A/N: Updated at last! Hallelujah! OK, hyper- as if you didn't guess. Please r/r.
Dedicated to: Julia (thanks for your xmas card) and also to all my reviewers.
Disclaimer: If only luck had granted me to be J.K.Rowling, I would own a lot more than a Buffy t-shirt, 20 pence, one stripey sock, and a bag of half-eaten sugar. I don't even own my non-existent sanity. I think that says it all really, don't you?
Harry Potter and the Crystal of Dreams.
Sirius Black, the renowned criminal and escaped, wrongly accused murderer, bounded along the street- in dog form of course. It was still quiet early and very quiet, and although nobody in the muggle town would recognise him as a huge black Grim, he wanted to get to the house before people started to come outside. Because he didn't know what the reaction would be.
He had been running for three days almost solidly to get here. Now he was shambling along the roads he used to know on aching paws and an empty stomach.
At the end of the main road he skidded to a halt and stared at the sign. Cherry Avenue. And when he padded along the street to number ten, he sat looking sadly at the neat, unchanging house. Recalling memories and thinking of what could have been.
But he wasn't here to gaze at a silent house for hours on end. His task was much more grim. He was here to warn a woman called Chloe Taylor of Voldemort's resurrection. The job wasn't helped in the least by the fact that she was the fiancée he hadn't seen for fifteen years. He didn't know what her actions would be, to him and the news. He didn't know if she had changed or not.
He walked up the path towards the white front door, and scraped at it with his paw to alert her that somebody was there. He sat on the step, almost nervously awaiting any acknowledgement. From within the house he eventually heard approaching footsteps, and then the click of the lock as Chloe opened the door.
He looked up at a petite woman dressed in old jeans and a white long-sleeved top. He noticed that her goldeny-brown hair had been cut up to her shoulders now, and watched as her tired eyes peered out confusedly at her height level. Then she looked down and gasped, her ice-blue eyes widening as she took a step back.
"Padfoot..." she whispered, leaning heavily on the doorframe.
He barked, standing up as he did so. She knew that he was saying, "Kat, let me in."
She pushed the door open and stood aside to let him enter a hallway. The walls were still pastel yellow as he remembered, but now they were covered in photographs of children he didn't recognise. Some he could pick out a faint resemblance to Chloe in (he guessed they were her nieces and nephews), but others looked more like Lucinda and Nina, two friends from the past.
Chloe shut the door behind her and stared at Sirius as though she still couldn't believe it was him. She shook her head.
"You have one heck of a lot to tell me."
*****
"C'mon Harry, you've got to eat something."
Harry pushed aside the plate of bacon Ron was offering him. "No. No food. I can't eat anything."
The Gryffindor fifth years were finding their task of making Harry eat some breakfast before the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff harder than they first thought.
"Harry, if your guts get beaten out by a Bludger today and strewn across the pitch, we at least want them to be full." Seamus said, placing a huge pile of toast and sausages in front of him. "Eat."
"That's a good line, mate, I'll have to remember that one." Shannon complimented. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Irish!" he muttered, earning dirty glares from both Seamus and Shannon. (A/N: No offence.)
"Harry, please," Hermione wheedled. "Just a little bit of toast or a few mouthfuls of cornflakes, whatever. Just please eat something."
"When you feel like there's a mass of slithering snakes in your stomach, I'll remind you of this." Harry said darkly, resigning to his fate by picking up a piece of dry toast. He took a tiny bite, swallowed, and threw the food back onto the plate. "See? I ate something."
Shannon giggled, her annoyance at Ron's remark gone. "That reminds me of the time my friend Frankie came to my house for dinner. We kept playing 'Sea food' with Hannah, and Julianna got really narked. Being twelve, we thought it was hilarious."
"What's that?" asked Ron.
Picking up Harry's discarded breakfast, Shannon explained. "You take your food and have a bite." She took a bite from the other end that Harry had used. "You chew it up." She did so. "Then you ask someone if they want sea food, and when they say yes, you show them this." She stuck out her tongue, a horrible clump of mushy toast on the end. "See? Food!"
Everybody 'eww'ed at this and Shannon swallowed it and grinned, taking mock-bows. Parvati and Lavender gave her haughty looks as they returned to their glossy copy of Teen Witch. Hermione looked like she was about to be sick.
"That...is...disgusting." she finally managed to come out with.
"And an insult on my dear stepmother's cooking, which led to hours of grovelling on the part of myself. Hannah escaped because she was only one, although her imitations were great, and Francesca- or Frankie- got off with it because she was just a guest."
Fred and George came up at that moment, and George clapped Harry so hard on the back that he nearly went flying into the table.
"Ready for the match?" Fred asked, rubbing his hands together in the prankster-like way.
"Should be over pretty soon- Hufflepuff's a push over." George added. A gossiping gaggle of Hufflepuff girls passing shot him venomous glares.
Harry shrugged. "Are the team going to the changing rooms yet?"
"Yeah."
"Great." Harry stood up. "At least I'll get away from this lot." He glared at the other eight fifth years.
Shannon grinned, attempting (and failing) to use the puppy-dog eyes. "Ah, c'mon, you love us really."
"See you later." Harry followed the twins to get ready for the match.
There wasn't long to go, and the horrible nerves that always affected him before Quidditch or exams had kicked in big time. The changing room was filled with a nasty, eerie silence as the team got ready, broken only by the faraway sounds of the excited spectators gathering in the stands. Their enthusiastic chatter only made Harry feel worse.
Just before they were due to leave, Angelina stood in front of them, as if about to make some kind of speech. Several moments dragged by as they watched her helpless expression expectantly. Eventually, she shrugged, nerves having obviously consumed her as well.
"Oliver used to make such great big speeches before the match," she said. "All I'm going to say is play well, because you can. Good luck."
"You'll go down as one of the greatest speakers of our time." Fred assured her as they all left the changing room.
Harry felt, as always, quite overwhelmed when he stepped out onto the long pitch. Half the stadium was a blaze of scarlet, whilst the other half was filled with canary yellow. Madam Hooch, who was refereeing again, made Angelina shake hands with Michelle Duffy, the new Hufflepuff Captain and Seeker. They mounted their brooms on her command and kicked off when the whistle blew.
As soon as he was flying, he felt immensely better. He soared on his Firebolt until he was way above the pitch and the crowd. From here, he saw a banner held up by five people who were obviously Ron, Hermione, Shannon, Seamus, and Dean. It was red, with gold letters flashing the in the message "GO ON HARRY". He grinned, feeling less nervous by the second, and began to search for the Snitch. He and Angelina had decided that it was probably best to end the match quickly, as Michelle had been training the team very hard.
Lee Jordan was commentating yet again, as McGonagall hadn't been able to find a replacement despite advertising for one- Lee had bribed any possibles to let him take up the job again. So the professor had eventually relented, although she was watching him just as closely as usual, if not more so.
"And the Quaffle is taken by Angelina Johnson, captain of Gryffindor. Nice pass there to Katie Bell, back to Johnson, oh no, intercepted by Bailey of Hufflepuff. She passes to McHelone...pass to Newell..."
Harry searched around the pitch for the tiny golden Snitch. Michelle was coming closer, and it looked as though she might by tailing him.
"Good Bludger work there by George Weasley. Missed Newell, but he's dropped the Quaffle right into Alicia Spinnet's hands. Great pass there to Johnson. Johnson zooming up the pitch now...watch that Bludger! She aims...she shoots...she scores! Ten-nil to Gryffindor! Gryffindor score first! Take that, Jake Barnes, you owe me a Sickle!"
"Jordan! Commentate properly or give me the microphone!"
"Sorry, professor."
Michelle was definitely tailing him now, following his every move as he circled the area like a hawk. The cheering in the Gryffindor stands had finally died down as play resumed, with Hufflepuff Chaser Bailey taking possession of the Quaffle.
Squinting his eyes, Harry pretended to spot something close to the ground. He could feel Michelle's pale green eyes watching intently, hovering close by. Suddenly, he pulled down into a nosedive. Michelle followed a second afterwards, pulling her Nimbus two thousand almost level with the very end of his Firebolt. Now was his chance. He pulled away to the left and flew back up. His Hufflepuff counterpart almost hit the ground as she realised she had been tricked. Almost. She managed to swoop back up to join him.
"Beater Jenkins pelts the Bludger straight towards Bell of Gryffindor. Almost got her, but she's free again, heading straight up the pitch now. Nice pass there to Spinnet, accurate throw back. Pass to Johnson, who aims...aw damn, blocked by Keeper Edwards, and play continues with McHelone seizing the Quaffle. Ducks a Bludger sent his way by Fred Weasley, Chasers Bell and Spinnet, and passes to Newell. Newell to Bailey, Bailey to Newell, takes aim...damn, he scores."
Geoga Atkins, the new Gryffindor Keeper, looked extremely disappointed. Lee gave a string of such obscene curses that McGonagall looked tempted to hit him, not just tug the microphone away as she did now.
"No, I didn't mean it, Professor, I'm sorry, won't happen again. Johnson of Gryffindor in possession, really streaking up the pitch now. Ha, Bludger sent her way by Beater Copping misses by miles! Takes aim, SHE SCORES! TWENTY-NIL TO GRYFFINDOR!"
Just as Lee yelled this, Harry saw the familiar flash of gold near the foot of the Gryffindor goalposts. He pulled his broom into a rapid horizontal dive towards the area, praying that he wasn't mistaken. After a moment's hesitation, wondering whether this was another feint, Michelle followed.
Up in the Gryffindor stands, Shannon was yelling louder than anyone else.
"C'mon Harry! Come on!"
Lee picked up on this change in play. "And the two Seekers are heading straight for the Gryffindor goalposts! Potter of Gryffindor is miles ahead of Duffy- of course, his broom is still the best you can get!"
Despite this, Harry could feel Michelle gaining on him- he zipped straight between the goalposts, curved and swooped down. The Snitch fell straight into his outstretched hand, little silver wings beating feebly.
The crowd erupted into cheers from the Gryffindors and into catcalls from the Hufflepuffs. As Harry descended along with all the other players, he saw his friends screaming and cheering as they joined the scrambling to descend the stands to the ground. And all he could do was grin.
The Gryffindor common room was filled with raucous celebration for the rest of the day and most of the evening. Even Hermione put aside her extensive essays in favour of partying. The Weasley twins managed to make about a sackful of Galleons by selling the pranks that they had recreated over the holidays, and there was plenty of laughter with the plantation of Canary Creams and other prank foods. However, after Lavender Brown gagged in the centre of the room on her six-foot-long, purple, swollen tongue, everyone kind of lost their appetite.
McGonagall showed up at ten minutes to eleven, when the students had begun to pelt each other with the remainders of the food. She stood there scowling, hands on hips, and threatened them all off to bed unless they wanted to be partying in detention. They decided that it was probably wise to heed her orders, and scooted quickly out of her sight. Ron and Harry bid the girls a hasty goodnight before scurrying up to the dormitory. Just as they pushe4d the door open and went in, Ron turned to Harry.
"Tell you something, for such a midget, Shannon has a right pair of lungs on her. She's probably deafened everyone watching the match today." he said, voice lowered slightly in an almost conspiratorial way.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "So she's loud? We knew that anyway. She gets told to shut up at least once every lesson by the teacher. And she's a midget."
"Harry, she's shorter than you, and that's saying something."
*****
Hermione glanced up from the book she was reading by wand light (the dormitory was otherwise dark). Parvati and Lavender were giggling in the bathroom as they removed their make-up. Shannon was sitting on her bed gazing at photo in her hands.
"What're you looking at, Shan?" she asked, although she knew what it was. She was just curious, but too polite to ask directly yet.
Shannon glanced up and smiled lop-sidedly, replacing the photo frame back on her bedside cabinet. "Oh, just Mam's picture." She rolled over onto her stomach, chin propped up on her hands, looking straight at the picture again. There was a short silence, before she added, "She's ever so pretty, isn't she?"
Hermione looked at the woman in the picture closely. She looked to be in her early twenties, and the location seemed to be somewhere in Ireland. She was laughing, her greyish-blue eyes twinkling, her long dark brown hair rippling behind her. She certainly was very beautiful. Then she looked at Shannon, and saw something that surprised her. She seemed so vulnerable and young all of a sudden.
"Yes," Hermione replied eventually. "She is."
*****
Review, please, and you'll get a mention. I can't believe I got no more reviews for the last chapter! I think I'd better alter the summary. Not exactly striking, is it? Oh well, enough of my pointless random babbling for now, just review please!
Dedicated to: Julia (thanks for your xmas card) and also to all my reviewers.
Disclaimer: If only luck had granted me to be J.K.Rowling, I would own a lot more than a Buffy t-shirt, 20 pence, one stripey sock, and a bag of half-eaten sugar. I don't even own my non-existent sanity. I think that says it all really, don't you?
Harry Potter and the Crystal of Dreams.
Sirius Black, the renowned criminal and escaped, wrongly accused murderer, bounded along the street- in dog form of course. It was still quiet early and very quiet, and although nobody in the muggle town would recognise him as a huge black Grim, he wanted to get to the house before people started to come outside. Because he didn't know what the reaction would be.
He had been running for three days almost solidly to get here. Now he was shambling along the roads he used to know on aching paws and an empty stomach.
At the end of the main road he skidded to a halt and stared at the sign. Cherry Avenue. And when he padded along the street to number ten, he sat looking sadly at the neat, unchanging house. Recalling memories and thinking of what could have been.
But he wasn't here to gaze at a silent house for hours on end. His task was much more grim. He was here to warn a woman called Chloe Taylor of Voldemort's resurrection. The job wasn't helped in the least by the fact that she was the fiancée he hadn't seen for fifteen years. He didn't know what her actions would be, to him and the news. He didn't know if she had changed or not.
He walked up the path towards the white front door, and scraped at it with his paw to alert her that somebody was there. He sat on the step, almost nervously awaiting any acknowledgement. From within the house he eventually heard approaching footsteps, and then the click of the lock as Chloe opened the door.
He looked up at a petite woman dressed in old jeans and a white long-sleeved top. He noticed that her goldeny-brown hair had been cut up to her shoulders now, and watched as her tired eyes peered out confusedly at her height level. Then she looked down and gasped, her ice-blue eyes widening as she took a step back.
"Padfoot..." she whispered, leaning heavily on the doorframe.
He barked, standing up as he did so. She knew that he was saying, "Kat, let me in."
She pushed the door open and stood aside to let him enter a hallway. The walls were still pastel yellow as he remembered, but now they were covered in photographs of children he didn't recognise. Some he could pick out a faint resemblance to Chloe in (he guessed they were her nieces and nephews), but others looked more like Lucinda and Nina, two friends from the past.
Chloe shut the door behind her and stared at Sirius as though she still couldn't believe it was him. She shook her head.
"You have one heck of a lot to tell me."
*****
"C'mon Harry, you've got to eat something."
Harry pushed aside the plate of bacon Ron was offering him. "No. No food. I can't eat anything."
The Gryffindor fifth years were finding their task of making Harry eat some breakfast before the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff harder than they first thought.
"Harry, if your guts get beaten out by a Bludger today and strewn across the pitch, we at least want them to be full." Seamus said, placing a huge pile of toast and sausages in front of him. "Eat."
"That's a good line, mate, I'll have to remember that one." Shannon complimented. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Irish!" he muttered, earning dirty glares from both Seamus and Shannon. (A/N: No offence.)
"Harry, please," Hermione wheedled. "Just a little bit of toast or a few mouthfuls of cornflakes, whatever. Just please eat something."
"When you feel like there's a mass of slithering snakes in your stomach, I'll remind you of this." Harry said darkly, resigning to his fate by picking up a piece of dry toast. He took a tiny bite, swallowed, and threw the food back onto the plate. "See? I ate something."
Shannon giggled, her annoyance at Ron's remark gone. "That reminds me of the time my friend Frankie came to my house for dinner. We kept playing 'Sea food' with Hannah, and Julianna got really narked. Being twelve, we thought it was hilarious."
"What's that?" asked Ron.
Picking up Harry's discarded breakfast, Shannon explained. "You take your food and have a bite." She took a bite from the other end that Harry had used. "You chew it up." She did so. "Then you ask someone if they want sea food, and when they say yes, you show them this." She stuck out her tongue, a horrible clump of mushy toast on the end. "See? Food!"
Everybody 'eww'ed at this and Shannon swallowed it and grinned, taking mock-bows. Parvati and Lavender gave her haughty looks as they returned to their glossy copy of Teen Witch. Hermione looked like she was about to be sick.
"That...is...disgusting." she finally managed to come out with.
"And an insult on my dear stepmother's cooking, which led to hours of grovelling on the part of myself. Hannah escaped because she was only one, although her imitations were great, and Francesca- or Frankie- got off with it because she was just a guest."
Fred and George came up at that moment, and George clapped Harry so hard on the back that he nearly went flying into the table.
"Ready for the match?" Fred asked, rubbing his hands together in the prankster-like way.
"Should be over pretty soon- Hufflepuff's a push over." George added. A gossiping gaggle of Hufflepuff girls passing shot him venomous glares.
Harry shrugged. "Are the team going to the changing rooms yet?"
"Yeah."
"Great." Harry stood up. "At least I'll get away from this lot." He glared at the other eight fifth years.
Shannon grinned, attempting (and failing) to use the puppy-dog eyes. "Ah, c'mon, you love us really."
"See you later." Harry followed the twins to get ready for the match.
There wasn't long to go, and the horrible nerves that always affected him before Quidditch or exams had kicked in big time. The changing room was filled with a nasty, eerie silence as the team got ready, broken only by the faraway sounds of the excited spectators gathering in the stands. Their enthusiastic chatter only made Harry feel worse.
Just before they were due to leave, Angelina stood in front of them, as if about to make some kind of speech. Several moments dragged by as they watched her helpless expression expectantly. Eventually, she shrugged, nerves having obviously consumed her as well.
"Oliver used to make such great big speeches before the match," she said. "All I'm going to say is play well, because you can. Good luck."
"You'll go down as one of the greatest speakers of our time." Fred assured her as they all left the changing room.
Harry felt, as always, quite overwhelmed when he stepped out onto the long pitch. Half the stadium was a blaze of scarlet, whilst the other half was filled with canary yellow. Madam Hooch, who was refereeing again, made Angelina shake hands with Michelle Duffy, the new Hufflepuff Captain and Seeker. They mounted their brooms on her command and kicked off when the whistle blew.
As soon as he was flying, he felt immensely better. He soared on his Firebolt until he was way above the pitch and the crowd. From here, he saw a banner held up by five people who were obviously Ron, Hermione, Shannon, Seamus, and Dean. It was red, with gold letters flashing the in the message "GO ON HARRY". He grinned, feeling less nervous by the second, and began to search for the Snitch. He and Angelina had decided that it was probably best to end the match quickly, as Michelle had been training the team very hard.
Lee Jordan was commentating yet again, as McGonagall hadn't been able to find a replacement despite advertising for one- Lee had bribed any possibles to let him take up the job again. So the professor had eventually relented, although she was watching him just as closely as usual, if not more so.
"And the Quaffle is taken by Angelina Johnson, captain of Gryffindor. Nice pass there to Katie Bell, back to Johnson, oh no, intercepted by Bailey of Hufflepuff. She passes to McHelone...pass to Newell..."
Harry searched around the pitch for the tiny golden Snitch. Michelle was coming closer, and it looked as though she might by tailing him.
"Good Bludger work there by George Weasley. Missed Newell, but he's dropped the Quaffle right into Alicia Spinnet's hands. Great pass there to Johnson. Johnson zooming up the pitch now...watch that Bludger! She aims...she shoots...she scores! Ten-nil to Gryffindor! Gryffindor score first! Take that, Jake Barnes, you owe me a Sickle!"
"Jordan! Commentate properly or give me the microphone!"
"Sorry, professor."
Michelle was definitely tailing him now, following his every move as he circled the area like a hawk. The cheering in the Gryffindor stands had finally died down as play resumed, with Hufflepuff Chaser Bailey taking possession of the Quaffle.
Squinting his eyes, Harry pretended to spot something close to the ground. He could feel Michelle's pale green eyes watching intently, hovering close by. Suddenly, he pulled down into a nosedive. Michelle followed a second afterwards, pulling her Nimbus two thousand almost level with the very end of his Firebolt. Now was his chance. He pulled away to the left and flew back up. His Hufflepuff counterpart almost hit the ground as she realised she had been tricked. Almost. She managed to swoop back up to join him.
"Beater Jenkins pelts the Bludger straight towards Bell of Gryffindor. Almost got her, but she's free again, heading straight up the pitch now. Nice pass there to Spinnet, accurate throw back. Pass to Johnson, who aims...aw damn, blocked by Keeper Edwards, and play continues with McHelone seizing the Quaffle. Ducks a Bludger sent his way by Fred Weasley, Chasers Bell and Spinnet, and passes to Newell. Newell to Bailey, Bailey to Newell, takes aim...damn, he scores."
Geoga Atkins, the new Gryffindor Keeper, looked extremely disappointed. Lee gave a string of such obscene curses that McGonagall looked tempted to hit him, not just tug the microphone away as she did now.
"No, I didn't mean it, Professor, I'm sorry, won't happen again. Johnson of Gryffindor in possession, really streaking up the pitch now. Ha, Bludger sent her way by Beater Copping misses by miles! Takes aim, SHE SCORES! TWENTY-NIL TO GRYFFINDOR!"
Just as Lee yelled this, Harry saw the familiar flash of gold near the foot of the Gryffindor goalposts. He pulled his broom into a rapid horizontal dive towards the area, praying that he wasn't mistaken. After a moment's hesitation, wondering whether this was another feint, Michelle followed.
Up in the Gryffindor stands, Shannon was yelling louder than anyone else.
"C'mon Harry! Come on!"
Lee picked up on this change in play. "And the two Seekers are heading straight for the Gryffindor goalposts! Potter of Gryffindor is miles ahead of Duffy- of course, his broom is still the best you can get!"
Despite this, Harry could feel Michelle gaining on him- he zipped straight between the goalposts, curved and swooped down. The Snitch fell straight into his outstretched hand, little silver wings beating feebly.
The crowd erupted into cheers from the Gryffindors and into catcalls from the Hufflepuffs. As Harry descended along with all the other players, he saw his friends screaming and cheering as they joined the scrambling to descend the stands to the ground. And all he could do was grin.
The Gryffindor common room was filled with raucous celebration for the rest of the day and most of the evening. Even Hermione put aside her extensive essays in favour of partying. The Weasley twins managed to make about a sackful of Galleons by selling the pranks that they had recreated over the holidays, and there was plenty of laughter with the plantation of Canary Creams and other prank foods. However, after Lavender Brown gagged in the centre of the room on her six-foot-long, purple, swollen tongue, everyone kind of lost their appetite.
McGonagall showed up at ten minutes to eleven, when the students had begun to pelt each other with the remainders of the food. She stood there scowling, hands on hips, and threatened them all off to bed unless they wanted to be partying in detention. They decided that it was probably wise to heed her orders, and scooted quickly out of her sight. Ron and Harry bid the girls a hasty goodnight before scurrying up to the dormitory. Just as they pushe4d the door open and went in, Ron turned to Harry.
"Tell you something, for such a midget, Shannon has a right pair of lungs on her. She's probably deafened everyone watching the match today." he said, voice lowered slightly in an almost conspiratorial way.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "So she's loud? We knew that anyway. She gets told to shut up at least once every lesson by the teacher. And she's a midget."
"Harry, she's shorter than you, and that's saying something."
*****
Hermione glanced up from the book she was reading by wand light (the dormitory was otherwise dark). Parvati and Lavender were giggling in the bathroom as they removed their make-up. Shannon was sitting on her bed gazing at photo in her hands.
"What're you looking at, Shan?" she asked, although she knew what it was. She was just curious, but too polite to ask directly yet.
Shannon glanced up and smiled lop-sidedly, replacing the photo frame back on her bedside cabinet. "Oh, just Mam's picture." She rolled over onto her stomach, chin propped up on her hands, looking straight at the picture again. There was a short silence, before she added, "She's ever so pretty, isn't she?"
Hermione looked at the woman in the picture closely. She looked to be in her early twenties, and the location seemed to be somewhere in Ireland. She was laughing, her greyish-blue eyes twinkling, her long dark brown hair rippling behind her. She certainly was very beautiful. Then she looked at Shannon, and saw something that surprised her. She seemed so vulnerable and young all of a sudden.
"Yes," Hermione replied eventually. "She is."
*****
Review, please, and you'll get a mention. I can't believe I got no more reviews for the last chapter! I think I'd better alter the summary. Not exactly striking, is it? Oh well, enough of my pointless random babbling for now, just review please!