*******************************************************************************************
Harry Potter and the Black Unicorn (Part 9) - The Meal
*******************************************************************************************
"A meal?" muttered Snape, "You expect me to go to a meal with your mutt and your two friends?"
Well yes, this was going exactly how Harry expected it. Snape was looking at him like he was mad and Harry was starting to agree with the man. He'd spent the rest of the morning and lunchtime being hassled by every Gryffindor possible and then some of the afternoon being pestered by Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuffs. Although many of the Hufflepuffs didn't really speak to him at the moment because of Cedric's death. It was now late afternoon and Harry was trying to carry out Dumbledore's command...he wasn't doing to well though.
"Yes a meal" replied Harry, "You know when you sit round a table and eat with people."
Snape glared at Harry and paced away from his desk over to the window again. Harry decided this was a safety thing for the potions master as Harry couldn't read the mans expressions if he had his back turned to him.
"Listen sir, it won't be that bad...Dumbledore will be there and so will I"
"Excellent Potter" Snape snapped "I'll race you there."
Okay, that sarcasm just royally pissed Harry of. He hadn't been mad at Snape for days but anger was starting to surface.
"Oh get over it" Harry replied, his voice cutting enough to rival Snape's. "I'm not my father and you're not still a student here. Why don't you try and treat me like a human being rather than sticking some label on me because of my father. You've treated me like I was just Harry for the last few days so why don't you just carry on."
Well, Harry was surprised at himself and Snape was silent. Harry was expecting some sort of angry remark and a impolite declining of his invitation. It seemed, however, that Snape enjoyed surprising people.
"Well, well Potter" Snape began, "Behind all that Gryffindor shivery there's a bit of a Slytherin temper"
"Well the sorting hat took its time to decide between the two so you shouldn't be so surprised," muttered Harry, glaring at Snape's back.
"I hadn't realised that," said Snape honestly "What would James say about having a son who was nearly put in Slytherin!"
"Oh forget James," said Harry, frustration in his voice. He stormed round to by Snape so Snape would have to look at him. "You're one of the only people here who sees through the Harry Potter rubbish yet you're stuck on something else entirely. You cant compare me to a man I never knew whether he was my father not."
Snape closed his eyes and bit his lower lip.
"Harry, me and your father and Sirius hated each other. Remus was almost like a mediator because he's tolerant of everyone. I wanted to be their friends originally, they seemed so happy and well...fun, I suppose."
Harry wasn't expecting this and he leant back on the desk to show Snape he was settling down to hear the story. Snape turned back towards his desk and Harry and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Anyway. They were not interested in befriending a Slytherin and only Lupin made an effort. It meant that for the first year or so that I sort of wandered between Slytherin and their group having no real friends in both. Then Sirius and James pulled that Lupin trick on me but luckily James pulled out of it and saved me."
Snape walked towards the cabinet by the side of his desk and leant on it.
"I was mad at them Harry. I went back to my common room and Malfoy, who was two years older than me was there with some friends. I told them what had happened and they told me I could be friends with them. I'd not had any real friends before so it seemed great but it became clear Malfoy was not amazingly nice. It was too late for me though Harry, once Lucius Malfoy has you in his grasp it's nearly impossible to let go."
Harry had remained silent all the way through the story. Snape had wanted to be friends with his dad, which was a surprise.
"You blame him for pushing you to Voldemort" stated Harry.
"Yes" replied Snape, "I know I shouldn't have got involved with Malfoy but I never would have if James Potter and Sirius Black hadn't been so damn stupid."
"James Potter" Harry stated calmly "Not Harry Potter."
Snape turned back to the boy and extended his hand to Harry,
"You're not your father Harry. I could never work with your father, I do so willingly with you."
Harry smiled at the gesture and shook hands with the potion master. Obviously Snape needed to be shouted at to make him see sense thought Harry, making a mental note to himself.
"Do you really want me to go to this bloody meal thing?" asked Snape, scowling slightly.
"I do, as does Dumbledore," replied Harry, "You don't have to though."
Snape crossed his arms and tapped his foot against the floor.
"I'll come, but if Sirius Black starts to have a go then I'm going. It would be a waste of my bloody time arguing with the man all night."
Harry grinned at his potions Professor and stood up,
"Well then, both of us need to get ready. It's starting in less than an hour."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry, Ron and Hermione were outside Dumbledore's office 5 minutes early but the man was there to great them.
"Ah, is there no other guest Harry?" he asked, looking mildly disappointed.
"Oh there is," replied Harry "He's making his own way here."
They followed the headmaster up the stairs into his office. There was a large table set up in the centre of the room, rectangular in shape. Sirius, Lupin and Hidellbank were already sitting round it. The trio sat down. Ron and Hermione were facing each other on one end next to Sirius Black a Remus Lupin. Harry and Dumbledore were next along and Hidellbank was at this point in time on her own.
"I hope you've brought me a nice dinner guest," the Defence Against the ark Arts teacher said, glancing towards the empty seat. That was a point, were was Snape thought Harry. Surely the man wouldn't have shunned the meal, maybe he was just late. Or maybe he'd tried to poison himself so he didn't have to come.
"Well" muttered Harry, "You'll be fine but I doubt Sirius will be."
"Snape!" exclaimed Sirius, glaring at Harry. Well, obviously it was a good clue Harry had given them. There was a short silence whilst Sirius glanced round at Lupin and Dumbledore. Ron broke this silence by laughing and Harry was relieved as it took some of the tension away. Before Sirius could muster words to express how horrible the idea was, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in" said Dumbledore politely, keeping one eye on Sirius. The door flung open and Snape marched in.
"Sorry I'm late" he said coolly, "Some stupid first year fell down the dungeon steps whilst playing truth or dare. Had to have them sent to the medical wing."
Snape sat down next to Harry and looked round the table. It was defiantly a tense situation and everyone was silent.
"Did you take house points or were you content just to sneer?" asked Sirius, clearly unhappy with Snape's presence.
"I thought my presence was enough of a punishment" replied Snape coolly, "They were running down my dungeon stairs to see who'd risk getting the nearest to my office after all."
This made everyone laugh except Sirius who was still glaring straight at Snape.
"I suppose you're here to play hero after last night?" Sirius said, hate in his voice.
"As usual I believe that's Mr Potter's job," replied Snape evenly, still keeping his calm.
"So what DO we owe your wonderful company to then Snape? Have you come to make us feel sick or are you here to spy on us?" he'd just pushed Snape a step to far.
"If you think before you speak Sirius, which I know is rare for you, you'll find that I spy for Dumbledore against Voldemort not the other way round."
"Or so you claim" snapped Sirius, leaning across Harry towards the man. Snape gave him an icy glare back and looked at Harry.
"I said I'd stay if he kept his gob shut, so either put him on a leash or let me go" Snape's words were delivered in an icy cold voice. Harry clasped both hands over his face,
"Will you both behave yourselves?" he half shouted, "Can you not sit at the table and at least ignore each other, even if you can't be sociable?"
"Harry," complained Sirius "The mans a..."
"The mans my guest and you cant even see each other properly unless you look, your on either side of me for gods sake." Harry sounded and looked exasperated. It had the right effect though as Snape remained quite and Sirius backed of put up his hands in defeat.
"Excellent" said Dumbledore, finally speaking. "The house elves have sent up a menu to chose from so just pick the starter you want and say it out loud."
Harry would have liked it if Dumbledore had tried to help him sort out the two S's but Dumbledore obviously had wanted Harry to deal with it.
Whilst eating the starters everyone had been involved in private conversations. Sirius had been talking to Harry about Quidditch and blocking spells, Dumbledore and Lupin had been discussing potions for werewolves, Ron and Hermione were talking about well...everything. The pair took the longest to eat their food because they were talking so much. The only bit Harry got involved with was Ron's plans to try out for Gryffindor keeper. Hermione seemed to think this was a great idea and to be honest so did Harry; Ron was a pretty tidy flier. Hidellbank had been telling Snape about some of the creatures she'd came across in Romania and Russia. Snape had made some comments but he seemed content to just listen. Harry was hoping Hagrid got back soon as he missed the half giant. Also, Hagrid would love to hear about the creatures Hidellbank was talking about. If they were dangerous, overly large and non-pet like Hagrid loved them.
Before they chose their main meals Dumbledore spoke up.
"Before we tuck into our next course I must tell you something funny. I was speaking to the house elves earlier today about the meal and they put together a menu for me. Dobby, with the wonderful sense of humour he has, asked me a question about Sirius in fact. He asked me very politely if Sirius would rather eat normal food, or whether he should send up a bowl of dog food as well."
Everybody laughed, even Snape.
"Well," continued Dumbledore "I thought to myself, how would I know which Sirius would prefer. So, when the menu appears and it has a selection of dog foods in one section you know why its there."
Lupin found this incredibly funny and clapped his hands; Sirius merely scowled at everyone's laughter but eventually saw the funny side of the situation. When the menu appeared and he'd looked through he declared he'd probably have the beef. Ron however, had obviously been looking through the entire menu and asked if that would be the beef with gravy, potatoes and veg or was it the beef dog food with added calcium. Poor Sirius went red as the table erupted with laughter again. God bless Dobby, thought Harry, he'd made the situation far less tense.
After everyone had got their food they'd all calmed down somewhat, although Lupin looked like he was going to burst into laughter at Sirius any second. Poor Sirius was trying to tackle his beef with a knife and fork but obviously hadn't used either for a while and had slopped gravy down his front and sent a piece of carrot flying into Dumbledore's beard.
Lupin, Sirius, Hidellbank and Dumbledore had managed to get into a conversation about the previous night. Ron and Hermione still only had eyes and words (it would seem) for each other and were discussing the weeks Defence Against the Dark Art's lessons. Harry had originally been part of the conversation about last night but he'd phased out somewhere along the way and was now just content to listen to everyone's voices.
"You okay?" asked Snape, before taking a swig of his wine.
"Yes I'm fine" he replied, "Just thinking about last night"
Snape looked down at his empty plate, he'd finished his food.
"Yes, I've been giving it some thought too," he raised his voice so everyone could here him "I'm going to get going now, got some research I need to do."
Everyone said goodbye except Sirius who grunted, although Harry thought that that was a vast sign of improvement. Snape said to 'enjoy the rest of the meal' and strode out.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Snape's presence wasn't really missed at the meal, the tension completely lifted from Sirius and even Ron looked more relaxed. Or maybe that was just because Hermione was smiling at him. Yes, it was probably that. During desert Harry and Sirius swapped seats so he could sit by Ron and Hermione and the trio ordered a massive ice cream between the three of them. The bowl it sat on was about the same size as a bucket and was full of many scoops of multi coloured different flavours. There was vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mint, cherry, raspberry, banana, toffee, caramel, peanut butter and many more. They managed to get half way through the bowl before giving up and considering the size of the bowl this was quiet an achievement.
"Hermione" Harry gained the girls attention, "Have you ever read about two people casting the same spell at the same time and something weird happening?"
"Like what?" she asked, leaning back in her chair and holding her stomach.
"A weird light and like…energy running between them. Maybe even the spell working stronger" Harry tried to picture what exactly had happened the night before.
"I take it you mean what happened last night with the blocking spell?" cut in Ron, "We saw it."
Harry nodded and tapped his finger on the table. He wondered if Snape remembered it too.
"I could go look it up in the library tomorrow morning," offered Hermione "We've got no lessons."
"Yeah we can all go, be loads quicker" said Ron, attempting to eat another spoonful of ice cream. Not even Ron could manage more. "God I'm full," the red head muttered, slumping back in his seat like Hermione, "I'm going to be a little ball of ice cream fat tomorrow."
Ron eloquent statement set Harry and Hermione of into fits of giggles. Possibly because they were tired, or possibly they were envisioning Ron as a little ball of ice cream. Their laughter caught the attention of the four adults around the table with them.
"Well Mr Potter," said Dumbledore cheerfully "Its good to see you enjoying yourself"
"Thank you sir" said Harry politely. Sirius grinned at Harry from beside him and looked like the stereotypical proud godfather.
"Now, down to business" said Dumbledore calmly. "Remus, any chance you can run and get Arabella for me?"
Remus Lupin nodded and left Dumbledore's office without saying a word. There was a short silence where Hermione and Ron looked at Harry uncertainly. None have them had been expecting this to turn into anything more than a friendly meal, the term business implied Voldemort and that implied trouble.
"Nothing to serious Harry" said Sirius, looking round at the worried looks on the three students faces.
"Not at all," clarified Dumbledore "I'm afraid we'll need to have a meeting some time early next week though. I just want you to meet Arabella first."
"She's an old friend," explained Sirius "Part of the team all those years ago."
Harry nodded again and looked round at Professor Hidellbank who looked fairly left out. She was to young to be part of the whole team and must have been a lot younger Harry was now when Voldemort was at his worst nearly 17 years ago now. Harry trusted her, even though history said that most new teachers were not to be trusted. He could just tell, like he could tell Lupin was a good guy. Although he had been fooled by the fake Mad Eye Moody.
Harry was brought out of his thoughts by the entrance of Lupin and a woman who was obviously Arabella Figg. It wasn't Arabella Figg who lived across the road from him, which was something he had thought about. If it had been he'd have been tempted to throttle her for making him look at cat photo's for god knows how long.
Arabella was fairly tall for a woman and made Lupin look a little silly standing next to her. Her robes were a deep purple colour but were plain. She had a fairly thin face and had long light brown hair and light brown/green eyes. She was not particularly attractive but she was not ugly and her pleasant smile made her look very trustworthy. Like one of those sweet old ladies you meet on muggle busses, just not as old.
"Ah Harry Potter" said Arabella Figg friendly "I've heard that your a down to earth boy from my mother, but I've never had the pleasure of meeting you."
Harry was brought out of his revere again and wondered who the hell her mother was. As if she was reading his thoughts she answered his question,
"Oh my mother has the same name as me, loves cats, bit barmy well...more than a bit."
"Your mums the women across my road!!!" Harry exclaimed "But she was hor....erm...I mean...she wasn't a witch was she."
Arabella laughed at Harry's attempts to cover what he was originally going to say and Harry suspected that if he looked round everyone else would be smiling or laughing too.
"She is, wouldn't have told you so though. She's a bit scared of admitting she's one...as I said, barmy."
Well, she was barmy thought Harry, so that made sense. He glanced at Ron and Hermione to gage their reactions towards the woman. They both looked curious but they also looked a bit left out.
"This is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," said Harry, pointing out his friends to Figg.
"I guessed," she said, smiling at the both, "Nice to meet you too although I have met Ron before when he was very young. I know his father well through the ministry. Wonderful man."
Ron looked proud at this comment. Ron fad always been proud of his father, as he knew he was highly respected by all decent magic folk and Harry liked him too. The Weasley family were fantastic, and Harry was glad most people appreciated them too.
Dumbledore had now stood up again and was coughing to gain everyone's attention.
"I think its probably time for Harry, Ron and Hermione to go" he said, smiling at them. "It's been nice having you all here and I'll send for the three of you when we have the meeting."
The trio said their goodnights and Harry gave his godfather a big hug, before heading back up to Gryffindor tower.
Before they reached the tower Hermione stopped.
"We still have nearly an hour before we have to be back in the common room. Maybe we should go to the library and take out a couple of books. Look up what happened to Harry."
Both Harry and Ron thought this was a good idea so they trekked to the library and Hermione collected an assortment of books she thought the answer could be in and they signed them out. They were back in the Gryffindor common room (with 6 very heavy books) plenty of time before the 9pm curfew.
"Jesus Hermione it's going to take us hours to trawl through these texts!" exclaimed Ron, flicking through over 400 pages of solid text in a thick black leather book.
"Well, Ronald Weasley the night is still young," replied Hermione playfully "Unless you have to be wrapped up in your bed before 11?"
Well, thought Harry, Ron wouldn't let Hermione get the better of him. They were likely to be searching through the books until the sun came up again in the morning. However, if they found out what had happened during that spell it would be worth it.
*******************************************************************************************
Sorry it's taken me a few days to update, I've been sick and I've had a couple of mock examinations so I've found it hard to fit in time on this.
It's not a great chapter but it's just a bit of a chance to get a feel for how everyone's reacting to everyone now. Later on some of that interaction is going to change and that should be clear in a later comparison type chapter were they are all put in a social situation again. Fear not though, there will be more action in the next thrilling instalment (ha ha etc). Oh and please review pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase.
*******************************************************************************************
Harry Potter and the Black Unicorn (Part 9) - The Meal
*******************************************************************************************
"A meal?" muttered Snape, "You expect me to go to a meal with your mutt and your two friends?"
Well yes, this was going exactly how Harry expected it. Snape was looking at him like he was mad and Harry was starting to agree with the man. He'd spent the rest of the morning and lunchtime being hassled by every Gryffindor possible and then some of the afternoon being pestered by Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuffs. Although many of the Hufflepuffs didn't really speak to him at the moment because of Cedric's death. It was now late afternoon and Harry was trying to carry out Dumbledore's command...he wasn't doing to well though.
"Yes a meal" replied Harry, "You know when you sit round a table and eat with people."
Snape glared at Harry and paced away from his desk over to the window again. Harry decided this was a safety thing for the potions master as Harry couldn't read the mans expressions if he had his back turned to him.
"Listen sir, it won't be that bad...Dumbledore will be there and so will I"
"Excellent Potter" Snape snapped "I'll race you there."
Okay, that sarcasm just royally pissed Harry of. He hadn't been mad at Snape for days but anger was starting to surface.
"Oh get over it" Harry replied, his voice cutting enough to rival Snape's. "I'm not my father and you're not still a student here. Why don't you try and treat me like a human being rather than sticking some label on me because of my father. You've treated me like I was just Harry for the last few days so why don't you just carry on."
Well, Harry was surprised at himself and Snape was silent. Harry was expecting some sort of angry remark and a impolite declining of his invitation. It seemed, however, that Snape enjoyed surprising people.
"Well, well Potter" Snape began, "Behind all that Gryffindor shivery there's a bit of a Slytherin temper"
"Well the sorting hat took its time to decide between the two so you shouldn't be so surprised," muttered Harry, glaring at Snape's back.
"I hadn't realised that," said Snape honestly "What would James say about having a son who was nearly put in Slytherin!"
"Oh forget James," said Harry, frustration in his voice. He stormed round to by Snape so Snape would have to look at him. "You're one of the only people here who sees through the Harry Potter rubbish yet you're stuck on something else entirely. You cant compare me to a man I never knew whether he was my father not."
Snape closed his eyes and bit his lower lip.
"Harry, me and your father and Sirius hated each other. Remus was almost like a mediator because he's tolerant of everyone. I wanted to be their friends originally, they seemed so happy and well...fun, I suppose."
Harry wasn't expecting this and he leant back on the desk to show Snape he was settling down to hear the story. Snape turned back towards his desk and Harry and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Anyway. They were not interested in befriending a Slytherin and only Lupin made an effort. It meant that for the first year or so that I sort of wandered between Slytherin and their group having no real friends in both. Then Sirius and James pulled that Lupin trick on me but luckily James pulled out of it and saved me."
Snape walked towards the cabinet by the side of his desk and leant on it.
"I was mad at them Harry. I went back to my common room and Malfoy, who was two years older than me was there with some friends. I told them what had happened and they told me I could be friends with them. I'd not had any real friends before so it seemed great but it became clear Malfoy was not amazingly nice. It was too late for me though Harry, once Lucius Malfoy has you in his grasp it's nearly impossible to let go."
Harry had remained silent all the way through the story. Snape had wanted to be friends with his dad, which was a surprise.
"You blame him for pushing you to Voldemort" stated Harry.
"Yes" replied Snape, "I know I shouldn't have got involved with Malfoy but I never would have if James Potter and Sirius Black hadn't been so damn stupid."
"James Potter" Harry stated calmly "Not Harry Potter."
Snape turned back to the boy and extended his hand to Harry,
"You're not your father Harry. I could never work with your father, I do so willingly with you."
Harry smiled at the gesture and shook hands with the potion master. Obviously Snape needed to be shouted at to make him see sense thought Harry, making a mental note to himself.
"Do you really want me to go to this bloody meal thing?" asked Snape, scowling slightly.
"I do, as does Dumbledore," replied Harry, "You don't have to though."
Snape crossed his arms and tapped his foot against the floor.
"I'll come, but if Sirius Black starts to have a go then I'm going. It would be a waste of my bloody time arguing with the man all night."
Harry grinned at his potions Professor and stood up,
"Well then, both of us need to get ready. It's starting in less than an hour."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Harry, Ron and Hermione were outside Dumbledore's office 5 minutes early but the man was there to great them.
"Ah, is there no other guest Harry?" he asked, looking mildly disappointed.
"Oh there is," replied Harry "He's making his own way here."
They followed the headmaster up the stairs into his office. There was a large table set up in the centre of the room, rectangular in shape. Sirius, Lupin and Hidellbank were already sitting round it. The trio sat down. Ron and Hermione were facing each other on one end next to Sirius Black a Remus Lupin. Harry and Dumbledore were next along and Hidellbank was at this point in time on her own.
"I hope you've brought me a nice dinner guest," the Defence Against the ark Arts teacher said, glancing towards the empty seat. That was a point, were was Snape thought Harry. Surely the man wouldn't have shunned the meal, maybe he was just late. Or maybe he'd tried to poison himself so he didn't have to come.
"Well" muttered Harry, "You'll be fine but I doubt Sirius will be."
"Snape!" exclaimed Sirius, glaring at Harry. Well, obviously it was a good clue Harry had given them. There was a short silence whilst Sirius glanced round at Lupin and Dumbledore. Ron broke this silence by laughing and Harry was relieved as it took some of the tension away. Before Sirius could muster words to express how horrible the idea was, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in" said Dumbledore politely, keeping one eye on Sirius. The door flung open and Snape marched in.
"Sorry I'm late" he said coolly, "Some stupid first year fell down the dungeon steps whilst playing truth or dare. Had to have them sent to the medical wing."
Snape sat down next to Harry and looked round the table. It was defiantly a tense situation and everyone was silent.
"Did you take house points or were you content just to sneer?" asked Sirius, clearly unhappy with Snape's presence.
"I thought my presence was enough of a punishment" replied Snape coolly, "They were running down my dungeon stairs to see who'd risk getting the nearest to my office after all."
This made everyone laugh except Sirius who was still glaring straight at Snape.
"I suppose you're here to play hero after last night?" Sirius said, hate in his voice.
"As usual I believe that's Mr Potter's job," replied Snape evenly, still keeping his calm.
"So what DO we owe your wonderful company to then Snape? Have you come to make us feel sick or are you here to spy on us?" he'd just pushed Snape a step to far.
"If you think before you speak Sirius, which I know is rare for you, you'll find that I spy for Dumbledore against Voldemort not the other way round."
"Or so you claim" snapped Sirius, leaning across Harry towards the man. Snape gave him an icy glare back and looked at Harry.
"I said I'd stay if he kept his gob shut, so either put him on a leash or let me go" Snape's words were delivered in an icy cold voice. Harry clasped both hands over his face,
"Will you both behave yourselves?" he half shouted, "Can you not sit at the table and at least ignore each other, even if you can't be sociable?"
"Harry," complained Sirius "The mans a..."
"The mans my guest and you cant even see each other properly unless you look, your on either side of me for gods sake." Harry sounded and looked exasperated. It had the right effect though as Snape remained quite and Sirius backed of put up his hands in defeat.
"Excellent" said Dumbledore, finally speaking. "The house elves have sent up a menu to chose from so just pick the starter you want and say it out loud."
Harry would have liked it if Dumbledore had tried to help him sort out the two S's but Dumbledore obviously had wanted Harry to deal with it.
Whilst eating the starters everyone had been involved in private conversations. Sirius had been talking to Harry about Quidditch and blocking spells, Dumbledore and Lupin had been discussing potions for werewolves, Ron and Hermione were talking about well...everything. The pair took the longest to eat their food because they were talking so much. The only bit Harry got involved with was Ron's plans to try out for Gryffindor keeper. Hermione seemed to think this was a great idea and to be honest so did Harry; Ron was a pretty tidy flier. Hidellbank had been telling Snape about some of the creatures she'd came across in Romania and Russia. Snape had made some comments but he seemed content to just listen. Harry was hoping Hagrid got back soon as he missed the half giant. Also, Hagrid would love to hear about the creatures Hidellbank was talking about. If they were dangerous, overly large and non-pet like Hagrid loved them.
Before they chose their main meals Dumbledore spoke up.
"Before we tuck into our next course I must tell you something funny. I was speaking to the house elves earlier today about the meal and they put together a menu for me. Dobby, with the wonderful sense of humour he has, asked me a question about Sirius in fact. He asked me very politely if Sirius would rather eat normal food, or whether he should send up a bowl of dog food as well."
Everybody laughed, even Snape.
"Well," continued Dumbledore "I thought to myself, how would I know which Sirius would prefer. So, when the menu appears and it has a selection of dog foods in one section you know why its there."
Lupin found this incredibly funny and clapped his hands; Sirius merely scowled at everyone's laughter but eventually saw the funny side of the situation. When the menu appeared and he'd looked through he declared he'd probably have the beef. Ron however, had obviously been looking through the entire menu and asked if that would be the beef with gravy, potatoes and veg or was it the beef dog food with added calcium. Poor Sirius went red as the table erupted with laughter again. God bless Dobby, thought Harry, he'd made the situation far less tense.
After everyone had got their food they'd all calmed down somewhat, although Lupin looked like he was going to burst into laughter at Sirius any second. Poor Sirius was trying to tackle his beef with a knife and fork but obviously hadn't used either for a while and had slopped gravy down his front and sent a piece of carrot flying into Dumbledore's beard.
Lupin, Sirius, Hidellbank and Dumbledore had managed to get into a conversation about the previous night. Ron and Hermione still only had eyes and words (it would seem) for each other and were discussing the weeks Defence Against the Dark Art's lessons. Harry had originally been part of the conversation about last night but he'd phased out somewhere along the way and was now just content to listen to everyone's voices.
"You okay?" asked Snape, before taking a swig of his wine.
"Yes I'm fine" he replied, "Just thinking about last night"
Snape looked down at his empty plate, he'd finished his food.
"Yes, I've been giving it some thought too," he raised his voice so everyone could here him "I'm going to get going now, got some research I need to do."
Everyone said goodbye except Sirius who grunted, although Harry thought that that was a vast sign of improvement. Snape said to 'enjoy the rest of the meal' and strode out.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Snape's presence wasn't really missed at the meal, the tension completely lifted from Sirius and even Ron looked more relaxed. Or maybe that was just because Hermione was smiling at him. Yes, it was probably that. During desert Harry and Sirius swapped seats so he could sit by Ron and Hermione and the trio ordered a massive ice cream between the three of them. The bowl it sat on was about the same size as a bucket and was full of many scoops of multi coloured different flavours. There was vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mint, cherry, raspberry, banana, toffee, caramel, peanut butter and many more. They managed to get half way through the bowl before giving up and considering the size of the bowl this was quiet an achievement.
"Hermione" Harry gained the girls attention, "Have you ever read about two people casting the same spell at the same time and something weird happening?"
"Like what?" she asked, leaning back in her chair and holding her stomach.
"A weird light and like…energy running between them. Maybe even the spell working stronger" Harry tried to picture what exactly had happened the night before.
"I take it you mean what happened last night with the blocking spell?" cut in Ron, "We saw it."
Harry nodded and tapped his finger on the table. He wondered if Snape remembered it too.
"I could go look it up in the library tomorrow morning," offered Hermione "We've got no lessons."
"Yeah we can all go, be loads quicker" said Ron, attempting to eat another spoonful of ice cream. Not even Ron could manage more. "God I'm full," the red head muttered, slumping back in his seat like Hermione, "I'm going to be a little ball of ice cream fat tomorrow."
Ron eloquent statement set Harry and Hermione of into fits of giggles. Possibly because they were tired, or possibly they were envisioning Ron as a little ball of ice cream. Their laughter caught the attention of the four adults around the table with them.
"Well Mr Potter," said Dumbledore cheerfully "Its good to see you enjoying yourself"
"Thank you sir" said Harry politely. Sirius grinned at Harry from beside him and looked like the stereotypical proud godfather.
"Now, down to business" said Dumbledore calmly. "Remus, any chance you can run and get Arabella for me?"
Remus Lupin nodded and left Dumbledore's office without saying a word. There was a short silence where Hermione and Ron looked at Harry uncertainly. None have them had been expecting this to turn into anything more than a friendly meal, the term business implied Voldemort and that implied trouble.
"Nothing to serious Harry" said Sirius, looking round at the worried looks on the three students faces.
"Not at all," clarified Dumbledore "I'm afraid we'll need to have a meeting some time early next week though. I just want you to meet Arabella first."
"She's an old friend," explained Sirius "Part of the team all those years ago."
Harry nodded again and looked round at Professor Hidellbank who looked fairly left out. She was to young to be part of the whole team and must have been a lot younger Harry was now when Voldemort was at his worst nearly 17 years ago now. Harry trusted her, even though history said that most new teachers were not to be trusted. He could just tell, like he could tell Lupin was a good guy. Although he had been fooled by the fake Mad Eye Moody.
Harry was brought out of his thoughts by the entrance of Lupin and a woman who was obviously Arabella Figg. It wasn't Arabella Figg who lived across the road from him, which was something he had thought about. If it had been he'd have been tempted to throttle her for making him look at cat photo's for god knows how long.
Arabella was fairly tall for a woman and made Lupin look a little silly standing next to her. Her robes were a deep purple colour but were plain. She had a fairly thin face and had long light brown hair and light brown/green eyes. She was not particularly attractive but she was not ugly and her pleasant smile made her look very trustworthy. Like one of those sweet old ladies you meet on muggle busses, just not as old.
"Ah Harry Potter" said Arabella Figg friendly "I've heard that your a down to earth boy from my mother, but I've never had the pleasure of meeting you."
Harry was brought out of his revere again and wondered who the hell her mother was. As if she was reading his thoughts she answered his question,
"Oh my mother has the same name as me, loves cats, bit barmy well...more than a bit."
"Your mums the women across my road!!!" Harry exclaimed "But she was hor....erm...I mean...she wasn't a witch was she."
Arabella laughed at Harry's attempts to cover what he was originally going to say and Harry suspected that if he looked round everyone else would be smiling or laughing too.
"She is, wouldn't have told you so though. She's a bit scared of admitting she's one...as I said, barmy."
Well, she was barmy thought Harry, so that made sense. He glanced at Ron and Hermione to gage their reactions towards the woman. They both looked curious but they also looked a bit left out.
"This is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," said Harry, pointing out his friends to Figg.
"I guessed," she said, smiling at the both, "Nice to meet you too although I have met Ron before when he was very young. I know his father well through the ministry. Wonderful man."
Ron looked proud at this comment. Ron fad always been proud of his father, as he knew he was highly respected by all decent magic folk and Harry liked him too. The Weasley family were fantastic, and Harry was glad most people appreciated them too.
Dumbledore had now stood up again and was coughing to gain everyone's attention.
"I think its probably time for Harry, Ron and Hermione to go" he said, smiling at them. "It's been nice having you all here and I'll send for the three of you when we have the meeting."
The trio said their goodnights and Harry gave his godfather a big hug, before heading back up to Gryffindor tower.
Before they reached the tower Hermione stopped.
"We still have nearly an hour before we have to be back in the common room. Maybe we should go to the library and take out a couple of books. Look up what happened to Harry."
Both Harry and Ron thought this was a good idea so they trekked to the library and Hermione collected an assortment of books she thought the answer could be in and they signed them out. They were back in the Gryffindor common room (with 6 very heavy books) plenty of time before the 9pm curfew.
"Jesus Hermione it's going to take us hours to trawl through these texts!" exclaimed Ron, flicking through over 400 pages of solid text in a thick black leather book.
"Well, Ronald Weasley the night is still young," replied Hermione playfully "Unless you have to be wrapped up in your bed before 11?"
Well, thought Harry, Ron wouldn't let Hermione get the better of him. They were likely to be searching through the books until the sun came up again in the morning. However, if they found out what had happened during that spell it would be worth it.
*******************************************************************************************
Sorry it's taken me a few days to update, I've been sick and I've had a couple of mock examinations so I've found it hard to fit in time on this.
It's not a great chapter but it's just a bit of a chance to get a feel for how everyone's reacting to everyone now. Later on some of that interaction is going to change and that should be clear in a later comparison type chapter were they are all put in a social situation again. Fear not though, there will be more action in the next thrilling instalment (ha ha etc). Oh and please review pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase.
*******************************************************************************************