Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
"We will landing shortly." Ness jolted awake and rubbed his eyes as the Pilot continued speaking talking about the basic rules of landing, "Looks like I'm nearly home." Ness muttered, "Never knew that Hogwarts had connections with airports." Although considering how popular the school was it wasn't too big a surprise to receive a ticket for the closest airport to Onnet.
But when had he received the ticket? He didn't remember anyone giving it to him, then again he had been distracted by the shocking truth about Harry's parents and just how big a connection Harry had to Lord Voldemort to pay attention to anything else at the time.
He knew Harry was important but he didn't realize just how important, like chosen one important. "At least this explains the omen." He grumbled as the seat-belt sign appeared and the plane began to lower in altitude.
"Or does it?" a nagging voice whispered, the same nagging voice which had been with him the entire walk back, Great Feast, Train Ride and now the final stretch of the flight. He and the voice had been arguing about Black being guilty.
It seemed so… reasonable to think that way, but Ness knew that something wasn't right. Even though Black had motive, means and clearly a way to end Harry something didn't click, which was why the voice was so nicely urging him to find answers.
"But where?" Ness thought, "After all, the Minister was there. He saw what happened!"
"Or did he? He arrived at the scene, but he didn't see what happened now did he?" Ness hesitated as the plane landed and people started to get off, he followed them to the exit and wound up at a luggage section, where his suitcase was, spinning around in slow circles on the automated track. Sort of like his mind. Only a lot slower.
He lugged it off the metal conveyor belt and headed for the taxi area. Hoping that his parents were there to pick him up. They weren't, forcing Ness to sit outside in the winter cold with his thoughts to keep him company.
"Alright, so Black is a madman with a lot of power apparently. Why not kill Harry and be done with it?" Ness questioned, "Maybe he isn't trying to kill Harry." The voice reasoned, "Maybe he wants something else?"
"Like what? His flying bike?"
"Maybe."
Ness sighed and adjusted his baseball cap, hoping that would convince the voice to agree with him. He knew it was fruitless since he had a sinking feeling in his stomach. But what was missing? As he mentioned before Black had all three reasons to go after Harry, so why hadn't he risk everything? After all, he didn't hesitate to break into the castle, or escape from Land of the Dementors.
"But why would he willingly let Hadrig go with Harry? Black could have murdered him the moment he bumped into him and then fled." Ness thought as a car pulled up and honked a couple times, pulling Ness from his thoughts, "Geez! We were afraid you froze to death!" his father joked as Ness put his trunk in the back of their battered Sedan and climbed into the back seat.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought." Ness said, Tracey gasped in fake surprise and playfully pushed Ness, "You have a brain?"
"Har-har." Ness retorted pushing her back, "Very funny." Their parents rolled their eyes as Ness and Tracey got into a playful argument over who had a brain, "So brains aside, how's school?" his mother asked, "It seems like you've had an exciting time so far."
"Exciting is an understatement." Ness grumbled, "I'm stuck playing body guard to Harry Potter, a boy whose were pretty much parents murdered by their best friends."
"And you have to take out the bad guys?" Tracey asked.
"I don't know. I can't even convince myself that he is a bad guy!"
"What do you mean?" his father asked, "Is he like Giygas? Who was merely exacting revenge for feeling betrayed?"
"I don't know! But earlier this year, he breaks in, destroys a painting and then leaves, while everyone was downstairs at dinner." Ness explained, "He could has easily broken into the Common room since he went to school here but he just books it! Not to mention that there's this black dog that's hanging around for no reason."
"Well, what did he do? How did he murder his friends?" his mother asked now sounding concerned.
"Basically, he used to be a good guy, kept a magical secret to keep his best friend safe switched sides, told his new evil master where they were at, came back to his now destroyed friends' house to get baby Harry, failed, gave Hadrig this flying bike and then proceed to brutally murder another good friend of his before they hauled him off to jail."
"And the victims used to be BBF's?" Tracey questioned, "Thicker than glue." Ness deadpanned, "At first, when I heard he was Harry's godfather and insane, I thought he was going after Harry because of Godfather status but now…"
"Now you aren't sure since he sounds like a wack job." His father finished.
"Yes! It just… doesn't make sense, and I can't figure out how to make it make sense." Ness groaned. Tracey patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, you're figure something out."
"Is that before or after Harry murders Black?" Ness questioned, "Since he isn't exactly taking the news well."
"Hopefully before." His mother murmured as his father changed the topic, asking about Selvis and Ginny. After a while they started talking about how Onett was and about King, his pet dog who had joined his adventure for a bit then decided to stay home after a bit.
It wasn't too long until they pulled off the highway and into Onett, which was decorated to the T with Christmas decorations, "I see Captain Strong still loves his police decorations." Ness mused as they passed the Police Station which was covered in red and blue lights.
"He never gives it a rest." His father said with a slight chuckle, "Although that's probably a good thing."
"King!" Ness cheered as they pulled into the driveway and were greeted by King who happily flattened Ness in the snow, "Hey buddy! Nice to see you again!"
"Are you actually going to be home for good?"
Ness froze and frowned at King who was still panting, "Is that a no? It's a no, isn't it?"
"Uh… Yea, I'm just staying for Winter break." King whined and rolled off him, "One of these days I'll understand why you decided to go to a boarding school." Ness shrugged and looked at Tracey who was eagerly watching them, "What's King saying?"
"He's asking if I'm staying home for good." Ness repeated, trying to figure out why King was suddenly speaking to him, was he able to do that before or-, "Come on! It's late!" his mother yelled.
"Right!" Ness opened the trunk and grabbed his suitcase, wincing as one of the wheels made an odd cracking sound as it bounced off the small patch of ice, "I forgot Onett had odd winters." Ness muttered as he dragged his suitcase inside.
"You always forget." King reminded him, "No I don't!"
"Pretty sure you do."
"I'm heading to bed." Ness announced, "Me too!" Tracey chirped, although this was probably because she wanted to try and see if Santa made early deliveries before Christmas. Ness doubted that Santa actually did, but he didn't tell Tracey this. After all, it was hilarious to see her camped out in the living room with King acting like a pillow.
"I need some sleep too." His dad yawned, "Driving for practically eight hours can take a lot out of ya." His mom laughed and playfully teased, "Says the man who works almost nine hours a day."
Ness rolled his eyes as he climbed up the stairs toward his room, hearing his dad's usual remark of, "Well someone has to pay the bills." King joined him on the bed and stretched saying, "Feels nice to have my bed buddy back."
"Since when did we become bed buddies?" Ness asked as he grabbed a clean pair of pajamas and get dressed, "Actually, when did you learn Telepathy?" King cocked his head and whined, "What are you talking about? I've been able to speak to you ever since that Giygas guy showed up. Heck! You've been able to hear every animal since he showed up!"
"I have?" Ness frowned and tossed his hat on his bedside table, "Then why couldn't I talk to the school owls?"
"Probably because their stuck up jerks." King grumbled, "I chased one owl. ONE! And it had the nerve to call me an old coot. Birdbrain."
Ness smothered a laugh and turned off the lights, "You aren't an old coot King, there just jelly since you beat up wild animals."
"A, wild animal. You're quick to forget that I bailed after that alien showed up."
"You did a lot better than most animals. And Porky."
"Oh yea! Haven't seen him in a while. Weird."
Ness bit his lip since he vaguely knew of Porky's disappearance, but didn't say anything. Instead he pulled the cover over his head and fell asleep. He was rudely awaken by King who panted, "Mom made bacon and pancakes!" and patiently waited as Ness rolled out of bed groaning, "School break = sleeping in King."
"Not if there's bacon involved."
"Of course not." Ness grumbled, "Because bacon is all mighty."
"See! You understand!"
"That was sarcasm King! Sarcasm!"
"You still understood my point."
Ness rolled his eyes and headed downstairs, his mom and Tracey were chatting while his dad was nowhere to be seen, probably sleeping in like Ness wanted to do.
"Good morning!" his mom chirped, placing a plate of piping hot pancakes and bacon onto the morning, "Boo." Ness yawned as he grabbed a plate and a couple pancakes, Tracey giggled and scratched King behind the ears, "I'm guessing King woke you up?"
"All for bacon." Ness said, tossing King a piece before he drowned his breakfast in syrup, "Bacon, is all mighty." King protested as he happily gulped down his treat, "No, steak, is all mighty." Ness argued earning an eye roll from his mother.
"Well whatever meat is all mighty, it will have to wait." His mom said as she went to wake up her husband, "Wanna build an army of snowmen after breakfast?" Tracey asked, "Only if I get to cream you in a snowball fight to the death." Ness countered with a smirk.
"You're on!"
And so, after breakfast they rushed outside with King trailing behind them, offering to be ref even though they knew that King was just going to sit in the middle of the yard and bark at them.
"Eat snow!" Ness yelled, popping up from behind his hastily built snow fort long enough to hurl a snowball at his sister, Tracey ducked and retorted, "Not unless you eat it first!" and hit him square in the chest, "Fool! I have a secret weapon!" Ness yelped as he scrambled to make another snowball.
"Is it giving up?"
"No, it's tackling your sister into the snow!" Tracey screamed as Ness bolted from around his fort, faked a throw and slammed into Tracey who slipped and fell, "Surrender!" Ness commanded, Tracey formed a ball of snow and threw it upward, causing it to land on Ness's hat, "Never!" Tracey squealed as Ness jumped up and cleaned his hat off yelling, "Cheater!" Tracey merely stuck her tongue out as King barked "I claim fair goal!"
"There are no goals in Snowball war, King!" Ness yelled as he chased after his little sister, "Really? Then what game has goals?"
"Soccer, Football, Hockey," Ness rattled off as he pivoted and grabbed a small pile of snow, "And hitting little sisters in the back of the head!" Tracey yelped and hastily scooped some snow into her hand as Ness threw his mess of a snowball, "Ha! Ya missed!" Tracey playfully jeered. She quickly stopped jeering when her own snowball missed.
"Want some hot coco?" Tracey asked after they proceed to miss hitting each other for a bit. "Heck yea!" Ness cheered, they scrambled back inside the house and sat by the fireplace, "You guys done murdering each other already?" their dad asked with a sly smirk.
"I won." Ness and Tracey said before shooting each other a smirk.
"Rigghhhht." Was their parents reply, knowing full well that the battle to the death had been a draw. "So death battles aside, you guys ready to make snowflakes!"
"Who wouldn't be?" Ness joked as his mom pulled a basket of recycled paper from underneath the couch and placed it in the middle of the room. Making snowflakes was sort of a tradition for the Earthbound family, they would collect junk pieces of paper like old work reports, messed up school reports and newspaper and cut them into snowflakes.
Then they would hang them in the window and read aloud the cut of sentences that the snowflakes had to offer. They chatted while they worked, joked about crazy headmasters and bosses. His father had a hilarious story where his boss got locked in a closet during a board meeting and his secretory had to pose as him, it worked but after that incident the secretory had become the 'boss' whenever important people came for board meetings.
"Poor Cindy got so flustered when Joe Miki sat up and said 'working on that project boss!' when she walked past his desk to give something to Mr. McCole." His dad laughed.
"Hopefully you haven't been giving her too hard a time." His mom said, giving him a stern glare, Ness and Tracey fought back a laugh as their dad's laughter quickly died away and was replaced with a sheepish smile.
"I think that's a yes." King guessed. Causing Ness to crack up and translate what King had said.
Before Ness knew it, Christmas Break was over and he was heading back to Hogwarts on the train with a handmade sweater from his Mother, a book of reminders from Tracey and a new winter sports hat from his Father. Paula had showed up right before he left of course, she lived a town over and could easily come for visits when the weather wasn't bad.
But she was acting weird when she came to bid Ness goodbye and give him her Christmas gift. Her smile seemed shy and her cheeks were bright pink, which was odd since she didn't seem like the shy type of girl, just humble, quiet and surprisingly violent, Ness couldn't forget that trait of Paula, she could hit home runs with that frying pan of hers and she had with a couple PSI controlled objects they had fought against.
Her gift to him seemed odd as well, she had baked him a couple cookies that were shaped like goofy Christmas trees and snowballs, all decorated with homemade frosting. While that seemed, normal Ness couldn't help but feel embarrassed, which was dumb since Paula was a good friend who was an excellent cook.
He didn't have long to ponder on that thought since his compartment door suddenly opened and Selvis scrambled inside panting, "Gits! All of em!"
"Merry late Christmas Selvis!" Ness chirped, giving Selvis a heart attack, "Good god!" Selvis yelped before he hastily scowled and snapped, "Why are you so happy?! Did your girlfriend bake those treats or something?"
Ness felt his cheeks redden and hastily retorted, "A friend made them for me." Selvis frowned then smirked, "A female friend?"
"Yea, Paula."
Selvis snickered and plucked a cookie out of the box, "Is she a close friend of yours?"
"Yea, we met during my quest to save the world."
"Is she pretty?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Oh nothing lover boy."
Ness bit his tongue in surprise and glared at Selvis who happily bit off the treetop of a pine tree, "So how was your holiday break?"
"Boring as always." Selvis said, "Mum invited friends over for dinner, Dad made a fool of himself and the House elf got drunk. As usual."
"Elves can get drunk?" Ness questioned, "How is that possible? I thought that Dwarves were the drunken party." Selvis rolled his eyes and sat down, "I keep forgetting that you're practically a Muggle, but no, Tipsy is prone for getting drunk during the holidays since we get so many wine bottles from our relatives in France." Selvis pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes and scowled, "Sometimes we have to store the excess in her room and she thinks it's her property or something dumb, the git."
"Have you ever considered storing the wine away from Tipsy?"
"Tried it, but she still manages to get drunk. Anyway, where did you and Potter go?"
Ness bit his lip before he sighed and looked Selvis right in the eye, "Promise not to tell your Housemates?" Selvis glanced at the door and then back at Ness, a wry smile and a glint of mischief in his eyes, "Must be veeerrrry important if you don't want me squealing."
"It concerns Potter's parents Selvis." Ness deadpanned, "And how they really died." Selvis's eyes widen and he leaned forward, "I won't tell, cross my heart and swear to die!"
Ness nodded and explained what had happened and where he went, a couple times Selvis with stiffen with envy and grumble about not having his own cloak of invisibility or about being able to sneak into Honeydukes but he stayed silent when Ness retold what he had heard the teachers say.
"Blimey…" Selvis whistled, "No wonder Potter looked out of it that day, I thought his owl died or something dumb."
"It was awful." Ness said, "The Minister sounded so disheartened, even scared of that day."
"Who wouldn't? If I stumbled upon Black on his killing spree I would have fainted right then and there."
"Yea…" Ness agreed, before he sighed and adjusted his hat, "Why he do it though? He and James sounded like best friends. It doesn't make sense as to why he suddenly back stabs the man who treated him like a brother." Selvis snorted in disbelief and sneered, "You're joking, who wouldn't do that? If I had to choose between my best friend and life, I pick life."
"Says the snake." Ness retorted, earning a cold glare, "It makes sense as to why you join up, but why would a troublemaker who happily break the rules with little concern suddenly switch sides? Wouldn't being Voldemort's spy-," Selvis flinched at the dark lord's name but didn't say anything, "be thrilling enough? And why give up his motorbike to Hadrig if he wanted to kill Harry?"
"Oh, I dunno, maybe Black didn't know that Harry was the boy who so nicely murdered his master."
"But that was the reason why Black rushed over there as fast as he did, remember?"
Selvis threw his hands up and snapped, "Do you want to protect Harry or not?"
"I do but-,"
"Then why the heck are you trying to figure out the twisted mind that is Black's?! Just accept that he's a bad person and move on!" Selvis finished, Ness glanced down at his shoes and silently thought "Every action has a reason, so what was Black's?"
"This is going to eat away until you figure it out." Selvis realized with a groan, "Which means you're going to bugging me and the others until you find the answer."
"He has to have a reason for suddenly switching sides Selvis." Ness protested, "Every action has a reason."
"I bet Giygas didn't." Selvis protested.
"He did, he was exacting his revenge for being used by human scientists since he was the first being to wield PSI at the time." Ness explained, "He probably would have destroyed us if Paula didn't figure out a way to jog his memory of the good times he had with humans."
Selvis threw his hands up in the air and went to change into his robes, Ness did the same and resumed pondering at the buzzing question which he had so nicely forgotten. His question became even louder when he spotted a gloomy Harry as he walked into Gryffindor tower's common room, was he still upset over what happened? Probably, he would be down in the dumps if learned how his parents were killed. But that didn't explain the angry looks Ron was giving Hermione who seemed quiet intent on finishing a bulky book in her hands.
"Whatever, I'll try and talk to Harry in the morning." Of course, he couldn't since every break he got the next day was bombarded by Ginny and Luna who both wanted to know what happened that day before break started. And Ness couldn't really explain it at the time since there were a bunch of people around and their hangout spot had been buried under fresh piles of snow.
"We're going to need a new hangout." Ness grumbled as he and Ginny climbed up the tower toward the common room, "Maybe we could use an empty classroom?" Ginny suggested.
"And risk getting caught by a teacher? Heck no."
"Maybe Selvis has an idea of where to go." Ginny hesitantly suggested, "Hopefully." Ness said, "If not then we're going to have to use Owl mail."
"Oh! Maybe we could use the Owlery room."
"I dunno. I don't think people would appreciate a bunch of second years lurking around the owls." Ness said, Ginny sighed and said, "Bloodied Blade." To Sir Caldogen who nodded in satisfaction. "Oh! Speaking of owls, guess what?"
"What?" Ginny asked as she dumped her bag onto a chair and sat down, "I can hear animals' thoughts." Ness whispered, he sat down beside Ginny and pulled out his latest Potions homework, "You can?" Ginny glanced at Crookshankes who seemed intent on napping. "Think you can do it on Crookshankes?"
"I dunno… King reminded me of telepathy when I went home but I couldn't use it on the owls. Too much magic or something." Ness studied Crookshankes and shrugged, "It's worth a try." He stood and went to pet the cat when Ron exclaimed, "There he is!" causing him to pause and say "Oh, hey Harry, Ron. What's up?"
"You know how to find jinxes in brooms, right Ness?" Ron asked looking completely breathless even though he and Harry had walked over from the other side of the room to reach him, "People jinx brooms?" Ness questioned, he looked at Ginny who was sighing, "I never knew that people hated to sweep the floor to the point of jinxing a broom."
"He means cursing it Ness." Ginny explained, "Making it so that the rider could get killed or have trouble flying it."
"Ohhh… That makes much more sense."
"So you can't do it?" Harry asked, looking crestfallen, Ness shook his head no, "Why do you ask? Oh! Did you're new broom come in or something?"
"Yea." Ron said glumly, lowering his voice a little, "The best broom of all of Britain to be exact." Harry nodded in agreement, "Someone sent me a er, what Ron said and Hermione told a teacher about, thinking it might be cursed."
"Do you know who sent it to you?" Ness asked.
"No, that's why Hermione told, it just came in the mail with no return addresses."
"Oh… Any chance you can get it back?"
"Hopefully." Harry said while Ron grumbled, "Not likely." And glared at Hermione, who was reading a book, as usual. "Don't worry Harry." Ginny said with a reassuring smile, "I'm sure you'll get the broom back before the next game."
Harry nodded in agreement, although he still seemed depressed. Ness sort of wanted to cheer him up but couldn't since he still considered brooms to be a cleaning tool, not a piece of equipment you could use.
"Well, I'm going to bed, see you guys in the morning." Ness said, already making his way up to his dorm bed. Thoughts about Black being innocent once again pestering him as he crawled into bed and turned off his light.
"This is going to drive me crazy." Ness groaned as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
And it did, for the next week the scale of Black being innocent or a complete nut job went up and down, and sometimes in circles whenever he thought about it during Charms or Transfiguration, the only thing that seemed to distract him was Selvis's good news, which he gleefully delivered by shoving Ness to the side as they left potions, dropping a letter into his bag as he headed to his next class.
"I swear, Selvis enjoys his new note method a bit too much." Ginny grumbled, rubbing her elbow and glaring at the hastily written letter in her hand, "Well, at least he found a new meeting spot." Ness offered, although he to wished that Selvis had just sent one of the owls, or better yet just slip into their bags without sending them crashing into the stone floor.
"I hope Selvis is right about no one using the East wing tower." Ginny grumbled, Ness coughed and ducked under a giant cobweb, "I think the fact that the spider apocalypse happened here is a big clue about people using the tower."
"Ron would hate it." Ginny said ducking around another giant cobweb and climbing up a rickety ladder.
"Not a fan of spiders?"
"Hates them, especially after Fred and George turned one of his teddy bears into a giant one." Ginny explained. Ness cringed in sympathy and followed Ginny into the abandoned classroom, "Thank god you're here!" Selvis exclaimed looking extremely annoyed,
"Hello Ginny, Ness." Luna greeted, she was making dust angles on the floor while Selvis sat cross legged on an old desk, "She's been doing that for at least ten minutes!" Selvis complained as Ginny placed her bag by the trapdoor, "Make her stop!"
"I'm just chasing away the dust bunnies." Luna explained, "Really? Huh…" Ness studied an empty patch of dust then looked at Selvis who was glaring at him, "Don't even think about it Earthbound." Selvis hissed.
"Too late!" Ness chirped happily flopping in the dust and copying Luna, "Whhhhhy!?" Selvis whined while Ginny giggled, "That does seem fun."
"Don't you DARE copy them Weasly." Selvis threatened, "Or else!"
"Or else what?" Ginny countered, "You'll tell my older brothers that I'm hanging out with a Slytherin?"
"No! I'll… I'll figure something out!" Selvis snapped, "After all, you aren't exactly a goodie two shoes!"
"So who wants to know where I went with Harry Christmas weekend?" Ness asked hoping to avoid another fight between Selvis and Ginny, "I do." Luna said, sitting up and studying Ness with her usual dreamy smile, "I already know." Selvis said smugly earning a glare from Ginny.
"So? Where did you and Harry disappear to?" Ginny asked, "To Hogsmeade." Ness replied before he retold what he and Harry had heard and his thoughts on Black being a murderer.
"I still think he's off his rocker." Selvis huffed while Ginny hesitated and said, "I dunno Ness, he did murder Peter Petigrew right in front of everyone's eyes. And my Dad was talking about how dangerous Black was."
"But what if the Ministry was lying?" Luna offered, earning strange looks from everyone, "After all, the only witnesses were a couple mind wiped muggles and Fudge himself."
"Who is Fudge?" Ness asked, "And why is he named after candy?"
"The minister." Ginny explained, "His full name is Cornelius Fudge."
"As I was saying." Luna said, "Black switching sides isn't normal, I bet some horrific experiment happened and Black was a victim, turning into a completely different person until Petigrew was murdered."
"And just what was this horrific experiment?" Selvis questioned, "Split Personality-idous?"
"No, it was a Devil toad." Luna explained, "They take over the victim's mind and body and turn them into a completely different person, the only way to reserve the change is to remind them of happy memories or use spello tape and remove it by force."
Selvis face palmed while Ness mused, "That could work, after all, Black was good friends with Petigrew."
"I think Dad would have informed us of evil frogs." Ginny said with a thoughtful frown, "But what if he didn't know?" Luna countered, "I mean, it was probably a high-level clearance item."
"Can we please stop talking about evil frogs? Better yet, let's use logic." Selvis pleaded, "Like maybe Black deiced that the good guys were fighting a losing battle switched sides until You-know-who fell and then switched sides again."
"If he did that then why didn't he willingly let Petigrew turn him in?" Ness argued, "Why go into custody after he murdered Petigrew?"
"Maybe he did go into custody, but Fudge discovered a horrible secret about Petigrew and blasted him right on the spot!" Luna theorized.
"Luna, they saw Black, laughing like a madman, in front of a creator." Selvis deadpanned, "I don't think Fudge could pull the wool over that many wizards' eyes despite being the first one there."
"Oh! Maybe Fudge was against Dumbledore and plotted with Black without knowing that he had switched sides and-," Ginny faltered then sighed, "No, that doesn't make sense."
"Hold on, Dumbledore didn't trust Black to be Potters' secret keeper." Luna recalled, "Yes, we know this Luna." Selvis dryly retorted, "Anything else you'd like to revise for the class?"
"Well, Dumbledore didn't trust Black, as if he knew that Black was going to switch sides or something." Luna continued, "Maybe, Dumbledore used a spell to force Black into betraying James, breaking his mind in the process."
"But why do it?" Ness asked, "Did he do it because Harry was the holy grail or something and needed hardship in his life for some important role?"
"Well, Dumbledore is off his rocker." Selvis grumbled, "Maybe we should start from the beginning." Ginny suggested, heading over to the grim covered chalkboard and writing an outline.
"Oh! Like a Who, what, where, how, when chart!" Ness realized, Selvis shrugged indifferently about the idea while Luna chirped, "Sounds like a plan."
"So first up. What, is Black after." Ginny started, "Harry Potter." Selvis said, "Harry Potter with a question mark." Ness offered, "Since he missed his chance for brutal revenge at the Halloween Dinner."
"I forgot we were still debating about that." Selvis grumbled while Ginny asked, "How? How did Black get in?"
"He turned into a plant." Luna offered while Selvis smirked and said, "He murdered the Dementors at the front gate."
"Now you sound crazy." Ness teased earning a glare from Selvis, "Maybe he had a helper?" Ness offered, "I mean, someone who might own a black dog?"
"I think Hadrig owns a dog…" Ginny recalled.
"But why would Hadrig be an accomplish to the person he wants to tear limb from limb?" Selvis questioned, "Change of heart or not, Hadrig would still probably kill him."
Ness frowned and thought about other ways to get into the castle, "Oh! Maybe he used a secret passageway or something, after all he and James were renowned trouble makers."
"Didn't Granger so nicely rule that idea out?" Selvis asked before he haughtily said, "Besides, the paths he could have used as a student could have been destroyed."
"I still think he turned into a plant." Luna murmured. "Black didn't turn into a bloody plant!" Selvis snapped, "He probably did something sensible!"
"Like fly through a window!" Ness joked, Selvis threw his hands up in disgust while Ginny stifled a laugh, "Jokes aside, he could have done it."
"I give up, what's the next question." Selvis asked, "Well, there's why and when, but when doesn't make sense since Black is still on the prowl and the why's another minefield of questions."
"Why are there so many questions!?" Selvis demanded, "Why can't we just accept that Black is a nutjob!?"
"Because that would be like us accepting that you're a jerk based on your house." Ness calmly countered, Selvis opened his mouth, closed it, then slumped his shoulders in defeat while Ginny and Luna shared thoughtful looks.
No one said anything for a moment before Selvis grumpily said, "So what are the odds of Gryffindor beating Ravenclaw?"
"Well, it depends on there being a freaking hurricane during the match." Ness grumbled, bitterly remembering Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor. "Well you drop it already?" Ginny sighed, "It wasn't that bad!"
"It was awful," Selvis said, "That's why we did the smart thing and waited for better weather conditions."
"Ah-ha! So Slytherin did chicken out!" Ginny said with a triumphant smile.
"Anyone with a brain would have stay out of that dreadful match!" Selvis retorted while Ness argued, "Ginny, no sane human would play during a hurricane or a rainstorm!"
"See! Even those filthy muggles have some sense!"
"I thought it was because the ground got infested with mud terminates." Luna mused, "They don't exist!" Selvis snapped while Ginny said, "I thought muggle sports were vastly different than Qudditch."
"They are, since they don't have people flying on brooms." Ness said, "Or during hurricanes."
"You aren't going to drop that anytime soon. Are you?"
"Nope, since that was totally a hurricane."
Selvis nodded in agreement while Luna merely said, "the weather report indicate a sunny match up, so we'll only have to worry about how badly the teams will lose by."
"I hope Gryffindor gets crushed." Selvis said, rubbing his hands together, Ginny rolled her eyes while Ness said, "And while you guys argue about that, I'm going to remember who won the World champion finals."
"I think it was England, Teaster Toranado." Luna mused.
"I meant baseball Luna."
"Oh. Who won then?"
"Who cares about Baseball?" Selvis questioned, "Why anyone runs around in a diamond is beyond me."
"Alright, you wizards seriously need to learn about something other than suicide sports." Ness declared standing up and picking up a piece of chalk. Ginny buried her head in her hands while Luna perked up. Selvis glanced at Ginny and groaned, "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"Noooo…" Ginny groaned as Ness started on the basics of Baseball. Ness managed to explain about how bases worked when Luna interrupted, asking about how Muggles tamed bats while Selvis demanded that they talk about more sensible sports earning a blunt answer about how Baseball was an American favorite and safer than most sports Ness had seen.
Ginny merely laughed at Selvis's annoyed outbursts, Luna's random questions and at how exasperated Ness was at explaining the rules. She laughed even harder when Selvis dug up an old chess board and challenged Ness to a game. Then got upset when he noticed that his queen was ignoring every command since Ness had used Paralysis beta on it to make the game entertaining.
"Cheater!" Selvis spluttered as he poked and prodded at the frozen piece, "Release my queen at once!"
"Or, you could just move it." Ness suggested with a smirk, "Insufferable little-," Selvis started, when Ness glanced out the window, "Oh geez! It's past curfew!"
"It is?" Luna yawned, she and Ginny had been playing a game of magical marbles and talking about boys or something, "I didn't even notice."
"Bugger, if Flich finds us we're dead." Ginny grumbled.
"That is, if he can find us." Selvis remarked, "I've never been caught by that bumbling caretaker."
"I shall take your word for it." Ness noted, "Now if you excuse us, the less sneaky people shall head back to their common rooms."
"Hmm… I bet Ravenclaw will win." Luan mused as she climbed down the ladder, "Nut-job." Selvis muttered as he followed suit. Ness and Ginny followed them and parted at the staircase, Selvis heading toward the basement, Luna toward the towers and them to the common room.
"Hopefully some good news will show up." Ness muttered as he headed toward his warm bed and crashed, he yawned and rolled onto his side, "Like something making logical sense."
But of course, more bad luck came his way, or rather Ron's way since a day before upcoming Ravenclaw match Ron's rat, Scabbers, went missing, Ness was chilling in the common room watching Harry be the center of attention as they marveled over his broom while he and Hermione chatted about classes.
"I didn't know Harry had a Firebolt!" Ginny said in awe before she joined the crowd, "And I never knew you were a broom nut." Ness muttered, waving his wand in a slow circle as he tried to mentally move a book away from Hermione, he planned to make it look like a ghost's doing but so far, all he was doing as making it inch toward the edge of the table.
He had nearly pushed it off the edge completely when a strangled scream made everyone stop and look toward the Boys' dormitory in surprise. And then horror as Ron tumbled out of the stairwell carrying red stained bed-sheets which he promptly shoved in Hermione's face, causing her to lean back in surprise.
"LOOK!" he yelled, looking bewildered and upset, "LOOK!"
"What?" Hermione stammered as Ness edged closer, a sinking feeling in his stomach, "SCABBERS! LOOK! SCABBERS!" Ron babbled, "BLOOD! IT'S HIS BLOOD AND HE'S GONE!"
A ripple of sharp gasps filled the room as Ron frantically continued, "THE ONLY THING LEFT OF HIM IS-," Ron cut off and hurled something into Hermione's homework, shaking.
Ness leaned forward as Harry and Hermione paled at the long ginger hairs covering a weird spiky shape. Crookshanks, had eaten Scabbers, or, attempted to anyway. Ness looked at the mangy cat who didn't seem to have a care in the world as Ron ripped into Hermione, yelling about how she never cared about Scabbers or heeded his warnings about keeping that 'monster' away from his beloved pet.
Ness felt the sudden urge to leave the common room as Hermione shook off her surprised stupor and retorted that he had no proof about Crookshanks eating Scabbers, and angrily whirled on Ness when he squeaked, "I think the fact that cats hunt rats for food is proof enough." And then on Harry when he tried to defuse the argument.
He failed, miserably and ended up sending Ron storming back to the dormitory room and Hermione toward the library for some 'light' reading.
"Oh dear…" Ginny murmured, sensing the storm to come. And it did come, Ness felt a wave of uneasy whenever he spotted Hermione, who was angrily cooped up in the library muttering about how everything was seemly her fault and at Ron's sullen mood. Ness couldn't blame Ron, if he found out that King had been murdered by someone's pet he would be a mess.
He wanted to comfort them, or help Harry out who was trying to rebuild the bridge between Ron and Hermione but he couldn't, "This, is ridiculous." Selvis declared as Ness made a dusty smiley face on an old desk, "It wasn't even your rat for crying out loud! Just get over it!"
"You should have seen it Selvis." Ginny snapped, she too, was shaken by Scabbers' disappearance and sometimes would burst into tears despite never really liking the rat, "There was blood! And a toe from Scabbers! I know cats are hunters but still-," she abruptly cut off and buried her face in her hands.
"There, there." Luna soothed, "Scabbers is just helping the Rat rebellion." Selvis threw his hands up in the and stroked Kir's feathers. "A-anyway, I'm pretty sure that dumb rat is in a better place." Selvis sniffed, this only caused Ginny to cry harder and earn a weary glare from Ness.
"How about we talk about something cheerful." Ness suggested, "Like, why did you bring the bird that hates my guts up to the secret clubhouse?"
Selvis huffed and folded his arms, "To see if you really could talk to animals." He said, "And this would prove…?"
"I don't know!" Selvis snapped, "I just wanted to see it for myself!" Ness sighed and held his hands up, "Alright, I'll try, but if he tries to maul me, I'm blasting him with Paralysis." He edged closer to Selvis's 'throne' and smiled at Kir, "Hey Kir! Anything interesting going on?" Kir narrowed his eyes and looked away.
"Hear anything?" Luna asked, Ness shook his head no, "Maybe I need to focus for a bit…" he muttered, picturing what Kir's inner thoughts might look like, "Ughhh… I knew this was a bad idea." Selvis grumbled.
"F-final…ly som…ething… we agree on." A haughty yet elderly voice huffed, Ness jumped and grinned, "Hey! I think I hear something!" Kir snapped his head back at Ness and narrowed his eyes, "You hear nothing you filthy mudblood!"
"Yea… I'm definitely hearing something." Ness said.
"Oh! What did he say?" Selvis asked,
"He called me a mudblood."
"Anything else?"
"Right now he's just thinking about murdering me in my sleep." Ness replied, glaring at Kir, "Geez, are all owls murderous little creeps?"
"Look whose talking." Kir retorted, "Why don't you go back to whatever barn you crawled out of and leave me alone?"
"Rude much?"
"I take that as a compliment."
"Selvis, you have got to teach Kir manners." Ness said, Ginny looked up and sniffled, "Try asking him about his life as a postal bird."
"How about I go back to taking my nap? That sounds like a better idea."
"Kir, you aren't taking a nap until you answer our questions." Ness deadpanned, Kir slumped his furry shoulders and glared at Selvis, who was looking at Ness in awe, "This is amazing!" Selvis exclaimed. Luna nodded in agreement and mused, "I wonder if we can hear Kir if we focus on him…"
Ness glanced at Kir who was ruffling his feathers, "No one. Is reading my thoughts." He declared.
"Is there any way for all of us to hear Kir's thoughts?" Ginny asked, "I don't know…" Ness admitted, "It seems to be a PSI only ability."
"Oh! Maybe if we hold hands Ness can transmit Kir's thoughts to us!" Luna suggested, Selvis snorted and jeered, "And next we'll sing Jambalaya and praising the lovely world we live in!"
"It could work though." Ness said, "Let's just try it." Selvis squirmed then grumbled, "Fine," and accepted Ness's outstretched hand as Luna grabbed his left hand while Ginny held Luna's, "Ready Kir?" Ness asked.
"No." Kir snapped, "Hey! I heard something!" Ginny said, "Goodie, now everyone can probe my private thoughts." Kir grumbled, "Oh cheer up!" Selvis snapped, "You're the one whose always stealing my quill to write bird scratch!"
"Hey! My writing isn't bird scratch!" Kir huffed, "Besides, I only do that when you're busy ignoring the help I so nicely give you."
"And by help you mean dumping scrolls all over my bed." Selvis deadpanned, "So he's a klepto bird." Ness joked, "Hey! Those scrolls are notes from students!" Kir protested, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to sneak into each common room and find the good note takers?!"
"You break into common rooms?!" Ginny exclaimed, "How and Why!?"
"So you were the one who took my glass mouse earrings." Luna mused, Kir slumped his shoulders in disbelief looking away as he grumbled, "I knew it was too good to be true."
"Back to the topic at hand Kir!" Selvis snapped, "How on earth do you get into other common rooms?"
"Simple, I wait for oblivious students to open the door and I fly in, Gryffindor's the easiest thanks to that Longbottom fellow. Or, at least it was the easiest until that dumb cat messed it up."
"Crookshanks?" Ginny questioned, "What did he do?"
"Steal a piece of parchment with all the passwords on it." Kir explained, "Longbottom always used it to keep track of the passwords that were in use."
"Why on earth would Crookshanks do that?" Ness wondered, Selvis snorted and said, "Maybe he wanted to let the rat run around for a bit."
"Or maybe he's in cahoots with someone." Luna mused, Selvis rolled his eyes and looked at Luna to say something when Kir hooted, "Probably is, since he enjoys hanging out with this giant black dog. I swear, I'm going to gouge out the owner's eyes for letting that beast roam free."
"Crookshanks is working with the grim?" Ness questioned, "Are you just going to question everything I say?" Kir retorted, "I don't know! Maybe? It could just be a fluke since I always see it out of the corner of my eye."
"You know… Crookshanks does seem different than other cats I meet." Ginny murmured, "Maybe he is working with the Grim?"
"Why on earth would a dog need a list of passwords?" Selvis questioned, "It doesn't make sense!"
"Maybe Black owns the Grim." Luna theorized, "Maybe he's trying to sneak in the proper way now that the Fat Lady's out of the way." They thought about this for a brief moment before Kir said, "Whatever the case is, it won't do you any good to mule over it, after all, how could Black find and train a dog to do his bidding?"
"And why would said dog leap out a window?" Selvis added, "No sensible animal is going to jump out a window for fun." Ness nodded in agreement while Luna gave her two cents on the matter, "Maybe the Grim can fly like a bird."
"Why, on earth do you hang around these pathetic excuse for wizards?" Kir demanded, giving Luna a glare, "I honestly wonder about that myself." Selvis muttered, earning a playful jerk from Ness, "You know you like us." Ness teased earning an irate, "I do not!" from Selvis who promptly folded his arm to prove a point and said, "Besides! I hope that Ravenclaw crushes you in tomorrows game!"
"That's not going to be likely." Ginny boasted, "Harry's got a new broom!" Luna perked up while Selvis sneered, "What? Did he get a Cleansweeper?"
"Nah, he's got something called a Firebolt." Ness recalled, "HE GOT WHAT?!" Selvis screeched letting go of his hand while Luna merely tilted her head, "Oh dear, that might cause a problem." She mumbled.
"HOW THE BLOODY HECK DID POTTER GET A FIREBOLT?!" Selvis demanded, "I dunno. He just has it." Ness said, "Now, stop screaming, it's just a broom."
"Ness, it's the latest model on the market!" Ginny exclaimed, "It's not 'just a broom' it's the broom!" Ness sighed and folded his arms, "And? It's a piece of equipment, the only cool thing about it is how a person uses it."
"Uses it?! A Firebolt isn't just a baseball bat, it's a high trimmed, quality made broom!" Selvis spluttered, "Hey! My wooden bat works just as well as any Fire-thingy and it's at least three years old!" Ness retorted.
"Honestly Ness! You can't just brush aside a Firebolt!" Ginny groaned, "I can if I don't use it." Ness argued, Selvis threw his hands up and stormed for the ladder, "Call me when Ness learns just how well a Firebolt is!" he yelled, Kir raised an eyebrow and hooted, "Looks like you better get to flying freak." Before he flew after Selvis.
"Come on, I think Harry's practicing with it right now." Ginny said, grabbing Ness by the arm and dragging him back to the main hall, "Hey wait! I am not flying on any broom!" Ness protested, "Luna help!"
But she was too busy pondering the chances of Ravenclaw losing increasing because of Harry's new broom. "It won't be that bad." Ginny insisted, Ness groaned and winched as the setting sun blinded him for a bit. "Ginny, I couldn't even survive riding an airplane without praying for my life. What makes you think I'll get on a broomstick?"
"I'll find a way." Ginny stubbornly replied, "Look! Harry's still here, Hi Harry!"
"Harry save me!" Ness yelled as Harry turned around and waved hello, "Save you from what exactly?" Harry asked, "Save me from the red head who wants me to fly on your Bolt of fire thingy!"
"Firebolt." Harry corrected then he looked at Ginny, who bluntly said, "He keeps comparing a broom to a baseball bat."
"They're pretty much the same thing Ginny." Ness deadpanned, "Only difference is that house wives can use brooms better."
"See! He's even worse off than you where you got to Hogwarts!" Ginny exclaimed, "What's going on?" Ron asked, landing beside Harry with a huge grin on his face, "Is Ginny here to take a spin on the Firebolt?"
"Err… No, she's trying to get Ness to rid it." Harry explained, biting back a smile as he angrily glared at the three wizards, "I'm not riding a flying death trap." Ness insisted, "I'll just watch you guys do it in tomorrow's game."
"In hurricane weather?" Ginny teased, earning an irritated, "Heck no! I'll be inside if another Hurricane shows up!" from Ness, "It wasn't that bad a storm." Harry said recalling the game which had destroyed his Nimbus two thousand, "Hurricane weather! It was a hurricane!" Ness snapped.
"Hold on, didn't Malfoy faint at that game?" Ron asked, Ginny stiffened as Ness shoved his hands in his pockets and said, "Probably because he was sitting outside in the hurricane." Harry frowned while Ron sniggered, "Bet he was just afraid of the Dementors, I can see him now, screaming for his mum."
Ness face palmed and looked into the Forbidden woods, jumping slightly when he saw a pair of sharp cat eyes and then the faint outline of Crookshanks, before he could look away and fake seeing anything, Ron, Harry and Ginny followed his gaze, "Is that Crookshanks?" Ginny questioned squinting her eyes to see better, "Lumos!" Harry yelled sounding fearful of something as he pointed his wand above the eyes as a beam of light revealed the murderous cat himself.
"Hey Crookshanks!" Ness yelled, Crookshakes stood up and stretched for a bit, studying them with glazed eyes, "Get out of here!" Ron roared, startling Ness and Ginny as he scooped up a rock and hurled it at the mangy cat's face, "Whoa!" Ness exclaimed, "Relax Ron! He's just being a cat!"
Ron ignored him and threw another rock prompting Crookshanks to disappear with an angry swish of his ginger tail, "See! She's just letting that beast roam whenever he wants!" Ron fumed, "Bet he was just finishing off his 'snack' of Scabbers the little—"
Ness grabbed Ginny and said, "Nice broom Harry!" and marched back up to the castle before Ron could finish his triad, "Poor Harry, he's stuck in the middle." Ginny said, "Well, at least he's on Ron's side." Ness replied, a bit shaken from Ron's sudden rage.
"Is he always like that when he's upset?"
"Depends on what he's mad at." Ginny said, "I know losing Scabbers was hard but I didn't expect him to take it out on Crookshakes like that."
Ness shrugged and turned for the common room, "He's grieving, very loudly but still grieving we just need to give him some space."
Ginny raised an eyebrow and folded her arms, "Since when did you become so wise?"
"I'm not, I just think Ron needs time to calm down and move on." Ness admitted, "I mean, if King was murdered I would want to be alone for a bit to sort out my feelings."
"I suppose so…" Ginny murmured, "Oh! How are you doing on Professor Kale's report?"
"Finished it, you?"
"Stumped, I forgot one of Neptune's moons."
"So you've come to the all-knowing Ness for help." Ness teased earning an eye roll and a retort of, "For someone all knowing, you don't know the difference between a bat or a broom."
Ness threw his hands up and said the latest password before he boasted, "In the morning, you'll be amazed at how knowledgeable I am with Qudditch!"
"Surreeeee." Ginny teased before she went to work on her homework, Ness shrugged and headed for his room to get some sleep, he had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be uber busy.
And it was, he woke early the next day just in time to see Harry with an honor guard march downstairs to breakfast with the other Qudditch players, "Thank god humans don't worship sports equipment." Ness mumbled as he crawled out of bed and got dressed, arriving at breakfast just in time to see Selvis and some other Slytherins gawk at Harry's broom with envy and surprise, their Qudditch team looked thunderstruck as Harry sat down and 'accidental' placed the broom's name in eye range of their table.
"Ron's having a good time so far." Ginny said, smothering a piece of toast with some blueberry jam, "He hasn't been able to keep a straight face ever since Malfoy saw Harry's broom." Ness scooped some eggs onto his plate and glanced at Selvis who sending Ness a look 'This can't be real'
Ness shrugged then resumed placing food on his plate, he frowned when Wood placed Harry's broom in the middle of the table with a proud look on his face, "Really?" Ness muttered as people from other tables, mostly Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw suddenly swarmed their table, hoping to get a glimpse of the Firebolt.
Selvis and Luna joined the group as well, Selvis to jab Ness and Ginny in the ribs and to see that it truly was a Firebolt, while Luna came so she could muse "Hmmm…" before returning to her table. "All this attention, for a broom." Ness said, not believing the crowd of people that were around them, Ginny just sighed and resumed eating her breakfast, Ness did the same after watching one of her older brothers, Percy and his girlfriend examine the broom.
"At least the weather's nice." Ness said, trying to keep his spirits up as he and Ginny headed to the stadium, "Really? I thought this was hurricane weather." Ginny teased.
Ness rolled his eyes and studied the clear winter sky, "Nah, it's hockey season weather."
"What's 'hockey'?"
"Never mind." Ness groaned as they climbed the stairs and found a bench near the top of the bleachers, "Is hockey like baseball?" Ginny questioned, prompting Ness to say "Look! Game's starting!"
"Already?" Ginny faced forward and cheered as Harry flew around the field, searching for the snitch while his teammates scored points. Ness quickly lost interest since there was just so much going on! Even more so than regular sports! Which was saying something since you had to be alert and wide awake if you didn't want to get beaned in the head by a stray home run ball.
Feeling a headache coming on, Ness deiced to listen to the announcer, Lee Jordon, one of the twins' friends. He was praising the Firebolt saying how it was going to be the champion broom for national teams at the Qudditch world cup when Professor McGonagal interrupted, saying, "Jordan, would you focus on the game instead of Potter's broom?"
"Of course! Just wanted to give a little background on the broom Professor."
"More like worship it." Ness thought as Jordan continued talking about the broom, earning a sharp, "Jordan!" from Professor McGonagall prompting him to talk about the game as the Gryffindor crowd gave an "Ooooooooh" of disappointed as Harry missed the snitch thanks to a bludger. "Gryffindor's leading by eight points to Ravenclaw's zero—just look at that Firebolt go! Potter's really putting its through its pacing now, now see it turn—Chang's Comet is just no match for it-."
"ARE YOU BEING PAYED TO ADVERTISE THE FIREBOLT JORDAN?! GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"
"Poor McGonagal." Ginny mumbled as she watched the game with interest. "This is awesome!" Ness laughed, "Jordan's the best sports announcer ever!" more interested in watching the announcer's booth to see what Jordan was doing than the game.
"Ravenclaw's lagging behind with only three goals scored but Chang seems to be making up for that, chasing after Harry in hopes of catching the Snitch to get ahead of Gryffindor's fifty-point lead." Jordan said, "Oh! Looks like the game's about to end! Potter's zooming toward the Ravenclaw end in hot pursuit of the Snitch and—What's this?!"
Ness looked back at the field and felt his heart sink as three Dementors glided onto the field looking right at Harry, "Jokes on you creeps though." Ness muttered, "Rockin' Omega!" at the same moment Harry wiped out his wand and roared, "Expecto patronum!" sending a sliver white figure toward the monsters before he resumed chasing after the Snitch.
The mental and physical attack made the monsters crumble like pieces of paper, only able to grab their heads in pain as Harry flew over them, unaffected, "In. Your. Face." Ness thought with a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Harry got the snitch!" Ginny yelled, "We won!" her voice being drowned out by the triumphant cheers and roars from their section of the stands as Harry held the Snitch up in the air with a huge grin, which got even bigger as his team air tackled him in a hug of victory.
For a moment, it looked like they were about to tumble out of the sky as they clumsily landed to be greeted by fans and friends, "That was amazing Harry!" Ness lied giving him a high five before Ron grabbed Harry's free arm and held it up in the air, "YES! YES! YES!" Ron yelled. Ness laughed and ducked out of the crowd as more people came closer to shower him with praise. Even the teachers were pleased!
Ness nearly made his way out of the crowd when someone grabbed his arm, Ness jumped and looked up as he was dragged back into the crowd and behind Harry, "Professor Lupin…?" Ness muttered as he leaned forward and whisper something in his ear, he briefly, "They uh… weren't Dementors." Causing Ness to stand up straight and look at where the Dementors were.
He paled when he saw Malfoy, his two goons, and the Slytherin team captain looking up at the furious Professor McGonagal with pained, drunk expressions, "Crud." Was all Ness could think as he remembered just how much damage Rockin' Omega could do, 320-960 damage to be exact.
"Life up Omega." Ness mentally commanded. Feeling a slight pang of guilt at his actions, sure, they had been trying to cheat by scaring Harry, but they didn't deserve to have their minds shattered into glass for that. With that gloomy thought in mind he sneaked back to the Gryffindor common room to crawl into bed and think for a bit
"Man… When did school become so morally challenging?" Ness muttered as he heard footsteps storm into the common room and wild cheers of celebration. This entire second semester he had spent trying to figure out if Black was a good guy, and now he had to worry about possible pranks that could actually hurt Harry.
"I should dial back on the Omega…" Ness decided, suddenly feeling tired, "And get some sleep…" he yawned pulling his cover or his head for a quick nap.
When he woke up, it was pitch black and the stars were shining, "Man… I must have slept through the party." Ness grumbled feeling weird and oddly full of energy. He stood up and headed downstairs to see if anyone else was awake, they weren't, they were out like lights.
"Huh… nearly four in the morning." Ness noted, glancing at an old grandfather clock that had been shoved in the far corner of the common room, "Oh well, might as well get in some extra-," he cut off when he saw figure in black dart out of the third year's dormitory followed by a loud scream.
"Black." Ness realized as the figure flew out of the common room and into the hallway, but did that mean that Harry was dead? Was that his scream of terror? Ness shook his head and took a running start, "Teleport!" Ness thought picturing himself on the hallway exit and hopefully, in front of Black.
He heard a strangled gasp of surprise and blindly lunged forward, tackling the serial killer, "Gotcha now!" Ness said, careful to keep his voice low and even, "Let go of me!" Black wheezed, spinning and a circle and kicking him down a flight of stairs, Ness yelped in surprised as he tumbled backward and slammed into a wall. "Oww…" Ness groaned as his head spun, "Thanks for that, I broke a rib."
"Stay out of my way." Black ordered, Ness coughed and pushed himself onto his stomach, using Life up alpha to heal the broken rib, "Not so fast, why are you doing this?!" Ness demanded jumping to his feet and glaring at the back of Black's robe as he sprinted past him.
"Darn it…" he muttered before he chased after him. Black was nearly at a classroom when Ness finally used Paralysis Alpha on him, freezing him mid-stride, "Why… didn't… I… do this… in the first place." Ness panted skidding to a stop so he could catch his breath. He glanced up at Black and said, "Don't bother struggling, you're stuck like a rock until I free you."
Black grunted and angrily watched as Ness dragged him into the classroom, positioning him behind an army of desks so he couldn't easily escape once he unfroze him.
"Now then," Ness started, a little unsure what he should do with the serial killer, "I can either A: hand you over to the walking freezers or, B: You tell me what you're after."
"Why… should… I… Tell.. you?" Black grunted, "Because, I don't think you switched sides to murder James." Ness continued, "It just… doesn't make sense, why murder a person—no, people and then get put in jail when you know that your best friend's son is alive. It just…"
Ness broke off and pinched the adjusted his hat, while Black gave a mirthless chuckle, "Yea, yea, I'm crazy." Ness grumbled, "I just don't think you're a bad person."
"Why?"
"My dad used to say that every action has a reason, and you… You just don't seem to have a sensible reason." Ness said, "As I said before, you wasted your life in jail and now decide to come after Harry despite knowing that he was a wizard and going to be sent to Hogwarts from the start." He looked up at Black and folded his arms, "So what gives? Why strike now? Is there someone else your gunning for?"
Black said nothing for a long moment before Ness sighed and threw his hands up, "Great, Selvis was right and I'm insane." He glanced at Black once more and against his better judgement, used Healing Alpha on Black, Black gasped in surprise and tumble forward as Ness headed for the door, "What? Black spluttered, "You're just, going to let me go?"
Ness hesitated and gave Black a calm look, "Well… You haven't exactly hurt anyone… And as I said before… I don't think you're a bad person." He faced forward and started to head back to the common room, "Wait." Ness paused and looked behind him, "I'm not after Harry. I'm after someone else." Black started, his cold empty eyes full of vengeful fire, "The real killer of Lily and James Potter" Ness stiffened as Black finished with a snarl, "Peter Petigrew."
Dun dun dun!...Darn it... I had nothing to follow up that Dun-dun-dun... oh well! Once again have a happy Thanksgiving!
