CHAPTER SEVEN! And, introducing: Devoid! my new beta! *applause* Who did an
excellent job with finding mistakes in this chapter I might add. And also a big thank
you to people who offered to do it. I emailed most of ya (the ones who'd offered when
I was writing it) and Devoid replied first. Not that I hate ya or anythin! Well, I'll shut
up now. Read on!
____________________________________________________________________
Ron passed George a cup of steaming tea, trying to hide his amusement. His
brother, George, the funny, smart, great Quidditch player, had fainted. And
all it had taken was one look at Sirius. Mind that Fred didn't look too good
either. He had gone paler than his twin, and it was all the pair of them
could do to nod dumbly at what Harry was saying.
Sirius was skulking in a corner, trying to look inconspicuous and harmless.
He was also trying to think of some way to get out of this mess. He
shouldn't have needed any more of the potion until after dinner, and had left
the little green phial locked in his trunk in Gryffindor Tower. He could see
two options: somehow either get up there himself, or send Harry or Ron. But
he couldn't send them. What if they got caught? They would all get
detention, face possible banning from all future Hogsmeade visits . . . Not
to mention loss of House points. On the other hand, how could he get into
the dormitory? A big black dog wasn't exactly a regular occurrence in the
castle. But they did have James' old Invisibility Cloak . . .
"I suppose our current problem is how to get Sirius back up to the
castle." Said Harry, almost voicing Sirius' exact thoughts. The twins nodded in
agreement. George gulped his tea down, some colour returning to his cheeks.
"Harry." He said perfectly seriously, "Did you bring the
Marauder's Map?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Course I did!" He rummaged in the pockets of
his robes, finally bringing out an old and battered piece of parchment. The
Marauder's Map, wiped clean of course.
Fred took it from Harry, holding it almost reverently. He looked over his
shoulder at Sirius, who was still in his corner.
"You do know how to work this, don't you?" He asked, indicating the
Map.
Sirius chuckled softly, stepping forward, wand drawn. He tapped it on the
parchment, said, "I solemnly swear I am up to know good," and grinned
toothily at the twins. "Padfoot, at your service."
That statement had the desired effect. Almost in unison, the twins' mouths
dropped open, eyes widened, looking both impressed and confused.
Sirius, rather melodramatically, bowed, a grin lighting up his thin face.
It was Fred that cracked up first, laughing and clapping his brother on the
back. "We. Tricked. Padfoot!" He managed to gasp out, grabbing
George's hand and shaking it.
Sirius looked less than amused. He snatched the Map and inspected it
carefully, trying to ignore Fred and George's hearty congratulations of each
other. Ron patted Sirius' arm with what might have been pity, if he hadn't
dissolved into laughs at one look at Sirius' bemused expression.
At last, the Weasleys managed to get over this new development and they got
down to business. The plan was this: the three of them would emerge from the
witch's statue under the Invisibility Cloak, Sirius in dog form. Then Ron
would open the portrait hole for them, creating a distraction for Harry and
Sirius to slip up into the dormitory to retrieve the potion.
No problem.
***
"I told you it was a bad idea!" Hermione scolded in a hushed voice.
She
glared at each one of them in turn, her angry gaze resting on Sirius who was
sitting, pale-faced, as close to the fire as he could get. The process of
Age-reversal had left him rather weak at the knees.
Hermione opened her mouth probably to comment that it was his fault for
proposing such a childish idea when Ron spoke up.
"Well, what were *you* doing?" He inquired, quite forcefully. He
stopped
staring into the dancing flames of the fireplace to look at her.
"That's none of your business!" She snapped back, a pink tinge
appearing in
her cheeks.
***
Spirits were high the next morning at breakfast. For starters, it was
Christmas Eve, and that meant the ball was that evening, but also it had
snowed heavily the night before. A small brag from Sirius' about how good at
'snowball warfare' he was earned him, Harry and Ron a challenge from Seamus,
Dean and Neville.
And so, full of delicious breakfast, the six of them headed down towards the
white-blanketed grounds, both sides devising intricate plans of attack.
Harry was just voicing an excellent plan involving Sirius sneaking behind
their 'base' in dog form via the Forbidden Forest and pelting them from
behind when a large screech owl dropped a letter on Sirius' head.
Sirius picked it up off the snowy ground, his mittened fingers fumbling with
the envelope. He thrust the offending gloves at his godson and ripped into
it.
"What is it?" Ron asked, watching over his shoulder.
"Dumbledore." Sirius groaned, scanning the familiar loopy
handwriting. "He wants me to meet him in his office. He says he has something to tell me."
"I wonder what?" Harry mused, before Ron exploded.
"You can't leave now! The snowball fight!" He ranted on further
before
Sirius interrupted, not sounding very happy.
"The letter says now. Sorry guys."
Harry shrugged. "No big deal."
"NO BIG DEAL?!"
"Shut up Ron."
***
Sirius told the statue the password and watched it jump out of the way with
increasing nervousness. He hoped this visit to the Headmaster's office had
nothing to do with what McGonagall had said about the pranks.
He waited politely outside the closed door, his nervousness turning into
frustration. He was unaware that he was tapping his foot with impatience.
If Dumbledore was going to tell him off, he better hurry up about it.
He could hear muffled voices coming from the room, one defiantly belonging to
the Headmaster, the other... He had no idea.
Giving up the wait, he rapped his knuckles on the polished wood. He could
almost hear the scrape of a chair, and then a slight creak as the heavy door
opened. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore appeared, and he stepped back,
ushering the 'teenager' inside.
"Ah, Sirius. We were just talking about you." Dumbledore's blue eyes
sparkled. "I asked you to come up here so you could meet our new Defense
Against the Dark Arts teacher."
But Sirius didn't hear a word of this little speech. He was too busy staring
at the all-too-familiar figure, sitting hunched over a mug of coffee.
"You must remember her," Dumbledore continued, watching them both
carefully. "This is Professor Tenebres."
Professor Tenebres stood up, putting her coffee down on Dumbledore's desk.
"Hello Sirius." She said, her voice a little shaky.
"Hey." Was all Sirius could manage. His heart was threatening to
either jump out of his mouth, or make its own exit through his chest. He tried to
think of something interesting to say, but his shocked mind failed him.
Dumbledore waved him into a chair, sitting down himself.
"W-what are you doing here?" Sirius stammered, collapsing into the
offered chair.
Seraphina took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Albus sent me a letter
confirming your situation." She said stiffly, almost formally. "He
happened to mention his own problems with finding a Defense Against the Dark Arts
teacher, and your plan for the coming year." She began to pace restlessly.
"I had some things to clear up at home before I --"
Sirius leapt to his feet, wrapping his arms around her, screwing his eyes
shut to keep tears back.
"God it's good to see you."
Seraphina stiffened in his grasp, then forced herself to relax, saying
nothing.
Dumbledore stood up, smiling happily. "I have some work to do, so I will
just leave you two to talk for a while, shall I?"
No response.
"Good-bye then."
Still no response.
Dumbledore chuckled smugly to himself, and left as quietly as possible.
How long they stood there, neither had any idea. Finally, Seraphina
disentangled herself and turned her back on him, picking up her cloak which
was draped over the back of the chair she had been sitting on.
"I have to go... Lots of unpacking to do..." She said quickly,
throwing the cloak around her shoulders. Sirius noticed her hands were shaking as she
fumbled with the silver clasp. He smiled crookedly.
"I understand. See you later then, Sera?"
She nodded slightly, walking hurriedly towards the door. Before leaving, she
hesitated, turning her head to the side a little.
"It's good to see you again." Her voice was barely more than a
whisper.
And then she was gone.
***
Sirius walked outside in a daze. He wasn't aware of the stupid grin he was
wearing until his amused godson called him on it.
"What're you looking so happy about?" Harry asked from behind the
'fort' he and Ron had constructed out of snow. "What did Dumbledore tell you?"
"Hm? What?"
It was that moment that the 'enemy' noticed Sirius approaching.
SMACK.
An icy-cold snowball hit him in the face, immediately snapping him out of his
thoughts and into the real world.
"Who threw that?!" He demanded, glaring around. It was a miracle the
snow didn't melt under that ferocious gaze.
Seamus laughed, waving at him.
"Right." Sirius wiped the snow from his face and bent down, picking
up a
large handful of snow.
Seamus scampered.
________________________________________________________________
Hope you like! I was gonna have this up last week, but I was suffering from 1000
word essay-itis. *gag*
Reviews are very very very VERY welcome. In fact... I NEED THEM TO LIVE!
And anything to do with Harry Potter isn't mine. I've only temporarily stolen it, and
it must be returned.
excellent job with finding mistakes in this chapter I might add. And also a big thank
you to people who offered to do it. I emailed most of ya (the ones who'd offered when
I was writing it) and Devoid replied first. Not that I hate ya or anythin! Well, I'll shut
up now. Read on!
____________________________________________________________________
Ron passed George a cup of steaming tea, trying to hide his amusement. His
brother, George, the funny, smart, great Quidditch player, had fainted. And
all it had taken was one look at Sirius. Mind that Fred didn't look too good
either. He had gone paler than his twin, and it was all the pair of them
could do to nod dumbly at what Harry was saying.
Sirius was skulking in a corner, trying to look inconspicuous and harmless.
He was also trying to think of some way to get out of this mess. He
shouldn't have needed any more of the potion until after dinner, and had left
the little green phial locked in his trunk in Gryffindor Tower. He could see
two options: somehow either get up there himself, or send Harry or Ron. But
he couldn't send them. What if they got caught? They would all get
detention, face possible banning from all future Hogsmeade visits . . . Not
to mention loss of House points. On the other hand, how could he get into
the dormitory? A big black dog wasn't exactly a regular occurrence in the
castle. But they did have James' old Invisibility Cloak . . .
"I suppose our current problem is how to get Sirius back up to the
castle." Said Harry, almost voicing Sirius' exact thoughts. The twins nodded in
agreement. George gulped his tea down, some colour returning to his cheeks.
"Harry." He said perfectly seriously, "Did you bring the
Marauder's Map?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Course I did!" He rummaged in the pockets of
his robes, finally bringing out an old and battered piece of parchment. The
Marauder's Map, wiped clean of course.
Fred took it from Harry, holding it almost reverently. He looked over his
shoulder at Sirius, who was still in his corner.
"You do know how to work this, don't you?" He asked, indicating the
Map.
Sirius chuckled softly, stepping forward, wand drawn. He tapped it on the
parchment, said, "I solemnly swear I am up to know good," and grinned
toothily at the twins. "Padfoot, at your service."
That statement had the desired effect. Almost in unison, the twins' mouths
dropped open, eyes widened, looking both impressed and confused.
Sirius, rather melodramatically, bowed, a grin lighting up his thin face.
It was Fred that cracked up first, laughing and clapping his brother on the
back. "We. Tricked. Padfoot!" He managed to gasp out, grabbing
George's hand and shaking it.
Sirius looked less than amused. He snatched the Map and inspected it
carefully, trying to ignore Fred and George's hearty congratulations of each
other. Ron patted Sirius' arm with what might have been pity, if he hadn't
dissolved into laughs at one look at Sirius' bemused expression.
At last, the Weasleys managed to get over this new development and they got
down to business. The plan was this: the three of them would emerge from the
witch's statue under the Invisibility Cloak, Sirius in dog form. Then Ron
would open the portrait hole for them, creating a distraction for Harry and
Sirius to slip up into the dormitory to retrieve the potion.
No problem.
***
"I told you it was a bad idea!" Hermione scolded in a hushed voice.
She
glared at each one of them in turn, her angry gaze resting on Sirius who was
sitting, pale-faced, as close to the fire as he could get. The process of
Age-reversal had left him rather weak at the knees.
Hermione opened her mouth probably to comment that it was his fault for
proposing such a childish idea when Ron spoke up.
"Well, what were *you* doing?" He inquired, quite forcefully. He
stopped
staring into the dancing flames of the fireplace to look at her.
"That's none of your business!" She snapped back, a pink tinge
appearing in
her cheeks.
***
Spirits were high the next morning at breakfast. For starters, it was
Christmas Eve, and that meant the ball was that evening, but also it had
snowed heavily the night before. A small brag from Sirius' about how good at
'snowball warfare' he was earned him, Harry and Ron a challenge from Seamus,
Dean and Neville.
And so, full of delicious breakfast, the six of them headed down towards the
white-blanketed grounds, both sides devising intricate plans of attack.
Harry was just voicing an excellent plan involving Sirius sneaking behind
their 'base' in dog form via the Forbidden Forest and pelting them from
behind when a large screech owl dropped a letter on Sirius' head.
Sirius picked it up off the snowy ground, his mittened fingers fumbling with
the envelope. He thrust the offending gloves at his godson and ripped into
it.
"What is it?" Ron asked, watching over his shoulder.
"Dumbledore." Sirius groaned, scanning the familiar loopy
handwriting. "He wants me to meet him in his office. He says he has something to tell me."
"I wonder what?" Harry mused, before Ron exploded.
"You can't leave now! The snowball fight!" He ranted on further
before
Sirius interrupted, not sounding very happy.
"The letter says now. Sorry guys."
Harry shrugged. "No big deal."
"NO BIG DEAL?!"
"Shut up Ron."
***
Sirius told the statue the password and watched it jump out of the way with
increasing nervousness. He hoped this visit to the Headmaster's office had
nothing to do with what McGonagall had said about the pranks.
He waited politely outside the closed door, his nervousness turning into
frustration. He was unaware that he was tapping his foot with impatience.
If Dumbledore was going to tell him off, he better hurry up about it.
He could hear muffled voices coming from the room, one defiantly belonging to
the Headmaster, the other... He had no idea.
Giving up the wait, he rapped his knuckles on the polished wood. He could
almost hear the scrape of a chair, and then a slight creak as the heavy door
opened. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore appeared, and he stepped back,
ushering the 'teenager' inside.
"Ah, Sirius. We were just talking about you." Dumbledore's blue eyes
sparkled. "I asked you to come up here so you could meet our new Defense
Against the Dark Arts teacher."
But Sirius didn't hear a word of this little speech. He was too busy staring
at the all-too-familiar figure, sitting hunched over a mug of coffee.
"You must remember her," Dumbledore continued, watching them both
carefully. "This is Professor Tenebres."
Professor Tenebres stood up, putting her coffee down on Dumbledore's desk.
"Hello Sirius." She said, her voice a little shaky.
"Hey." Was all Sirius could manage. His heart was threatening to
either jump out of his mouth, or make its own exit through his chest. He tried to
think of something interesting to say, but his shocked mind failed him.
Dumbledore waved him into a chair, sitting down himself.
"W-what are you doing here?" Sirius stammered, collapsing into the
offered chair.
Seraphina took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Albus sent me a letter
confirming your situation." She said stiffly, almost formally. "He
happened to mention his own problems with finding a Defense Against the Dark Arts
teacher, and your plan for the coming year." She began to pace restlessly.
"I had some things to clear up at home before I --"
Sirius leapt to his feet, wrapping his arms around her, screwing his eyes
shut to keep tears back.
"God it's good to see you."
Seraphina stiffened in his grasp, then forced herself to relax, saying
nothing.
Dumbledore stood up, smiling happily. "I have some work to do, so I will
just leave you two to talk for a while, shall I?"
No response.
"Good-bye then."
Still no response.
Dumbledore chuckled smugly to himself, and left as quietly as possible.
How long they stood there, neither had any idea. Finally, Seraphina
disentangled herself and turned her back on him, picking up her cloak which
was draped over the back of the chair she had been sitting on.
"I have to go... Lots of unpacking to do..." She said quickly,
throwing the cloak around her shoulders. Sirius noticed her hands were shaking as she
fumbled with the silver clasp. He smiled crookedly.
"I understand. See you later then, Sera?"
She nodded slightly, walking hurriedly towards the door. Before leaving, she
hesitated, turning her head to the side a little.
"It's good to see you again." Her voice was barely more than a
whisper.
And then she was gone.
***
Sirius walked outside in a daze. He wasn't aware of the stupid grin he was
wearing until his amused godson called him on it.
"What're you looking so happy about?" Harry asked from behind the
'fort' he and Ron had constructed out of snow. "What did Dumbledore tell you?"
"Hm? What?"
It was that moment that the 'enemy' noticed Sirius approaching.
SMACK.
An icy-cold snowball hit him in the face, immediately snapping him out of his
thoughts and into the real world.
"Who threw that?!" He demanded, glaring around. It was a miracle the
snow didn't melt under that ferocious gaze.
Seamus laughed, waving at him.
"Right." Sirius wiped the snow from his face and bent down, picking
up a
large handful of snow.
Seamus scampered.
________________________________________________________________
Hope you like! I was gonna have this up last week, but I was suffering from 1000
word essay-itis. *gag*
Reviews are very very very VERY welcome. In fact... I NEED THEM TO LIVE!
And anything to do with Harry Potter isn't mine. I've only temporarily stolen it, and
it must be returned.