Chapter 27 – The Beginning of the Holidays
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Harry discovered the first evening of the Christmas Holiday that he, the Weasleys and Hermione were, in fact, the only students remaining in the castle over the holidays. Apparently, between rumours of Voldemort's return and the Yule Ball of the previous year, the families of the other students had summoned their children home for the holidays. Sirius, still very cautious about his safety, took to remaining in the form of Padfoot most of the time, but remained in the castle.
Rowan, of course, ordered Morgaine back to Hogwarts, and, surprisingly, she arrived the very next day in the protective shadow of their enigmatic grandfather. Even Dumbledore seemed delighted at the extra visitor, and Harry felt an odd thrill as the venerable wizard smiled at him and insisted that he and the other "younglings" address him as Grandfather.
Harry had never had anyone to call Grandfather before and found he rather liked the experience. He wasn't sure if normal wizarding Grandfathers spent their evenings telling incredible stories with the aid of well-practiced charms or mysteriously producing sweets filched from Rowan's private stores, but he decided he wouldn't trade Grandfather Merlin willingly. Harry very carefully avoided all thought of returning to the Dursleys after the term ended.
The Weasley twins also seemed to enjoy the prospect of "fresh meat" to test their pranks on. In fact, they managed a few hilarious jokes on Morgaine, who turned out to be slightly too sweet and trusting for her own good. They'd already learned earlier in the year that pranks pulled on Professor Myfanwy had a tendency to backfire or simply not go off. They'd tried nearly everything in her classroom and hadn't managed to land even one. The same went for Professor Lupin, who seemed to be uncannily adept at spotting pranks.
Sirius Black also turned out to be a dangerous opponent in setting pranks. Sirius usually managed to modify the intended prank into returning to the would-be pranksters with a magnified effect. Fred and George ended up polka-dotted, voiceless, and even transfigured into a pair of radishes in the first week of holiday alone. They grumbled mightily and puzzled over how exactly the three adults managed their luck. Harry and Ron grinned to each other and decided not to point out that the twins were attempting to one-up the Marauders.
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The Forbidden Forest nestled peacefully under its soft blanket of fresh snow, sheltering the wandering pair beneath its boughs.
"This is very nice." Rowan murmured contentedly snuggling close to Sirius's side. They'd managed to escape the festively decorated halls of Hogwarts for a bit and slip onto the grounds for a short walk along the edge of the Forest. Though they both carried their wands, neither was terribly worried about the more exotic inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest. It never hurt to be a bit cautious.
Suddenly Rowan giggled. "What?" Sirius asked, smiling at her laughter.
"I was remembering Morgaine's face when she bit into that Canary cream the twins gave her." Rowan laughed. "Heightened senses and she didn't even notice the look on their faces!"
"Morgaine's not you, love. She didn't pull pranks on a regular basis," Sirius reminded her with a grin. "And what do you mean by heightened senses?"
Rowan stilled slightly, a sure sign that she was reliving a painful memory. "Morgaine developed extraordinary senses about eight years ago after being bitten by a werewolf in Canada."
Sirius halted and faced Rowan in shock. "She's a werewolf?"
"No!" Rowan shook her head vehemently. "She's cured. The curse doesn't work on other . . . Dark-blooded creatures." Rowan bit her lip anxiously. Sirius smiled gently at her and cupped her face in his hand, enjoying the feeling as she leaned into the caress.
"Is that how you found the cure?"
"And began the Wolfsbane," she nodded. "Morgaine was very ill for the first full moon. Moony even petitioned the Ministry for a special visa to come stay with us for it." Now she smiled in memory. "He was terrified. I've never seen him so terrified."
"Moony wouldn't even wish his curse on Snape," Sirius concluded, looking forward toward the Whomping Willow and the Shrieking Shack beyond it. "Morgaine is part of his pack but she didn't transform, did she."
"The wolf is there," Rowan stated thoughtfully. "I know it is, but it's not strong enough to force a monthly change. Our demon blood prevents it. She suffers enhanced senses and the occasional wolfish behaviour, but nothing further than that."
"Wolfish behaviour?" Sirius grinned. "What does she do, howl at the full moon?"
He expected her to laugh, but Rowan smiled sadly and pressed her body into his arms. "No, not in the way you think." Sirius looked down at the dark-haired girl in his arms in surprise, wondering what exactly was going on here. "What was that?" She picked her head up, listening as they both heard a soft crunch.
"Animal?" Sirius hazarded, glancing back toward the castle. It was still in sight. Rowan listened for a moment more before shrugging.
"Probably." They lapsed back into their comfortable silence again, enjoying the rare moment of romance. Another sharp crunch halted them and Rowan pulled her wand. "Okay, I know I heard something." She stepped slightly away, scanning the trees for any visible sign of danger. Sirius transformed instantly and cautiously sniffed the air. He barked sharply at Rowan, then, remembering she couldn't understand him, transformed back and yelped as a river of cold slid down the back of his robes.
Sirius threw a spell in the general direction he'd smelled their attackers and grinned as a drift of snow cascaded out of the tree boughs. Morgaine and Remus stumbled out from behind a pair of trees laughing and shaking their cloaks free of loose snow. Rowan and Sirius grinned and quickly lobed snowballs at the pair making them duck back behind the trees.
Moments later the air filled with flying snowballs as the foursome engaged in an all-out snow-war.
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Inside Hagrid's cabin, Harry, Hermione, and Ron heard a peculiar thunk on the door. They looked out and saw the remains of a large snowball splattered across the wood. Everyone looked up as yet another snowball flew overhead. "Now that's a bit strange." Hermione commented, watching the snowball fall.
"Hermione! Look out!" Ron yelled a moment too late as an errant projectile nailed Hermione, scattering bits of frost through her bushy hair. Then Sirius skidded by with a fresh snowball in hand, followed closely by Lupin and a several more snowballs.
The two Marauders raced for the nearby greenhouses, intent on barricading themselves off from the enchanted snowballs following them and almost made it before the Weasley twins ambushed them. Fred and George sprang out and levitated two large piles of snow, sandwiching and burying Lupin and Black between them.
"What's going on?" Harry called to them, as the pair of redheads ran by. The twins slowed and grinned.
"They started it!" Fred yelled, pointing at the four adults.
"We just joined in!" George agreed before they took off again with new snowballs and disappeared around the corner. The twins reappeared with a startled yelp and ran for better cover as Ginny ambushed them with an entire pack of enchanted snowballs.
"Come join us!" Ginny laughed, waving at the trio as she ran by with her red hair flying out behind her.
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Okay, I've fought off the evil bought of writers block. I will try to write out parts faster, but it's very slow going at the moment. This is an apology in advance.
The Reviews:
Lily Evans, Viper2005, HarryandGinny4eva, darrel_doomvomit: Thank you, and yes, I know it was short. Thank my horrible writers block.
Bob33: See previous rants about not changing storyline. They will kiss by the end of this story. That is all I'm promising.
Luna Rose/Phoenix Child: Thank you! I love your names, by the way.
StEdWa: Sincere apologies to your daughter! Actually, I like Snape too. He's such a multi-level character I find him fascinating. What you're seeing is a bit coloured because I've been taking it from either Harry or Sirius's view. You'll notice Rowan doesn't have a particular grudge against Snape and actually respects him quite a bit. He thinks she's too nice and she scolded him for not eating properly. She has only taken him to task twice and that was for saying something particularly cruel. You'll see a bit more of him later in this story and a lot more of him in the sequel and he's much more sympathetic. Any more and I'll spoil it! And, yes I have original stories that I'm working on. I'll be a published author soon!
