Her voice was too loud and the four boys in front peered back curiously. Remus, already looking a bit ill from earlier in the night, turned pale. Sirius himself froze, but just as quickly relaxed, giving her a sweet smile and squeezing her shoulder gently.
"I've been called a bit of a scoundrel before, but that's a new one—"
"Don't lie," she said, closing her eyes. "Please, not tonight."
"Sirius?" James sounded rather serious himself as he called back.
"What is going on?" Ben sounded tired.
Hallie hesitated, looking between Ben and Sirius before slipping out from under Sirius' arm.
"I need to talk to him alone," she said to Ben in a low voice. He groaned.
"Now? Seriously?"
"It's not what you think. I just need some answers from him and I can't do that with everyone around."
"Are you sure you'll be ok alone with him?" Ben cast a dubious glance to Sirius. "I can hang back if you want."
Hallie shook her head. He had done enough tonight. Besides, she trusted Sirius.
"Go get some sleep. I'll catch you up on the details tomorrow." She nudged him.
"If you say so." He stifled a yawn and after a quick hug to Hallie turned to leave.
The rest of the Marauders didn't move, looking conflicted.
"Guys." Sirius nodded at them. "It's fine, we'll be right behind you. Make sure Reynolds gets back without passing out in the hallways, eh?"
They gave him hesitant nods and her concerned eyebrow raises, but the Marauders left with Ben. Hallie waited until they were out of sight before turning back to Sirius, who simply gave her a tired half-smile.
"Walk and talk?" He gestured ahead of them and she automatically fell in step next to him.
"I promise I won't ask any questions tonight. I just need to know what you are."
He gave her a wry look. "What do you think I am, Ravenclaw?"
"My first thought was Animagus."
"But?"
"Grown wizards can't even become Animagi and you're only 16."
"Such little faith in me." He shook his head in mock hurt. Hallie stared at his profile while they continued walking.
"So you are one?" Honestly, she hadn't been sure he'd tell her.
"Yeah, I'm an Animagus." His eyes carefully read her face for her reaction.
"At 16?" she double checked. She shouldn't have been surprised; it was her first guess after all, but it just seemed so impossible. But Sirius Black was clearly someone who enjoyed defying the odds.
"Yep."
"How?"
"I thought you weren't going to ask any more questions?" His voice seemed more amused than annoyed, she noted with relief.
"Sorry."
"Don't be." Hallie looked up at him and he smiled back. "It's kind of nice that you know, honestly. I was beginning to think I might have to tell you myself."
Hallie gave him a hesitant smile. "So… how'd you do it?"
"We—I did the process over the summer. Took me until November to actually transform though."
Hallie didn't miss his slip up of 'we,' but figured she shouldn't push her luck tonight.
"November," she repeated. "It took you four months to become an Animagus." Her textbooks had said it took the average wizard over a year, if they even transformed at all.
"Closer to five." He shrugged his shoulders humbly. Hallie let out a snort and he laughed loudly.
"Now, time for my questions." Sirius had a dangerous glint in his eye. "When'd you first find out?"
"Three weeks ago." Two weeks, three days, 4 hours to be precise. Hallie had started categorizing her life into BD (Before Dog) and AD (After Dog), given how seeing Sirius transform was a monumental mindfuck. "I was trying to find you the Wednesday after we were at Hogsmeade so I figured I'd catch you outside on your supposed run. And, well, I caught you."
"For what it's worth, I was technically running," he pointed out. "I never lied to you about that. It's just more fun to run as Padfoot, and to get a break from being me."
Hallie nodded slowly. That was… fair enough.
"So what did you want to tell me?"
"What?"
"What did you want to tell me so badly that you were desperately searching for me after Hogsmeade?" He had the same expression on his face from right before they went into the Hufflepuff common room. A mixture of arrogance, eagerness, and some anticipation—though Hallie had no idea what he was anticipating.
"I wasn't desperately searching—oh, stop it." Sirius' face was entirely too smug. "It was just some funny thing that happened with Garrett. It was dumb."
Hallie shook her head. She could barely remember why she went after Sirius that night. With everything that had happened just after, especially in the past few hours, laughing over some gaffe from her patrol partner seemed so juvenile.
"Not dumb, Ravenclaw," he said quietly. Hallie tried not to stare too obviously at his pensive expression, but he caught her eye anyway and ruffled her hair with a wink. They slowed their pace as the Ravenclaw doors came into sight. "Get some sleep. And don't worry too much about Asha. She's a tough one, and Pomfrey'll have her sorted out in no time."
The morning after any night out was usually spent with Hallie and her friends in bed for as long as possible, followed by an inevitable migration to the bathroom to throw up or take a cold shower. They would then lay on the bathroom floor for a while being too exhausted to drag themselves back to bed.
This morning was no exception, other than the glaringly empty space where Asha should have been and the extra acts of kindness from her other roommates.
Emilia, though equally hungover, made sure to drag herself out of bed to bring up some pastries for her and Ben, who was also holed up in her dorm. Lola handed Hallie several loose pages of parchment with drawings she had done of various flowers and plants around Hogwarts grounds that were Hallie's favorite. Even Elena, usually content to ignore them, had tossed a hangover potion her way with a nod.
By afternoon, Hallie had managed to drag herself out to sit in front of one of the fireplaces in Ravenclaw's common room, her mind blank as her friends around her did their homework (with the exception of Ben, who was in a similarly slumped position next to her on the couch). Pomfrey hadn't let them visit Asha, and though she assured them she was doing well, Hallie was anxious to visit her. Lola would pass her small trinkets like pressed flowers and small doodles in ripped off corners of her parchment and Emilia would look up to give them kind assurances, but they weren't working to distract her.
Ravenclaw was humming with small conversations, nothing too loud, but Hallie's ears were tuned into the one at the table behind her.
"Can you believe another fifth year was sent to the hospital over those potions?"
Ben tensed next to her.
Someone snorted. "So fucking dumb. It wasn't even for an OWL, just an essay."
"Ignore them," Emilia whispered urgently.
"Honestly, I heard she lost it over Astronomy," the voice behind them scoffed. "If she can't even handle that—"
"Shut up." The common room fell near silent. Ben and Elena, who was in the chair next to them though she hadn't joined their group, looked at her in surprise, Emilia in sheer terror. Lola on the other hand simply gave her a peaceful smile.
"What did you say?" Andrew Jacobi, the sixth year whom she had spoken to, sounded amused that a measly fifth year would stand up to him, even if, Hallie thought with rising anger, she was a prefect. She didn't dare turn to see his face though, and kept her eyes trained on the fire in front of her.
"I said, shut the fuck up." She spoke slowly, making sure to enunciate every word so her voice wouldn't shake. Emilia dropped her head in her hands.
"Or what?"
"30 points from Ravenclaw." The quiet laughter of the upperclassmen finally stopped.
"Excuse me?" The amused tone had changed to something more disbelieving.
"You heard me. Continue to mock students or disrespect a prefect again and it'll be a detention."
"You little bitch—" A heavy hand grabbed her shoulder painfully and Hallie squeezed her eyes shut.
"Electrum!" Hallie opened her eyes to see Elena brandishing her wand as Andrew swore from the Stinging Hex she had sent his way. "Touch her again and see what happens. After all, you've been the one telling us to practice for the Defense OWL," Elena said coolly.
"Stupefy!" shrieked Charlotte Mueller, who had been sitting with Andrew and the other sixth years. This time, Ben countered with a Bat Bogey Hex. Hallie remained slack-jawed on the couch as the common room exploded, becoming a battlefield between the sixth years and everyone else. The seventh years were too over it to get involved, and while it was mostly the fifth years fighting back, there were some younger students who joined them. Lola and Emilia teamed up against Destiny Simmond, and Hallie saw a second year student gleefully chuck a textbook at Andrew's head.
"Hallie, move." Ben shoved her head down as a spell flew past them, and they hunkered behind the couch. Feathers suddenly surrounded from a spell exploding the couch cushions and Hallie began to regret not taking a more diplomatic approach, when the common room door blasted open with a deafening bang.
Professor Dumbledore stepped through the smoke, flanked by Flitwick and McGonagall, who both wore dumbfounded expressions as they stared at the destruction surrounding them.
"Now, what's happened here?" Dumbledore said, peering over his half-moon spectacles.
"Seven students in the Hospital Wing. Mr. Jacobi in particular appears to have been hit with a combination of five different spells placing him there for a week at least." Professor Flitwick gave her a disappointed look. Unsure what she was supposed to say, Hallie responded with a halfhearted nod of acknowledgement, not finding it in her to pretend to be remorseful. It wasn't her fault everyone decided to target Andrew at once.
"The charm work on that was rather complex actually; how the Jelly Legs Jinx and the Dancing Feet Spell worked together to dissolve all the muscles in his legs is remarkable…" Flitwick mused and Hallie raised an eyebrow. Catching her eye, he straightened up again, apparently remembering she was actually there to be punished and not applauded for her spellwork. He heaved a weary sigh. "I'm sure you can imagine that I'm wondering where this sudden display of leadership came from. I've been waiting for it all year."
Hallie again nodded along, her head bowed until his words registered. "Er, Professor?"
Though he was known as a mild-mannered man, Flitwick's eyes were sharp when he addressed her, though not unkind.
"Do you know why I recommended you as the prefect for your House, Ms. Jameson?"
Hallie had come up with a few guesses with Ben and Asha earlier in the year, none of which were very flattering towards her Housemates.
Elena was too much of a bitch and would have abused the power; Emilia was too nice to everyone and wouldn't have taken any points off; Lola already ran as a lone wolf so she wouldn't bother with a leadership position; and Asha was easily stressed out by their current coursework to handle additional responsibilities.
Hallie figured she was kind of the last man standing rather than an actual number one pick.
Flitwick leaned forward. "I chose you because I see a leader in you that I don't think you see in yourself. You thrive in familiar situations, like my classroom, where you are comfortable taking the lead. Yet in a subject you have less experience with like Potions, you fall back despite being a good student in that area as well."
Obviously. She wasn't a fucking Gryffindor for a reason.
"I had hoped that by pushing you in more unfamiliar situations that required your leadership, you would be more confident in yourself and abilities."
What? She was confident in herself! She was just reasonable about her strengths and weaknesses. Nothing wrong with that. Hallie began to feel some hints of irritation towards Flitwick.
"You are the person in your year whom I had hoped would be willing to address our House's less admirable traits, yet I found myself disappointed by the lack of initiative, or even minimum effort, you gave to this position," he continued. Hallie shrank down in her seat, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. "While we as professors do our best to control the other students, we cannot be everywhere, especially the dormitories. I recognize that it is difficult to go against your peers, especially the older students. But your classmates respect you and you know the right thing to do. The question remained, were you willing to do what it takes to finally enact the change needed?"
He paused. Hallie fidgeted in her seat, wishing he could end the drama and just put her out of her misery.
"It's clear to me that you've proven you are worthy of the prefect badge and the true Ravenclaw name. Unequivocally." Flitwick gave a gentle smile. Hallie blinked rapidly, trying not to shed the tears that unexpectedly formed.
"So… you're proud of me?" She could hardly believe it as she said it.
"Immensely, Ms. Jameson. And as soon as Ms. Chaudhary hears of your actions, I'm sure she'll be proud to have such a true friend in you. Though I do still have to give you detention, of course," he added hastily.
"Of course," she repeated dryly.
"Back to your dorm now. I don't expect you'll have much trouble with any students after that charm work you displayed with the Furnunculus spell." His eyes twinkled in amusement.
"Right," she said, relieved beyond belief and feeling a sudden rush of fondness for the older wizard. "Thanks, Professor. Really."