(A/N: Hey! Here is what is going to happen. I'm not going to upload for a
little bit after this chapter to tie up all of the loose ends of my two
other ongoing fics. I'm horrible with finishing things like that…sorry. So,
here's the thing- since this is going to be a rather long story, I figure
that I'll want to be focused on it, rather than my other two. They need to
be finished, anyway. So…enjoy this chapter, I'll be back with the next in
two weeks or so.)
James and I walked down the stairs into Gryffindor Common Room, where people were still sitting and talking. We snuck into a corner, and threw the cloak over us and crept into the hallway. I don't know why, but he started walking to the left, so I kind of followed him. Then, he turned into corridors and hallways that I had never been down. We ended up in the trophy room.
"Char?" he called out, once he had closed the door and we had taken off the invisibility cloak.
I groaned.
"Over here, James," she said, stepping out of the shadows. She saw me and her face fell. "Oh. You're here."
"Nice one," I said, "Are you always this perceptive?"
"Just get under here, Charlotte," James said, stopping the impending row. He threw the cloak over all three of us and we left the trophy room.
"Where are we going?" I asked again.
"Sod off, Weasley," Charlotte said to me. I gave her a bit of a shove, and (of course) saw Mum's face in my head telling me never to hit a girl. I promptly ignored her, though, when Charlotte shoved me even harder.
"You guys, give it a rest!" James whispered harshly, getting in between us. "You're ruining the adventure for me!"
I was tempted to say, 'what adventure' but didn't think that it was the most opportune time to say it. I was already a little mad at James for hauling me out of bed in the middle of the night and making me walk around school underneath of an invisibility cloak and saying that we were being adventurous. He also had to be a prat and bring Bronte along.
We walked around the first floor. We walked around the second floor. We walked around the third floor. We were everywhere, and it was four in the morning.
"This adventure sucks," James said. "Why did you drag me on this, Landon?"
I was about to protest until I caught the hint of derision in his voice.
"We haven't gone to the dungeons, yet," Charlotte said, half asleep and only half articulate since she was speaking through a yawn.
"Awesome," James said, pulling us towards the nearest staircase. We walked down what seemed like a million flights of steps (in reality, it was only seven), and we finally reached the dungeons. Why anyone would want a class down there was beyond me. We walked around a bit more (I think that James was in search of a Mountain Troll or something) and were about to leave when we heard voices coming from one of the "empty" classrooms. Of course, being the adventurous thrill seekers that we were, we walked over to the door and peered inside. Someone was sitting by a cauldron that was serving as a fireplace, speaking to the head of a very pale, nervous looking man. My first impression of him was that he looked severely like a rat. We crept inside further, but Charlotte (she was sort of clumsy in our first few years) tripped over the hem of the invisibility cloak, sending the three of us sprawled on the floor. The person stood up, abruptly, her flaxen hair spilling out from a purple cloak, revealing that it was Professor Delacour. Upon being spotted, we did the only respectable thing that could be done in that situation.
We ran like hell.
Professor Delacour didn't teach any of our classes, so we weren't really worried about her recognizing us. But then, I realized that anyone with hair like mine could easily be identified as a Weasley.
It took us a bit (three flights of stares and quite a few cramps) to realize that Professor Delacour wasn't following us, before we slowed down and heard voices inside the room that we had just stopped in front of. Well, since we were on a roll and just a few centimeters away from expulsion, we put our ears to the door.
"But, we can't be sure about anything. There's no logical explanation for it, is there? Because if either of you can think of a reason, I'd gladly hear it," said a woman's voice that I recognized as Mum's.
"I understand that we don't have any certainty, Hermione. But we need to act on this, even if just on instinct. I remember backing you up on quite a few of your gut-feelings, only to find that your suspicions were correct. Couldn't you offer me the same courtesy? Or don't you believe me?" said a man's voice that sounded familiar.
"Sirius, It's not that I don't believe you," Mum was saying, "It's just that I don't want to go rushing into something when hundreds of lives could be on the line. We don't even know if they're going to act."
"Mione, isn't that why you're on this job? To see if they're going to act?" came Dad's voice.
"I haven't any leads yet. I don't trust Fleur, but that's not enough to wage an entire army on, is it?" Mum said, frustrated.
We turned from the door as we heard footsteps coming down the hallway. We turned and were frightened to see Uncle Harry striding down the corridor in our direction. We hurried to get out of the way, but he heard the scuffling.
He pointed his wand at us and said, "Who's there?" These words extracted the heads of Mum, Dad and Uncle Sirius from what was apparently the staff room. James held up one finger, then two, then three. Simultaneously, we inched away from the door as our relatives walked out and looked around.
Uncle Sirius pointed his wand…somewhere, and said, "Accio Invisibility Cloak!" It flew off of our backs, revealing the three of us, wide-eyed and terror-filled. The adults grew livid as they saw us standing there. Finally, Dad yanked the door to the staff room open and pointed that we should enter. We walked in, shame-faced, and sat on the mismatched couches and armchairs.
Mum paced in front of the three of us, her arms crossed, as the other three adults sat fuming.
Charlotte opened her mouth to say something, but James and I both elbowed her. When Mum wanted to speak, she would. James and I had both found this out from experience.
Finally, Mum pointed at Charlotte and said, "Explain."
"Well, Professor-"
I winced. Bad move.
Mum did as I predicted and cut Charlotte off: "No, no, no! Don't 'professor' me, young lady! I know that trick, and let me tell you something: I perfected it! Don't you dare try those schoolgirl games with me, miss!"
"Well…erm, ma'am-"
Once again, Mum cut Charlotte off. "No, not you, Bronte. You've lost your chance to speak Landon, explain."
"Well, ma'am, we were walking along outside when we heard voices and…well, we are your children, and we couldn't help ourselves. We had to listen, it was our duty," I said. As soon as it was out of my mouth I realized that I shouldn't have said it.
"What he means, Aunt Mione," James interjected as Mum whirled around to yell at me, "He means that we happened to hear you three talking in here, and we had to make sure that you weren't students disobeying rules, you see, and-"
"Enough, James!" Mum said. "Why were you three out of bed in the first place?"
"We…we wanted to be like you?" I tried, hoping that backhanded flattery might score us some points. Obviously, it didn't.
"Oh, I see, you wanted to be like us!" she exclaimed. "Well, that explains everything, doesn't it?! Please, Landon, James. One doesn't have to have known you since birth to realize that you're lying. Tell me the truth, now."
So, I spilled out with the entire truth, omitting only the part about Professor Delacour, because it still confused me. No doubt that Mum would only make it cloudier. Mum seemed satisfied with what I said.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor," she said, ever the disciplinarian.
"That's not too bad," James said, under his breath.
Mum caught everything. I don't know how, but she did. "But you see, James, I meant fifty points each."
"One-hundred and fifty points?" Charlotte exclaimed. "But, Professor! Don't you care about Gryffindor?"
Mum was given the position of Head of Gryffindor House two years ago. "Oh, but I do, Charlotte," she did. "I think the Gryffindor loyalties have been displayed tonight, haven't they? I am not the one who doesn't care about my house, am I?" She turned away, as Charlotte tried to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes. "They're all yours, Sirius," she told my uncle.
He stood up and paced in front of us, much like Mum had done.
"Grandfather," James said, hoping to pull the innocent grandson routine that would have easily worked on our Grandfather Weasley.
"James, I don't want to hear it. Do you have any idea of what you have just done?" he said, running his hand through his semi-long graying hair. We shook our heads no in a proper response. He looked at us, as if to explain what exactly it was that we were guilty of, but he shook his head, deciding better of it. Instead, he asked, "How much did you hear?"
"Not much," I answered. "And whatever we heard didn't make any sense, anyway. Something about not trusting Professor Delacour, and a job, and acting on something or other." Honestly, that was all that I remembered.
The adults exchanged glances, and Uncle Harry approached us.
"We're going to let you three go, but listen to me. I don't ever want to hear that you've been sneaking around again, all right? If I hear one thing from Hermione, I'm going to make sure that you three get transferred to Beauxbatons, that's how serious this is. Do you understand me?"
We nodded.
It was Dad's turn to speak, now. "I'm very disappointed in you, Landon, James. I don't know you Charlotte, but I'm disappointed that you let these two talk you into this. All that Hermione and Harry and I did in school was very much against the rules, and we're lucky that we got away with it. There were quite a few times that we nearly stared death in the eye, and I don't want that to happen to you, too."
Uncle Harry stepped forward again. "James, the invisibility cloak, please."
"But Dad!" James protested.
"No buts, son. I gave this to you in case you may need it- not for you to abuse it. Hand it over, and the Marauders Map as well." James reluctantly handed them to Uncle Harry, and Mum and Dad got a look of nostalgia on their faces as the three of them looked at the rumpled parchment.
"Still works," Dad marveled.
Mum turned back to us. "You three are dismissed. I never, ever want to see you three out after curfew again, do you understand? I'll not give you a pass back to Gryffindor Tower. Serves you right if Filch catches you. And if I ever…ever hear that you three have told anyone about what you've heard tonight, I will have you expelled faster than you could protest, understand? Yes, Landon, even you. Good night." We turned to leave, and I sent one last apologetic look at Mum and Dad before leaving. "I'm especially disappointed in you, Landon," I heard Mum say to me before I closed the door.
Once I had closed it, I heard Dad say, "What are we going to do with them…"
Ladies and Gentlemen: I apologize for the short chapter. Sorry (
James and I walked down the stairs into Gryffindor Common Room, where people were still sitting and talking. We snuck into a corner, and threw the cloak over us and crept into the hallway. I don't know why, but he started walking to the left, so I kind of followed him. Then, he turned into corridors and hallways that I had never been down. We ended up in the trophy room.
"Char?" he called out, once he had closed the door and we had taken off the invisibility cloak.
I groaned.
"Over here, James," she said, stepping out of the shadows. She saw me and her face fell. "Oh. You're here."
"Nice one," I said, "Are you always this perceptive?"
"Just get under here, Charlotte," James said, stopping the impending row. He threw the cloak over all three of us and we left the trophy room.
"Where are we going?" I asked again.
"Sod off, Weasley," Charlotte said to me. I gave her a bit of a shove, and (of course) saw Mum's face in my head telling me never to hit a girl. I promptly ignored her, though, when Charlotte shoved me even harder.
"You guys, give it a rest!" James whispered harshly, getting in between us. "You're ruining the adventure for me!"
I was tempted to say, 'what adventure' but didn't think that it was the most opportune time to say it. I was already a little mad at James for hauling me out of bed in the middle of the night and making me walk around school underneath of an invisibility cloak and saying that we were being adventurous. He also had to be a prat and bring Bronte along.
We walked around the first floor. We walked around the second floor. We walked around the third floor. We were everywhere, and it was four in the morning.
"This adventure sucks," James said. "Why did you drag me on this, Landon?"
I was about to protest until I caught the hint of derision in his voice.
"We haven't gone to the dungeons, yet," Charlotte said, half asleep and only half articulate since she was speaking through a yawn.
"Awesome," James said, pulling us towards the nearest staircase. We walked down what seemed like a million flights of steps (in reality, it was only seven), and we finally reached the dungeons. Why anyone would want a class down there was beyond me. We walked around a bit more (I think that James was in search of a Mountain Troll or something) and were about to leave when we heard voices coming from one of the "empty" classrooms. Of course, being the adventurous thrill seekers that we were, we walked over to the door and peered inside. Someone was sitting by a cauldron that was serving as a fireplace, speaking to the head of a very pale, nervous looking man. My first impression of him was that he looked severely like a rat. We crept inside further, but Charlotte (she was sort of clumsy in our first few years) tripped over the hem of the invisibility cloak, sending the three of us sprawled on the floor. The person stood up, abruptly, her flaxen hair spilling out from a purple cloak, revealing that it was Professor Delacour. Upon being spotted, we did the only respectable thing that could be done in that situation.
We ran like hell.
Professor Delacour didn't teach any of our classes, so we weren't really worried about her recognizing us. But then, I realized that anyone with hair like mine could easily be identified as a Weasley.
It took us a bit (three flights of stares and quite a few cramps) to realize that Professor Delacour wasn't following us, before we slowed down and heard voices inside the room that we had just stopped in front of. Well, since we were on a roll and just a few centimeters away from expulsion, we put our ears to the door.
"But, we can't be sure about anything. There's no logical explanation for it, is there? Because if either of you can think of a reason, I'd gladly hear it," said a woman's voice that I recognized as Mum's.
"I understand that we don't have any certainty, Hermione. But we need to act on this, even if just on instinct. I remember backing you up on quite a few of your gut-feelings, only to find that your suspicions were correct. Couldn't you offer me the same courtesy? Or don't you believe me?" said a man's voice that sounded familiar.
"Sirius, It's not that I don't believe you," Mum was saying, "It's just that I don't want to go rushing into something when hundreds of lives could be on the line. We don't even know if they're going to act."
"Mione, isn't that why you're on this job? To see if they're going to act?" came Dad's voice.
"I haven't any leads yet. I don't trust Fleur, but that's not enough to wage an entire army on, is it?" Mum said, frustrated.
We turned from the door as we heard footsteps coming down the hallway. We turned and were frightened to see Uncle Harry striding down the corridor in our direction. We hurried to get out of the way, but he heard the scuffling.
He pointed his wand at us and said, "Who's there?" These words extracted the heads of Mum, Dad and Uncle Sirius from what was apparently the staff room. James held up one finger, then two, then three. Simultaneously, we inched away from the door as our relatives walked out and looked around.
Uncle Sirius pointed his wand…somewhere, and said, "Accio Invisibility Cloak!" It flew off of our backs, revealing the three of us, wide-eyed and terror-filled. The adults grew livid as they saw us standing there. Finally, Dad yanked the door to the staff room open and pointed that we should enter. We walked in, shame-faced, and sat on the mismatched couches and armchairs.
Mum paced in front of the three of us, her arms crossed, as the other three adults sat fuming.
Charlotte opened her mouth to say something, but James and I both elbowed her. When Mum wanted to speak, she would. James and I had both found this out from experience.
Finally, Mum pointed at Charlotte and said, "Explain."
"Well, Professor-"
I winced. Bad move.
Mum did as I predicted and cut Charlotte off: "No, no, no! Don't 'professor' me, young lady! I know that trick, and let me tell you something: I perfected it! Don't you dare try those schoolgirl games with me, miss!"
"Well…erm, ma'am-"
Once again, Mum cut Charlotte off. "No, not you, Bronte. You've lost your chance to speak Landon, explain."
"Well, ma'am, we were walking along outside when we heard voices and…well, we are your children, and we couldn't help ourselves. We had to listen, it was our duty," I said. As soon as it was out of my mouth I realized that I shouldn't have said it.
"What he means, Aunt Mione," James interjected as Mum whirled around to yell at me, "He means that we happened to hear you three talking in here, and we had to make sure that you weren't students disobeying rules, you see, and-"
"Enough, James!" Mum said. "Why were you three out of bed in the first place?"
"We…we wanted to be like you?" I tried, hoping that backhanded flattery might score us some points. Obviously, it didn't.
"Oh, I see, you wanted to be like us!" she exclaimed. "Well, that explains everything, doesn't it?! Please, Landon, James. One doesn't have to have known you since birth to realize that you're lying. Tell me the truth, now."
So, I spilled out with the entire truth, omitting only the part about Professor Delacour, because it still confused me. No doubt that Mum would only make it cloudier. Mum seemed satisfied with what I said.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor," she said, ever the disciplinarian.
"That's not too bad," James said, under his breath.
Mum caught everything. I don't know how, but she did. "But you see, James, I meant fifty points each."
"One-hundred and fifty points?" Charlotte exclaimed. "But, Professor! Don't you care about Gryffindor?"
Mum was given the position of Head of Gryffindor House two years ago. "Oh, but I do, Charlotte," she did. "I think the Gryffindor loyalties have been displayed tonight, haven't they? I am not the one who doesn't care about my house, am I?" She turned away, as Charlotte tried to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes. "They're all yours, Sirius," she told my uncle.
He stood up and paced in front of us, much like Mum had done.
"Grandfather," James said, hoping to pull the innocent grandson routine that would have easily worked on our Grandfather Weasley.
"James, I don't want to hear it. Do you have any idea of what you have just done?" he said, running his hand through his semi-long graying hair. We shook our heads no in a proper response. He looked at us, as if to explain what exactly it was that we were guilty of, but he shook his head, deciding better of it. Instead, he asked, "How much did you hear?"
"Not much," I answered. "And whatever we heard didn't make any sense, anyway. Something about not trusting Professor Delacour, and a job, and acting on something or other." Honestly, that was all that I remembered.
The adults exchanged glances, and Uncle Harry approached us.
"We're going to let you three go, but listen to me. I don't ever want to hear that you've been sneaking around again, all right? If I hear one thing from Hermione, I'm going to make sure that you three get transferred to Beauxbatons, that's how serious this is. Do you understand me?"
We nodded.
It was Dad's turn to speak, now. "I'm very disappointed in you, Landon, James. I don't know you Charlotte, but I'm disappointed that you let these two talk you into this. All that Hermione and Harry and I did in school was very much against the rules, and we're lucky that we got away with it. There were quite a few times that we nearly stared death in the eye, and I don't want that to happen to you, too."
Uncle Harry stepped forward again. "James, the invisibility cloak, please."
"But Dad!" James protested.
"No buts, son. I gave this to you in case you may need it- not for you to abuse it. Hand it over, and the Marauders Map as well." James reluctantly handed them to Uncle Harry, and Mum and Dad got a look of nostalgia on their faces as the three of them looked at the rumpled parchment.
"Still works," Dad marveled.
Mum turned back to us. "You three are dismissed. I never, ever want to see you three out after curfew again, do you understand? I'll not give you a pass back to Gryffindor Tower. Serves you right if Filch catches you. And if I ever…ever hear that you three have told anyone about what you've heard tonight, I will have you expelled faster than you could protest, understand? Yes, Landon, even you. Good night." We turned to leave, and I sent one last apologetic look at Mum and Dad before leaving. "I'm especially disappointed in you, Landon," I heard Mum say to me before I closed the door.
Once I had closed it, I heard Dad say, "What are we going to do with them…"
Ladies and Gentlemen: I apologize for the short chapter. Sorry (