26th November, 1977
Danny sadly awoke quite early on Saturday. So early that even Lily hadn't woken up yet. Why would her body wake her up at 8 on a Saturday?
Annoyed at herself and too lazy to go down to the Great Hall for food still, she dragged herself, still in her pyjamas down the stairs of the girls' dorms and up the boys'. She didn't knock before she let herself in the seventh year boys' room and headed straight for Sirius' bed. All the curtains were drawn back and she could see James lying diagonally on his bed, mouth hanging open and his hair an even bigger mess than it usually was. Remus was lying face down, hugging his pillow, face buried in it. Sirius, on the other hand, was taking up as much space as possible, arms and legs wide, bedsheets kicked to the bottom of the bed. She barely looked at Peter enough to make sure he was asleep.
Danny sat on the bed beside Sirius, in the only space he hadn't fully occupied, and grabbed the cookie jar from his bedside table. She'd expected there would be leftovers, what with Sirius and Remus having a late dinner with her the day before. So she sat there, beside the sleeping animagus, eating the cookies she had baked herself while still in her pyjamas. When Sirius moved, leaving the bottom left side of his bed empty, she sat cross-legged there, much more comfortable, and able to keep an eye on the other boys from her spot.
It was Remus who woke up first. She noticed when she saw the teen stretch out on his bed, still facing down and a muffled groan escape him. Danny blushed. She felt that groan low on her abdomen. Merlin, that sound.
When he sat up, rubbing his eyes, his face and his hair, she smiled. He was utterly adorable. The moment he finally lifted his face, he froze. Danny was sitting on the bed directly across from him, smiling and waving at him with half a dog-shaped cookie in hand.
"Morning, sleepy-face." She grinned, amused at how non-reactive he was. Like it was taking him very long to process her presence there.
"Danny?" His voice was hoarse and the girl almost blushed again. Who knew Lupin could be so… sexy first thing in the morning? She gave him a bit more time to wake up and saw him frown, confused. "Why are you here? Are you eating Sirius' cookies?"
"I was hungry, but too lazy to go down to breakfast." She gave him her most adorable look and bit into the rest of the cookie.
He seemed to finally clear up enough and snorted, rubbing his face once again.
A groan from behind her had her turning halfway, Sirius curling into his side and burying the side of his face against his pillow. "Moony, who the bloody hell are you talking to now?"
"Danny."
"We're in our dorm, git." The animagus grumbled.
Remus rolled his eyes, like he couldn't believe how stupid his friends were sometimes. "Danny's in our dorm, idiot. In fact, she's in your bed."
"I think I'd notice if… Merlin's saggy balls!" Sirius jumped in his bed, sitting up and backing against the headboard when he turned and found Danny watching him, cross-legged beside him and eating his cookies.
"Morning, princess." She grinned even as James was awakened by the startled scream.
"What are you doing here?" Sirius questioned, still shocked, and clutching the sheets that had been at his feet so far to his chest, as if to protect his modesty.
"Eating your cookies." She answered, holding a cookie up, as if to mean 'obviously'.
It seemed to take him a couple seconds to process that before an indignant look came over him. "Hey!" He complained, reaching for her.
She moved away quickly, hurrying across the room to Moony's bed and plopping down on it, holding the jar out for him. "Cookie?" She offered, ignoring the other boy threatening to smother the werewolf in his sleep if he ate his cookies.
"Oh, hush, you big baby. I'll make more." She finally told the long haired rebel who had stood up and was pointing his wand at them.
That seemed to pacify him a bit, enough to lower his wand. He walked across the room and sat down on her other side, pushing her to make enough room so he wouldn't fall off the edge, and grabbed a cookie of his own. Now sandwiched between the two Marauders, they watched James fumble for his glasses, reminding Danny of Harry as soon as he woke up.
"What's got you so worked up this early?" He complained sleepily, frowning in the direction of Sirius' bed, then glancing toward Remus'. "Danny?" He clutched the bedsheets further up his chest, much like Sirius had done. "What are you doing here?"
"Having a threesome with Moony and Padfoot." She deadpanned, grabbing another cookie. "What does it look like?"
Sirius and Remus both choked on their cookies, coughing and thumping their chests beside her. She glanced around at them, wide-eyed. Merlin, they were easy to shock. She'd have to watch what she said while they were eating.
"Looks like Moony's ideal foreplay, to be honest." Prongs answered, rubbing his head and making his hair stand up even more.
Danny blushed but laughed at that, covering her mouth so she wouldn't spit out bits of cookie. She heard the boys get their own coughing under control beside her, and chanced a look at Moony. He was blushing, his whole face flushed.
"Nah, I think chocolate syrup would be more appropriate than cookies." She smirked at Prongs, who laughed so much he fell back in bed, clutching his stomach.
The teenage werewolf was sputtering beside her while Sirius grabbed her arm so as not to fall off the bed in his fit of laughter.
"You tell me when you set your sights on a girl, I'll give her pointers." She patted Remus' thigh beside her and handed the jar to Sirius. "Now, I should get ready for Hogsmeade, I'll see you guys in a bit."
After she'd left, the boys stared at the door, Remus' face wistful.
"She doesn't even consider that kind of relationship with me." He spoke, sorrow in his voice.
"Not yet, give her time, Moony." James stood from his bed, approaching the were's and lowering his voice. "Lily told me more of what happened yesterday. Danny told them about an ex of hers. They apparently broke up in June, who knows how long that's been for her. And he was apparently her best friend since they were nine. That's going to take a bit to move on from."
Both Sirius and Remus looked very interested in that. They'd known Marlene had taken a picture of Danny's sisters from the floor before Danny could pick it up, but they hadn't known the rest. And since they'd left to go after her, Lily hadn't had much of a chance to relate the rest of their afternoon to them.
The boys were lost in their thoughts while they got dressed. No one bothered Peter. He could sleep through a full out shouting match, waking him up wasn't easy and they just didn't bother to do it when there was no real need.
When they went down to the common room, Lily was already waiting for James. The couple walked out hand in hand, but the other two insisted they'd wait for Danny.
Dumbledore was standing next to McGonagall, who was taking all of the Gryffindor's permission slips to make sure they could go out of the school grounds. He murmured something to the transfigurations professor when he saw Danny approach, and made a gesture to the girl to take her aside.
"Here. I do believe you'll need this, at this time of year." Dumbledore told her as he took a small purse out of his robes and handed it to her, clinking sounds telling of its contents.
"You already paid for everything I have." She frowned, not moving to take the purse.
"With the Christmas season coming up, I would think you'd like to buy presents for your new friends. And I already told you it's not of consequence to me." He took one of her hands and placed the bag on it.
Danny pursed her lips. She didn't like charity, but did want to buy gifts for the boys and Lily. "I will pay you back every last galleon. Now or… in the future." She accepted, her eyes firm on his.
He nodded, agreeing to that. "I did take a look at your… work. I will have the ingredients sent to a private brewing room I've asked Horace to set aside for you. They should be ready in a couple of days." He informed her, his face solemn, but with an underlying excitement. "It looks promising. And it would be of great… help, to the school and to… the individuals affected."
Danny clutched the bag of coins to her chest, her jaw clenching decisively for a moment. "I'll do my best."
"I don't doubt you will. And I have looked into some Ministry registries. Due to your… situation, there seems to be no trace on your wand. Of course, you are now a seventh year, so there would be no reason for you not to be able to use magic outside of this school. I did… take the liberty to add your name and school paperwork to the British Ministry of Magic Registry, under my guardianship. Just in case it's necessary for… the future."
He nodded again and let her go.
The three of them walked down the snowy path to Hogsmeade. In the last couple days the temperature had dropped quite a bit, the area surrounding the castle had frosted, and that morning they'd woken to snowy mountains. It'd snowed during the night, but the skies were clear then.
To protect herself from the cold, Danny had looped her arms through one of each boy's and tugged them close to her. None of them was even close to complaining about it.
"So, what's the itinerary for today?" She asked them, hiding her chin behind her scarf.
"I want to take a look at some of the new arrivals at Tomes and Scrolls." Remus informed them, looking at Danny imploringly.
"I could spend the day there…" She sighed dreamily. "We'll go, take as long a look as you want, but you're gonna have to drag me out, I'm warning you."
He smiled boyishly while Sirius groaned, but a look at Danny's excited face had him almost looking forward to the bookstore.
"So you're going to Potter manor for break?" Remus asked her further down the road, from where they could see James and Lily walking in the distance.
"Yes." She smiled, her eyes settling on the couple too. "That was very kind of James. I'm actually looking forward to it." Then she pouted and tugged Remus closer, resting the side of her face on his arm. "But I'm going to miss you, Moony! Two weeks is far too long! Longer than a double period of Herbology!"
He chuckled, a light blush dusting over his scarred cheeks, the white of these standing out even more. "I'll go to Potter manor for New year's eve. We'll only be apart for a week." He revealed, making her face brighten for a moment.
She immediately pouted again, with a dramatic air. "Too long!"
"Don't despair, kitten. You'll have me." He made a grand sweeping gesture with his hand, from his head toward his legs.
She sighed with overly exaggerated resignation. "You'll have to do."
Remus snorted at that, while Sirius pretended to be mortally wounded, breaking through Danny's own acting in the end and making her laugh. She loved spending time with them.
When they arrived at Tomes and Scrolls, Regulus was there. He stared for a moment when he saw them come in, but simply went back to his book and ignored them.
Remus headed for the shelves near the front while Danny moved toward the back, Sirius trailing after her. She grabbed one of the heavy tomes in the charms section, Quintessence written on it's spine and cover. Hesitating, she grabbed a few more of the books around it, all of them focusing on charms theory and advanced charm creation. She placed them on a mostly cleared counter to the side, Regulus not too far from it but still intent on pretending they didn't exist, and started flickering through the index of every one of them.
She'd made very little progress on time-manipulating charms. There was some theory on time-reversal charms in the Hogwarts library, but none on time-advancing charms that she could find.
"I'm bored." Sirius announced not five minutes after they'd entered the bookstore.
She didn't even look up from her books. "You're in a bookstore. Grab a book."
A light snort from the aisle Regulus was scouring had her lips twitching. Sirius' eyes flickered in his brother's direction, but he didn't say a word about the other boy.
The eldest Black sighed heavily, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "You know, last time I was here was much more entertaining. I was on a date. There was no book-reading done that day."
"Then go ahead and snog Moony, I'm sure he'll have a few choice words for you afterwards." She retorted, not missing a beat. The low chuckle from Regulus was unmistakable then. Sirius sputtered, his face twisting in a grimace. "Besides, if you wanted a proper date, why didn't you agree to come with Marlene? She did ask you."
"I'm not interested in Marlene." He folded his arms across his chest.
Danny remembered what Molly had told them of Sirius' school days. "You're not living up to your reputation, Padfoot. I thought you were a man-whore." When he started sputtering again, she rolled her eyes. "I haven't heard a snitch of your famed conquests since I got here. Losing your touch?"
"Kitten, the only reason I haven't been getting around is because I haven't wanted to." He assured her, giving her an eye-roll of his own. "I'm a seventh year now, Prongsy's got a proper girlfriend, we're graduating in June… maybe I'm just reconsidering the direction I want my life to take."
"That sounds waaay too deep for you, Pads. You're the perpetual teen, my friend. You'll go back to being a slag soon, I'm sure." She lightly patted his shoulder, her eyes scoring the books. For a moment, her eyes flickered up ahead, and she found Regulus' eyes. He was listening to everything they said. The boy soon went back to reading, or pretending to, even as Sirius objected to her judgement of him.
"What are you going on about?" Remus appeared by Sirius' shoulder, frowning at his friend with a couple wrapped books tucked under his arm.
"She called me a man-whore!" Sirius tattled, pointing toward her.
"Well, you are." Remus quirked an eyebrow at him before his face fell at his friend's glare. "Or… you were, I guess. Haven't been lately."
"That's what I was saying." He nodded firmly, frowning at Danny.
"Did you get what you needed?" She asked the werewolf, ignoring the other boy's whining. When Remus nodded, she closed the books she had been scouring, noted down a couple names in a piece of parchment and put them back in their places. "Alright, so where to next?" She linked her arms through theirs again and headed outside.
They went into the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and to get out of the cold. Remus offered to grab the drinks while Sirius and Danny found a table to sit, spotting one toward the back, next to a window. It was small, but enough for the three of them.
"So, what's our next masterpiece gonna be? Any ideas?" Danny asked him as they sat down, herself facing the front of the pub so she could keep an eye on everyone else.
"I've been thinking. I'd like something big, but we obviously have to keep anyone from guessing it was us."
"Hmm... " Her thoughts flew back to the biggest, most legendary prank she'd ever witnessed. It had been Fred and George's farewell, but they knew well that they wouldn't be graduating after that. So it couldn't be that. But they had done it with a particular target in mind. The pink toad had invoked a special brand of hatred in them. There was only one teacher in their time that deserved anything like that. Her eyes lit up. "I have an idea." She saw Remus making his way back with three tankards of butterbeer. "But it'll have to wait until after Christmas break, just in case we cause mass punishment. I don't want to miss the chance of going to James' place."
Sirius' eyes brightened at that. "What is it?"
"Later." She whispered before reaching out for a tankard, Remus smiling at her eagerness.
Just as they raised their jars to take their first sip, the door to the pub opened and in came a bunch of small students. Third years, if Danny was to guess. She observed them, drinking calmly, until her eyes stopped on one of the little boys and she almost spat out her drink. She choked and thumped her chest, barely stopping the liquid that had been moving down her throat from shooting out of her nostrils. Her mamá had taught her better.
Remus was surprised at her sudden coughing fit and patted her back, afraid she'd choke to death. When she managed to calm down a bit, she slammed her hand down on the table one last time and tried to breathe in, her eyes following the blonde boy with perfect curls around the pub. "Is that fucking Gilderoy Lockhart?"
Sirius frowned, his eyes moving across the pub but not focusing on anyone. "Who?"
Remus, though, pinpointed the boy quite soon. "You know him?"
"Unfortunately. The guy's a right git." She frowned, remembering what Harry and Ron had told her about the professor when they went to tell him where the Chamber of Secrets was and the subsequent attempt at erasing their memories with Ron's faulty wand.
"He is." Remus nodded. He'd met the boy as part of his prefect duties. "And insufferably vain, too."
They saw the boy flick his hair back and wink to another two small girls. Danny's face twisted in a grimace. "And he's only going to get worse." She rubbed her throat a bit before she shook her head and decided to ignore the boy. "I sure don't regret the chewing gum bomb."
"The what?" The boys both whipped their heads around to look at her.
"Some friends and I concocted an explosive… goo, similar to chewing gum, to go off when he opened the package it was sent in. You know how hard removing chewing gum from your hair is?" She sipped from her drink, the boys staring with stars in their eyes. "You Marauders got nothing on us. We just didn't have a special name, besides the triplets." She shrugged, then grinned at them when Remus started smiling, his face light and carefree.
"I think I love you." Sirius blurted out, making Remus look at him wide-eyed, panicking a bit. Sirius panicked too when he realized what he said and tried to backtrack, but Danny only quirked an eyebrow at him.
"You better, or I'm not making any more dog-shaped cookies for you."
Realizing she was not taking him seriously, he laughed it off and changed subjects.
"Merlin, Black, are you alright?" A very young Madame Rosmerta stopped by their table, looking at Sirius with a light frown.
"Er… yes? Why?" He shared a confused look with his friends.
"Are you sure? Aren't you sick?" She approached and placed a hand on his forehead, feeling for a fever. "Doesn't look like it."
"What makes you think I'm sick?"
"You haven't come through the door reciting sonnets and badgering me with pick up lines. It's the first time in at least two years, Black." Her eyes flickered to the girl snickering to herself next to him and the way Sirius blushed and looked at the girl from the corner of his eye. "Aaah, I see." She smiled and left.
"I'm not a man-whore!" He called after Rosmerta, flushing red.
Even Remus was laughing at him.
As Rosmerta walked away, Slughorn moved toward them, smiling with flushed cheeks. He seemed to be a bit tipsy. "Miss Delacour, there you are!"
"Good morning, professor Slughorn." She straightened, putting on her perfect student face.
"I've been looking for you since yesterday! I already told Lily, but before I forget, I'll be hosting my annual Christmas party on the twenty-first. I expect to see you there. You can bring a date. Er…" He glanced from one of the boys beside her to the other. "Well, I'll see you boys in class."
He waddled away, definitely tipsy, and giving Danny no chance to respond or ask anything. She glanced toward her friends, both frowning. "Who wants to come with me?"
Remus' eyes fell to the table, his hands clenching around his tankard. "I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted. It's the day before the full moon. I… I don't think I'll be in a good state." Then he immediately looked up, his face nervous. "But you should go. I'm sure Lily and James will go too. I'll just go to bed early probably."
Danny frowned. So long as it wasn't the night of the full moon, there shouldn't be a reason why she wouldn't go to the party, but she felt like she should be staying with Remus while he was 'under the weather' as Dumbledore had said.
"I guess." She bit her lip, then turned toward Sirius. "So do you want to come with me to the stupid club's stupid Christmas party?"
Sirius' lips twitched at the reminder of what he'd told her when she'd been invited to the club, but his heart was beating an erratic rhythm inside his chest at her question, and he nodded almost instantaneously.
The door of the pub opened once more, letting in a gust of cold air, snowflakes, and two laughing shapes. For a moment, Danny was frozen, watching two identical red heads enter the room, walking straight toward the bar.
"Gred? Forge?" She made to stand up, Remus grabbing one of her hands to stop her when he saw her face. His eyes flickered from Danny to the twin redheads a distance away, their backs to the trio.
Sirius followed her line of sight, his face brightening when he recognized the newcomers. "Those are the Prewett twins." He told Danny, confused at the strange names she'd uttered.
Danny stopped, her hand in Remus'. "Prewett?" Molly's brothers. Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to kill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes… "Gideon and Fabian?"
Remus frowned, not having seen that look on her face since they'd first met her at the Infirmary. "Yes. They graduated a couple years ago."
One of the twins turned a bit, allowing Danny to see his face. There was a resemblance, but he didn't look like her twins. She swallowed on nothing and sat down, her eyes still on the redheads but less tense. "Sorry, guys." She spoke to her friends. "They look like… people I know."
"Close friends?" Sirius wondered, curious about her relationship when she'd reacted so boldly and instantly.
"Basically triplets. 'cept for the hair, of course." She grinned lightly at the memory. The twins had a special bond and she had always been honored to be included in such an exclusive group. They'd taken her in after her suggestion to prank Flint in her first year. They'd shown her the map, taught her how to move around the school, how to be inventive and practical with her magic…
"I heard they went into auror training." Sirius commented, noticing Remus still held Danny's hand. "They were always really good with magic, especially duelling."
Remus nodded, remembering their early years and looking up to the Prewetts. "They stayed up duelling well past curfew. I heard McGonagall scolding them about it once."
Danny finally managed to remove her eyes from the twins, grabbing her tankard with her free hand and taking a long gulp of it, the foam staying on her top lip until she licked it away. She looked out of the window; it had started snowing softly.
"It's snowing." She murmured, resting her head on Sirius' shoulder. She thought that had Harry been there, they would have sat looking outside, covered with a blanket, before going out and starting a snowball fight. Previous years, the twins, Ron, Ginny, Seamus, Dean, Lee and Angelina would have joined, surely. Maybe they would have dragged Hermione with them too. And even Neville. The past year, Luna too, and Colin Creevey. And she would have sent a snowball Zabini's way if he'd been nearby, because he would actually take it lightly enough and the other Gryffindors didn't have enough quarrel with him to start an interhouse snowball fight that could develop into something worse.
"What are you thinking about, kitten?" Sirius asked lowly, the atmosphere around the three of them relaxed and quiet, each of them leaning back and drinking leisurely.
"Snowball fights."
He chuckled soundlessly, his body spasming under her cheek. His hand found her knee under the table and he squeezed a bit.
"There you are! Either Potter or Pettigrew went through a full makeover or you've finally ditched them for prettier alternatives." A voice dragged her out of her thoughts, and for a moment she swore it was George.
She raised her head from Sirius' shoulder and looked at the twins, who had approached the table and were standing with similar tankards and beaming at her friends. They glanced at her with a gleam in her eyes, one she knew so well, and she understood that Fred and George's nature was genetic.
"I'm offended you don't recognize me, honestly." Danny responded with a deep voice, trying to match James' timbre. "Just because I'm Jaime now."
The twins' faces fell for a moment, not expecting a response from her, before they shared a glance and did that telepathy thing Fred and George did too. They grabbed two more chairs from nearby and pushed them against their table, sitting down in synchrony.
"Okay, who are you?" One of them asked, leaving his tankard down and grinning at her.
Remus, who had been trying to hold back his laughter, responded for her. "This is our friend Danielle Delacour, she's a transfer student from Beauxbatons. Danny, these are Gideon" he pointed toward the one who had asked her the question. "and Fabian Prewett. They were Gryffindors too."
"Transfer? Didn't know there were transfers." Fabian leant a bit closer over the table, staring straight at Danny with a tiny smirk. "And what are you doing with these losers?"
Among the sputtering and half-hearted insults from the Marauders, Danny shrugged and sipped her butterbeer. "James wouldn't let Lily go on a date with me, so I had to settle for staying with these two."
The pair laughed, the boys at her sides calling out matching 'Oi!'s. "Lily? He's still stalking the poor girl?" Gideon remembered, chuckling into his tankard. "She turned him down at least two dozen times before we graduated, you'd think the poor bloke would've gotten the message."
Remus grinned at that. "Actually, they are now together. Have been since the beginning of classes, basically." He seemed almost proud to announce his friends' relationship.
"No way." Fabian let his drink down, glancing from Marauder to Marauder, wide-eyed. "She agreed to date him?"
Sirius grinned too. "And she seems pretty content in the relationship. Of course, Jamsie is over the moon."
Remus snorted, squeezing Danny's hand and smirking at her sideways. "Until Danny starts threatening to steal Lily from him and he challenges her to a duel, at least."
The twins spent a good while catching up on the comings and goings of the Marauders and the general news around the school with them, then getting to know the new girl, not failing to notice the hand still in Remus' or the suspicious absence of Sirius' arm closest to Danny under the table. Lily and James entered the pub a bit later and joined them, overjoyed to see the twins. The place was getting quite crowded and lively, the weather pushing people indoors. Danny had wolf-whistled when she'd seen the couple come in, making Lily blush and James take his wand out in a threatening manner before he'd seen the redheads and forgotten all about Danny flirting with his girlfriend.
It was quite a while later that she saw Peter outside the window, moving toward the door. None of the others seemed to have noticed, so she guessed it was the perfect moment to leave the group, before the traitor joined them.
"Well, guys, I have an errand to run, I'll be back later. Stay." She pointed at Sirius, ordering as if to a dog, when he made to stand and follow her. "You haven't seen the Prewetts in a while, you're staying here. I can move around on my own. Besides, Christmas shopping to do, and I don't want you guys to see." She moved around the table and smiled at the twins. "It was great to meet you. Keep an eye on this lot while I'm gone, eh?" She waved and walked away, exiting the pub just as Peter reached the door.
She pretended not to see him, moving fast across the little town.
She went into Tomes and Scrolls first, getting a book for Lily and another for Remus. She moved on to Spintwitches Sporting needs after to get James and Sirius broom servicing kits that she'd modify later, then went into Zonko's and Honeydukes' to add extra bits to the gifts. She stopped in front of Scrivenshaft's window display and went inside as her last part of Christmas shopping, a very clear idea in her mind.
The Marauders and Lily, with the twins, found her as she came out of Gladrags Wizardwear, putting the small package she'd gotten inside in her bag.
"Hey, Danny!" Lily called for her, James tightening his hold on his girlfriend's hand at the sight of the other girl.
"Getting your dress for the party, kitten?" Sirius smirked at her, apparently looking forward to the party.
"Nope, getting socks." She waited for them to reach her. It seemed they were on their way back to school already. "Are you leaving already?" She looked toward the twins, who nodded but smiled.
"But we're meeting these troublemakers during Christmas break in Diagon Alley if you want to come too." Fabian invited her.
"Oh, she's coming with us, alright." James intervened. "She's coming to my house for break, so she'll be there with us."
"Great, we'll see you then. Do wreak some havoc for us, eh?" The twins moved away, Lily and James turning to watch them go.
"He's the Head Boy now! And Remus is a prefect!" Lily scolded them, while behind her Sirius and Danny pointed toward themselves and then gave them a thumbs up before Lily turned back toward them, when they pretended to be perfectly innocent.
The twins grinned before disapparating and leaving the group to return to Hogwarts on their own. They talked about their day and tried to get information on their gifts from Danny, which she refused. Apparently Peter's date hadn't gone too well, which was why he'd gone to the Three Broomsticks alone quite early. James and Lily, on the other hand, had spent the afternoon doing romantic shit that had them both grinning like fools.
27th November, 1977
Danny spent Sunday similarly to how she had the week before. She focused entirely on time-travel research and combat training, and when around mid-afternoon she felt herself getting stuck on her training, she gathered her robe and headed toward Dumbledore's office.
Once she was sitting on the chair before his desk, she wondered if she was messing up by talking to him.
"Yes, Miss Delacour?"
"Er… I'm not sure this is a good idea, but I'm guessing you already know most of the stuff you'll know in my time."
"I think I need more information than that to know what we are talking about in particular, Miss Delacour."
"A certain branch of Olde Magick." Was all she revealed, watching his face for recognition. His expression turned even more sombre and she knew he realized what she was talking about. "You were training me in it in the future." She added. He only stared, leaning a bit back in his chair, breathing slow. She continued only when he nodded. "I've been practicing on my own since I got here, not to lose practice and to continue building my magical core. But… I'm stuck. I don't know what else to do. So… I thought it'd be better to come to you than to just… wait until I could get back. Just in case."
"I understand it is a branch that I myself… don't practice." He asked for confirmation, getting a nod from the girl. "I won't ask for the circumstance that led me to train you in this, and please do not reveal more to me. But I believe that if I started you on this training, we should continue it. You made the right choice, Miss Delacour." He paused, his eyes flickering to Fawkes when the phoenix sang, both of them listening to the beautiful melody for a while until he tucked his head under his wing. "Was there a particular schedule we followed?"
"Not exactly. You were quite busy. But in average, we met once every two weeks. You did provide a training room, but I can manage just fine where I'm training now. It's… out of reach of most people. I trained on my own in between meetings."
"May I see your progress so far?"
Danny nodded and rose. She didn't reach for her wand. He had specifically instilled the importance of wandless magic when they'd started their sessions.
After Sirius' death. After I blew up the restroom. After I had to be put on Calming Draughts because I couldn't deal. She pushed the sorrow down and focused on the fact that she could see Sirius later that evening.
She started with the easy summonings he'd made her do at the beginning of their training, quickly progressing through their lessons, from attacks and quick defenses to the strongest barrier she had been taught, the last one she had been practicing, able to maintain it for almost half an hour while shooting other spells now.
The barrier that could theoretically protect against the killing curse.
Dumbledore watched in silence, nodding at her first demonstrations and then sitting completely still as she advanced. By the time she was done, her breathing just slightly quickened, he could've passed for a statue.
"Extraordinary." He murmured before rising slowly and moving toward Fawkes, lightly caressing his head, thoughtful. "I believe a weekly schedule will be most appropriate for now. Until the Christmas holidays start, at least. We'll discuss the schedule again once you return from the Potter's."
Danny reached for her planner in her bag and placed it on Dumbledore's desk, opening it on her weekly schedule and searching for any free periods. "When are we going to have our lessons?"
She returned to the Gryffindor common room even more tired than she'd been the week before, since she'd spent more time pushing her magic than doing research. She had a new slot Tuesdays after dinner saved up for her lessons with Dumbledore. She felt lighter knowing that she would be advancing more in her training. At the same time, she expected she'd be very tired by the middle of the week. She sighed. It was necessary.
She climbed through the portrait hole when this one swung open and she was greeted by a scene very similar to the one from a week before. She let herself fall next to Remus on the couch, the others watching silently, but this time they resumed their conversation when they saw she was just as exhausted as she'd been before.
Remus threw a quilt over her lap when she kicked her shoes off to curl her feet under her, and she smiled sleepily at him. While the others were engaged in their discussion about the British Quidditch league, the werewolf leant closer.
"You were with Dumbledore this time." He whispered, too low for anyone else to hear.
"Stop spying on me when I disappear. I disappear for a reason."
"You only disappeared for a few hours today."
"Stop spying."
"We're just worried, Danny."
"You're worse than my mamá, Moony."
He sighed but let it go, his hand resting on top of her leg through the quilt.
29th November, 1977
Her first planned lesson with Dumbledore had her almost fainting in the same training room he'd offered her in her time. He'd considered his office a bit too fragile for their lessons, while her usual training place was still a secret, even to the Headmaster. He gave her a couple of minutes to sit and recover, summoning two chairs to the room. He sat on the other, and informed her of the most recent news.
"Just this afternoon I received the ingredients stated in your report. Horace has already set a room in the dungeons aside for you, it's portrait protected, same as this one. The password is Moonlight."
"Fitting."
"I rather like to think so." His moustache twitched and she smirked for a second, still panting. "I had the ingredients sent down to the room. You may start whenever you wish."
"Thank you. I… I'll probably start early tomorrow, before breakfast. It'll take a few hours for the first part of the potion to be ready. Then I'll check it during lunch and in the afternoon after my last class." He nodded, approving of her plans. "Is that all for tonight? May I go back to my dorms?"
He hmmed softly before calling for a house-elf. He asked the house-elf to tell Mr. Potter, the eldest Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin to go to the corridor outside that room to escort Miss Delacour.
"That's not necessary."
"I am afraid you might have overexerted yourself, my dear." He rose from his chair and held out a hand for her. "I will feel much better knowing those gentlemen will make sure to take you to your dorms safely."
They waited outside for no more than five minutes, when the three boys arrived at a run, out of breath.
They stopped cold when they saw Danny leaning against the wall next to Dumbledore, their faces turning confused.
"Danny? Are you alright?" James panted, leaning forward with his hands on his thighs.
"Yeah."
"We thought something had happened to you!" Sirius cried out, making Danny's eyebrows move up her forehead.
"Ah. That might have been my fault, Mr. Black." Dumbledore confessed, his moustache twitching. "I do admit that I was less than clear in my message. Miss Delacour is a bit… fatigued, but she is not hurt. I only wished to make sure she was returned to the tower safely. And I must attend to other business in a minute."
"We'll take care of her." Remus was quick to assure the headmaster.
The old man smiled and moved away from the girl, only giving her a meaningful look and a nod, and letting the other boys approach her.
"What are you doing that has you this tired, Danny?" James asked as they slowly made their way back to the tower, one of Remus' arms around Danny's waist to hold her up, Sirius holding her hand on the other side and keeping an eye on her at all times just in case she tripped or slipped and Remus couldn't hold her.
"Told you, training." She sighed and let her head lol onto Remus' shoulder. "I just… went a bit overboard tonight."
The boys all sighed at her stubbornness, but simply helped her get to the common room and pretended she was alright around the rest of their friends.
30th November, 1977
Danny awoke early, still tired from her training the previous night, and made her way to her private potions room before she was technically allowed to roam the corridors. She had her notes with her, disguised, just in case.
Dumbledore had provided larger amounts of each ingredient than she technically needed for one batch. Of course, she was pretty sure she wouldn't make the potion correctly on the first try. She thanked the headmaster's forethought as she set to preparing the ingredients she'd need for the first steps of the potion.
She sat down between the canine Marauders for breakfast, having rushed to the Great Hall as soon as the potion was stable enough to be left alone. The boys looked curious, but she only waved them away and served herself breakfast. Remus leant closer, sniffing discreetly.
"You smell like… potions class."
"My project." Was her only response, and he sighed, knowing he wouldn't get any more information. She wondered what he would think when she told him what she'd been doing. When the potion was ready. When he could spend the full moon without losing his mind to the wolf's. She smiled to herself and leant against Sirius as she ate, the boy looking at her comfy position and smiling too.
She ran away from her friends the moment Transfigurations ended, telling them she'd meet them for lunch later.
When she disappeared again after Ancient Studies, Sirius got quite annoyed. He gave James a look to take Peter with him and hid in a nook with Lupin on the lookout. He whipped out the Marauders' Map and searched for her, finding her in the dungeons, alone, in an unused room.
"What is she doing?" Sirius gritted out, frustrated at the secrecy.
Remus leant over his friend's shoulder to look for Danny. "She said it was a project. Whatever it is, must be important. Dumbledore's involved too, isn't he?"
"Do you think it's dangerous?" Sirius turned his face toward his friend. He was worried too.
"Dumbledore wouldn't put her in danger, would he?"
They weren't so sure.
1st December, 1977
"Danny?" Remus called for her when she started gathering her stuff quickly at the end of Charms. "Aren't you coming to lunch?"
"In a bit. I have to do something first. But I'll be there soon, okay?" She flashed him a smile and ran out of the classroom.
She joined James, Sirius and Peter in the courtyard after checking on the potion in the afternoon. Remus and Lily would still be in Ancient Runes, and she didn't want to go to the library alone. She was feeling a bit homesick.
James had just been hit with half a dozen snowballs, courtesy of Sirius and Pettigrew, and was hiding behind a pillar when she arrived. She smiled at the way he was trying to shake the snow off his hair and robes. She spell dried the boy, making him look up and smile at her -just the same way Harry would do.
"They got you good, Potter." She smiled back, walking closer and ruffling his hair while repairing the light crack in his glasses. "Can't have you fighting without being able to see, eh?"
"Now that you're here, they're done." The boy grinned, raising his wand and gesturing for her to follow.
The barrage of snowballs that fell on Sirius and Peter forced them to retreat and finally plead mercy, yielding. Danny threw an arm around James' shoulders, victorious the pair of them, and she almost felt home with her brother again.
"Potter, we make a good team." She commented, watching Sirius shake himself like a dog to get rid of the snow.
"That we do, Delacour."
"What happened here?" A voice asked from behind them and they looked over their shoulders to see Lily and Remus glancing among all of them, noticing Peter lying down on the snow, half covered with it.
2nd December, 1977
After Arithmancy, Danny finished the first batch of wolfsbane. She tried it on transfigured rats to make sure it was not poisonous, at least not lethal. She watched the rats for about an hour while she worked on her homework, but they seemed to be fine.
Then she tried it herself, careful to send it straight down her throat so it wouldn't get altered with the mandrake leaf under her tongue -and because it tasted foul. She tried to work on her homework for another half an hour, but she soon felt sick. She was sweating, despite feeling cold, and her hands were trembling.
She'd messed up.
She moved out of the brewing room, taking her notes with herself, and moved toward the Infirmary. She was still in the dungeons when she had to stop and lean against the wall, her heart beating too fast. Oh, Merlin, will I be able to make it to the Hospital Wing?
She kept walking, a hand against the wall just in case, but she knew that she had to get help.
"Delacour?" A voice called from a bit further ahead. "What's wrong with you?"
She recognized the voice. "Not a great pick up line, Regulus."
"I wasn't…" He started sputtering, but stopped when she raised her head enough to look at him.
"I need help. I need to get to Pomfrey." She asked, her legs barely holding her up.
He moved closer immediately, grabbing her free arm and wrapping it over his shoulders, one of his arms moving around her waist to hold her up. "What happened to you?" He started walking out of the dungeons, aware of the people around staring at them.
"I might have -accidentally -poisoned myself."
"What?"
She wasn't able to answer, since they came across a very confused Professor Sprout. Regulus informed her of Danny's plight, and the professor conjured a stretcher for the girl, levitating it to the Hospital Wing in a rush. Regulus didn't follow.
She spent the rest of the day at the Infirmary. Pomfrey scolded her when the girl informed her of being a human guinea pig.
The boys and Lily turned up about half an hour after her arrival, when Pomfrey was making the girl drink a couple different antidotes. They looked like they'd run across the castle, even Peter.
"What happened?" Remus almost shouted, out of breath.
Danny was looking at them with a quirked eyebrow, sitting on the cot with a couple pillows holding her up. Pomfrey, on the other hand, had put her hands on her hips and was looking a bit flushed. "Gentlemen, Miss Evans! What do you think you are doing, running about and screaming in my Infirmary?"
"We heard Danny was very sick." James started explaining.
"- about to die." Continued Peter, getting a smack across the back of his head from Sirius.
"And that she'd been carried to the Hospital Wing in a stretcher." Lily finished, pushing the boys to the side to walk closer to the girl. "What happened to you?"
The boys followed after the redhead's approach and piled around the cot, even making Pomfrey step back.
"What in Godric's name happened, kitten?" Sirius immediately sat beside her legs, his face anxious.
"I… might have accidentally poisoned myself." She admitted, just as she had with Regulus, and shrugged.
"You might?" Pomfrey cut in. "You sure did poison yourself, young lady."
"But I'm fine, no permanent damage done." She smiled lightly, feeling faint after the antidotes kicked in. "No need to worry, guys, really."
"No need to worry?" Sirius' voice increased in pitch, his face getting more flushed. "We heard Reg had to carry you out of the dungeons!"
Her eyes brightened. "Oh, yes, your brother helped me when he saw I was sick. I have to remember to thank him next time I see him." At the mix of astonished and angry looks from her friends, she sighed. "Really, do I look dead to you?" She glared at Peter, who looked away in shame, before glancing at each of her friends in a reassuring manner. "I'll be good as new in a few hours. Really, there's no need to worry."
"What are you doing that you accidentally poisoned yourself?" Remus asked, his eyes a bit crazed. He was standing just behind Sirius, his hand on his friend's shoulder, tight by the looks of it.
"Working on my project." She simply answered, smiling adorably so they'd stop looking at her that way. "Which I'm obviously not going to tell you about yet no matter how pissed you look."
Lily and Remus both sat down next to Danny, at the head of the bed, while James stood at the foot, Peter a bit behind him.
"We are worried, Danny." Lily spoke softly, trying not to look angry. "You have been acting strange these last few days, and you are exhausted by the time you get to the dorms at night."
"You are tired everyday, kitten." Sirius spoke gently, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand. "You've got dark circles under your eyes, and you're always rushing off Merlin-knows-where, running about all day. You're going to burn yourself out like this."
"It won't be for long. I don't think so, at least. The rushing off, I mean. It... my project… It'll be worth it. And I should have it figured out… before Christmas, hopefully."
Remus huffed near her ear. "You can't continue like this until Christmas."
"It'll be worth it." She repeated, smiling to herself.
Pomfrey watched from behind the two standing boys, her eyes softening at her patient's look. She'd told the matron the ingredients in what she had ingested and it seemed like she was trying to create a potion for their resident werewolf. Her friends knew nothing about it. She was pushing herself to the point of literally sacrificing her health to help her friend.