and every goof feeling, every happy memory you have will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself…soulless and evil. You'll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life. And the worst that happened to you and Briar, is enough to make anyone fall of their brooms. You have nothing to feel ashamed off."
Briar shuddered at the extremely vivid description of the Dementors, able to see them in her mind's eye, lowering their hood, able to deliver a fate worse than death, the Dementors kiss.
"When they get near me-" Harry stared at Uncle Moony's death, his throat tight. "I can hear Voldemort murdering my mum."
There was silence for a moment before Briar said, "me too."
Harry turned to her sharply, looking at her in surprise. Briar hadn't told him that, but she didn't particularly like thinking about it, she had to relive it whenever her oldest memories resurfaced, she didn't much want to discuss it.
"But you don't faint" Harry pointed out, looking rather annoyed at himself.
"That's because I've always remembered Harry, I have memories from when we younger, but you…" Briar shook her head. "Maybe it had something to do with Voldemort's killing curse, I don't know, but you don't remember anything"
Harry had a look on his voice that showed that he was torn between two emotions. Briar couldn't blame him, she was often torn in the same way. Torn between desperately want to forget the worst, but so desperately wanting to cling to the best, the time when she had a family.
Her uncle Moony made a sudden motion with his arm as though to grip Harry's shoulder, but thought better of it. There was a moment's silence, then –
"Why did they have to show up at the match?" said Briar bitterly. "I get why they have to be at the school, but ruining Quidditch?!"
"They're getting hungry," said uncle Moony coolly, shutting his briefcase with a snap. "Dumbledore won't let them into the school, so their supply of human prey has dried up…I don't think they could resist the large crowd around the Quidditch field. All that excitement…emotions running high…it was their idea of a feast."
"Azkaban must be terrible," Harry muttered.
Briar and Moony shared a glance, both thinking about Padfoot, and they nodded grimly.
"The fortress is set on a tiny island, way out to sea, but they don't need walls and water to keep the prisoners in, not when they're all trapped inside their own heads, incapable of a single cheery thought. Most of them go mad within weeks." Briar said, her voice slightly haunted as she imagined her father's haughtily grinning best friend, slowly descended into madness amongst the worst of the worst.
"But Sirius Black escaped from them," Harry said slowly. "He got away…"
Moony's briefcase slipped from the desk at the mention of his former friend and Briar used her Quidditch reflexes to quickly catch it.
"Yes," he said, straightening up, "Black must have found a way to fight them. I wouldn't have believed it possible…Dementors are supposed to drain a wizard of his powers if he is left with them too long…"
"You made that Dementor on the train back off," said Harry suddenly, catching Briar's attention and she looked at her Uncle Moony expectantly.
"There are – certain defences one can use," said Uncle Moony. "But there was only one Dementor on the train. The more there are the more difficult it becomes to resist."
"What defences?" Briar and Harry said at once. "Can you teach us?"
"I don't pretend to be an expert at fighting Dementors, you two, quite the contrary…"
"Oh, you don't pretend to be an expert at anything," Briar rolled her eyes with a small smirk. "Even when you are really good at it."
Her uncle Moony allowed a small smile.
"But if the Dementors come to another Quidditch match, we need to be able to fight them-"
Moony looking at the identical look of determination on the twins' faces, hesitated, then said, "Well…alright. I'll try and help. But it'll have to wait until next term, I'm afraid. I have a lot to do before the holidays. I chose a very inconvenient time to fall ill."
Harry left after that, looking much more cheerful than before with the promise of anti-Dementor lessons. Briar, however, stayed behind, wanting to talk more to her uncle Moony.
"You feel guilty don't you?" Briar asked as her uncle Moony perched himself on the edge of his desk in order to talk to her. "About Harry's broom"
"Well, if it wasn't for me, that tree would never even be here" said Uncle Moony.
Briar rolled her eyes with a sigh.
"It's not your fault, hardly anything you ever blame yourself for is your fault." Briar insisted.
"Is this all you want to talk about, lecturing me on self-worth?" Moony sighed.
"Well, I did have a big long winded speech about how brilliant you are if you wanted to hear it," Briar smirked, and chuckled slightly when her uncle Moony shot her a half exasperated half amused look, before she sobered herself for what she wanted to say next. "Harry told me that he saw the grim in the stands at the Quidditch match."
Her uncle Moony raised a questioning, slightly sceptical, brow.
"And he thinks it caused him to fall?" he asked.
"Well, yes, but that's not the point. The point is that I asked Harry what colour the grim's eyes were and he said a 'greyish colour'…" Briar trailed off.
Her uncle Moony stiffened when he realised what she was hinting at, his grip tightening on his briefcase. He had gone slightly paler than before and he set his jaw.
"Padfoot" he said.
Briar nodded.
"He's on the ground, Moony, I know it" she said. "Maybe I should tell-"
"Bambi, you're not going to tell Harry" her uncle Moony said sharply, shaking his head as he looked at her with unusually stern eyes. "he's got enough to deal with."
"I really think you're underestimating Harry, he can deal with a lot" Briar insisted.
"But that doesn't mean he should"
Her uncle Moony's words silenced Briar for once and she sighed. She supposed he was right. Harry had gone through a lot, they both had, no need for her to pile on her Uncle Padfoot's betrayal on top of that.
Briar cheered up a lot at the end of November, her uncle Padfoot getting shoved from her mind. Ravenclaw had flattened Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match at the end of November, meaning Gryffindor was still in the running for the Quidditch cup, although they couldn't afford to lose another match. Wood became repossessed of his manic energy, and worked his team as hard as ever in the chilly haze of rain that persisted into December.
Two weeks before the end of term, the sky lightened suddenly to a dazzling white and the muddy grounds were revealed one morning covered in glittering frost. Inside the castle, there was a buzz of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, had already decorated his classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be real, fluttering fairies.
The students were all happily discussing their plans for the holidays. Briar was staying at Hogwarts again this year, seeing as her Uncle Moony was. Both Ron and Hermione had decided to remain at Hogwarts too, though Ron said it was because he couldn't stand two weeks with Percy, and Hermione insisted she need to use the library, both Briar and Harry were sure they were doing it to keep them company.
To everyone's delight except Harry's, there was to be another Hogsmeade trip on the very last weekend of term.
"We can do all our Christmas shopping there!" said Hermione. "Mum and dad would really love those tooth-flossing string mints from Honeydukes!"
On the Saturday morning, Briar said goodbye to Harry and left to go to Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione, all three of them wrapped in cloaks and scarves.
The three of them actually did do all their Christmas shopping at Hogsmeade, although it was significantly harder seeing as they were buying stuff for each other. For Hermione, Briar had gotten wizarding bath bombs, which explode, making nearly all the water turn to bubbles. For Ron Briar had gotten a quill that she had charmed to tell him when he was answering a question wrong, much to Hermione's displeasure ("that's cheating!").
For her uncle Moony Briar had gotten a book on self-confidence for a joke. She had gotten Hagrid a huge pear of leather gloves (knowing his old ones had been torn by the Hippogriffs) and she had bought a frame in order to put in a picture of their family for Harry, she also got some Fudge for Zingy the house elf.
The real problem came when it was time to buy a gift for the twins. Well, not so much George, as she has gotten him the usual pranking gear, but instead Fred. She felt like she should get him something different that George seeing how she had a crush on him now, but then she didn't want to look like she was trying too hard.
Finally, she decided that she was over thinking it and got him some unusual potion ingredients, hoping they would prove to be useful when the twins were inventing products.
After the three of them had finished their Christmas shopping, they headed to Honeydukes to be able to pick up Harry some more sweets like they promised. They were currently in the corner of the shop (UNUSUAL TASTES), examining a tray of blood-flavoured lollipops.
"Ugh, no, Harry won't want one of those, they're for vampires, I expect," Hermione said.
"I don't know," chuckled Briar, smirking slightly. "We could tell him they were strawberry flavoured, get a laugh out of it"
"You better not" said a voice behind them.
The three of them jumped in shock, Ron almost dropping the jaw of Cockroach Clusters he was examining, and whirled around. It was Harry, grinning and holding the invisibility cloak in his hands.
Briar grinned.
"Harry!" squealed Hermione. "What are you doing here? How – how did you -?"
"Wow!" said Ron, looking very impressed. "You've learned to Apparate!"
"Course I haven't" said Harry.
"Aww, you snuck into Hogsmeade, my baby brother is growing up" Briar added a faux sniffle for effect as she slung an arm around her twin's shoulders.
"Again, you're only older by a matter of minutes" Harry laughed, shoving her away and Briar grinned, ruffling her hair in response.
Harry suddenly dropped his voice so that none of the sixth years could hear him and began to tell him how he had snuck in. The twins had given him the marauders map. Briar was extremely shocked to hear that, knowing how much Fred and George adored the thing.
"How come Fred and George never gave it to me!" said Ron, outraged, and Briar didn't point out that it was technically Harry's anyway since it had belonged to their family. "I'm their brother!"
"But Harry isn't going to keep it!" Said Hermione, as though the idea were ludicrous. "He's going to hand it in to Professor McGonagall, aren't you, Harry?"
Briar's eyes widened in horror at the idea of giving the marauders' greatest legacy into a professor.
"No he's not! I swear to Merlin Harry, if you even think about doing that I'm going to use a permanent sticking charm to glue you to the Slytherin common room's ceiling" Briar threatened, narrowing her hazel eyes slightly.
"Of course I'm not!" said Harry, looking slightly indignant.
"Are you mad?" said Ron, goggling at Hermione. "Hand in something that good?"
"If I hand it in, I'll have to say where I got it! Filch would know Fred and George had nicked it!"
"Not to mention the old git would be able to monitor everyone in the school every moment" Briar pointed out, shuddering at the very thought, she'd never be able to cause trouble again.
"But what about Sirius Black?" Hermione hissed. "He could be using one of the passages on that map to get into the castle! The teachers have got to know!"
Briar pressed her lips together. Her uncle Padfoot hardly needed to use one of the secret passageways seeing as he was on the grounds already.
"He can't be getting in through a passage," said Harry quickly. "There are seven secret tunnels on the map, right? Fred and George reckon Filch already knows about four of them. and of the other three – one of them is caved in, so no one can get through it. One of them has got the Whomping Willow planted over the entrance, so you can't get out of it. And the one I just came through – well – it's really hard to see the entrance to it down in the cellar, so unless he knew it was there…"
Briar looked away, knowing without a doubt that Padfoot knew it was there. Many of her uncle Moony's stories had included him and the Marauders sneaking through Hogsmeade at night, causing mayhem wherever they went.
She then blushed slightly in remembrance of when the passage behind the mirror had caved in. she remembered the feeling of Fred's drunken lips against hers. She really couldn't believe she hadn't noticed that she fancied Fred after that kiss.
Ron suddenly cleared his throat significantly and pointed to a notice pasted on the inside of the sweet shop door.
BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Customers are reminded that until further notice, Dementors will be patrolling the streets of Hogsmeade every night after sundown. This measure has been put in place for the safety of the Hogsmeade residents and will be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is therefore advisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall.
Merry Christmas!
Briar scoffed slightly, she highly doubted having Dementors roaming around was going to make everyone in Hogsmeade feel safe. She wasn't sure about the other's but she would much rather go up against a murderous Padfoot than a Dementor.
"See?" said Ron quietly. "I'd like to see Black try and break into Honeydukes with Dementors swarming all over the village. Anyway, Hermione, the Honeydukes owners would hear a break-in wouldn't they? They live over the shop!"
"Yes, but, but –" Hermione seemed to be struggling to find another problem. "Look, Harry still shouldn't be coming into Hogsmeade. He hasn't got a signed form! If anyone finds out, he'll be in so much trouble! And it's not nightfall yet – what if Sirius Black turns up today? Now?"
"Oh, come off it 'Mione, I've been caught sneaking in and out of Hogsmeade loads of times, the most he'll get is a few detentions. Plus, Pad-Black isn't dumb enough to try something in Hogsmeade during the day."
"How do you know?" Hermione huffed.
Briar stiffened slightly before donning an easy grin and ruffling her hair.
"Because I'm all-knowing, 'Mione." Briar smirked. "I am not to be messed with. I am brilliant. I…am Merlin!"
Harry and Ron snickered and Hermione's lips twitched as she repressed a smile.
"Besides, he'd have a job spotting Harry in this," added Ron, nodding through the mullioned windows at the thick, swirling snow. "Come on, Hermione, it's Christmas. Harry deserves a break."
Hermione bit her lip, looking extremely worried.
"Are you going to repot me?" Harry asked her, grinning and Briar smirked slightly, he was acting more and more like a trouble maker every day, their dad would be proud, their mum…not so much.
"Oh – of course not – but honestly, Harry-"
"Seen the Fizzing Wizzbees, Harry?" said Ron, grabbing him and leading him over to their barrel. "And the Jelly slugs? And the acid pops? Fred gave me one of those when I was seven – it burnt a hole right through my tongue. I remember Mum walloping him with her broomstick." Ron stared broodingly into the Acid Pop box as Briar snickered at the story. "Reckon Fred would take a bit of Cockroach Cluster if I told them they were peanuts?"
"No" Briar snorted at the terrible excuse for a prank.
When Briar, Ron and Hermione had paid for all their sweets, the four of them left Honeydukes for the blizzard outside.
Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card; the little thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow; there were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees.
Briar shivered slightly and pulled her cloak closer to her body. They headed up the street, heads bowed against the Wind, Briar, Ron and Hermione shouting through their scarves.
"That's the post office-"
"Zonko's is up there-"
Briar looked through the thick snow to see two familiar figures, who could only be Fred and George, heading inside the joke shop. She bit her lip before she quickly said goodbye to Harry, Ron and Hermione, and rushed over to the shop.
Zonko's joke shop was Briar's favourite place in Hogsmeade, though the Three Broomsticks was a close second. It carried jokes and tricks to fulfil even hers and the Weasley twins' wildest dreams. Products such as Dungbombs, Hiccough sweets, Sugar Quills and Nose-biting Teacups.
Briar was almost distracted by some Frog Spawn soap and she forced herself to stay on trap. She saw the twins over in the corner looking at the hundreds of different fireworks Zonko's stocked.
She took a deep breath as she looked at the twins, her eyes lingering on Fred a moment longer as a strand of red hair fell into his face when he stopped low to look at the bottom shelf, longing to tuck it back, and she began to make her way over.
She could act normal. She could do it, Fred was her best friend and this was just a crush, it would pass. Fred and George caught sight of her and grinned widely, their eyes lighting up.
"Bambi!" they cried simultaneously.
Briar smiled slightly. She looked up into Fred's midnight blue eyes and immediately felt herself blush again. Merlin's pants! It's those eyes. Those damn eyes keep fucking her over.
"Hey" Briar said. "I just wanted to thank you guys for giving Harry the marauders map, I know you loved that old thing."
Briar stood on her tiptoes to kiss each of the twins' cheeks in turn, her lips lingering just slightly longer on Fred's, her lips feeling like they were on fire. When she pulled back both she and Fred were blushing furiously.
"It's o-okay" Fred said and Briar raised a brow in confusion, when did he start to stutter?
"Yeah, we've got the thin memorised anyway, and we still have your copy" George grinned, shooting an amused sidelong glance at Fred. "We figured it was a way for you to forgive us."
Briar's brows furrowed and she frowned. What in merlin's name was he talking about? Had they done something that she hadn't noticed.
"What? I wasn't mad at you" Briar said slowly.
Fred and George both looked surprised.
"Oh, well you started avoiding us, so we figured it was something we did" explained Fred.
Briar stared at them for a moment before a smile tugged her lips upwards and she ducked her head as she began to laugh.
"So, you didn't know what you did, so you figured you should give Harry the map? Why would you do that?" Briar chuckled and the twins grinned.
"Well, when a girl's mad, it's usually the guy's job to apologize" said George in a slightly sheepish voice.
Briar shook her head and shoved them slightly.
"You guys are idiots" She said, smiling up at them fondly and they beamed back.
"But we're your idiots" they said simultaneously.
Briar grinned, they were her idiots, her best friends, crush or not. She spent the rest of Hogsmeade joking and catching up with the twins. She hadn't realised how much she missed them until now, and she kept looking at them with sparkling eyes, which always seem to find their way to Fred and every time he met her gaze she felt butterflies erupt in her stomach.
When Briar got back to Hogwarts, she was sitting in her uncle Moony's classroom, wanting to be close to his office, knowing he wasn't feeling too well, feeling the effects of the full moon slightly. She was trying to do her Ancient Runes homework, casually sipping at a bottle of butterbeer she had nicked from her uncle Moony's stash.
The door suddenly looked open and a grin appeared on her face when Harry entered, however it faded when she saw his angry expression as he stormed up to her.
"You knew, you knew this whole time" he spat and Briar eyes widened in shock.
"What?" Briar asked in confusion, taken aback by his anger at her, Harry had never been angry at her before.
"Black. You knew what he did, you knew he betrayed our parents, that he's my Godfather!" Harry shouted.
Briar bit her lip. Her twin's emerald eyes were flashing angrily and Briar was almost glad as it meant she didn't have to see the look of hurt and betrayal that she knew Harry was hiding beneath his anger.
She nodded slowly in agreement with his statement and Harry scowled angrily.
"When were you planning on tell me?" he asked his voice shaking with restrained rage.
Briar looked away. "I wasn't"
Harry scoffed angrily and with one last glare, he stormed out of the class room, leaving Briar staring unseeing at her Ancient Runes homework, suddenly losing what little motivation she had to complete it.
She just couldn't understand how Harry had even found out what uncle Padfoot did, it wasn't exactly common knowledge. She was pretty sure the only people who knew was her, her uncle Moony, Malfoy and a few of the professors who used to be in the order, but she was pretty sure no one would come out and say it. Malfoy might hint at it, but she doubted he would use that bargaining chip so soon.
She groaned and ran a hand through her hair.
Shit.
Author's note: PLEASE REVIEW!
Okay, in response to the question "when will Briar and Fred get together?' I'm afraid you will all have to wait a little while longer, as it won't be happening until sometime in the fourth book. I don't want to reveal too much, but what I will say is, drama ensues.
You may have noticed that I did another glimpse into the past on this one as I realised how long it had actually been since I did one and the reason for that is that I am simply running out of ideas, so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!
PLEASE REVIEW!