The day of the first Quidditch match dawned clear and sunny, with hardly any wind at all. The Gryffindor team trooped down to the Great Hall together for breakfast in high spirits. After forcing down a few bites, and some well-wishes from Ron and Hermione, Harry headed upstairs to grab his Firebolt and Quidditch Robes. Almost as an afterthought, he tucked his wand into his robes; he didn't think he'd need it, but after the dementors, he felt it best to be prepared for anything.
In the locker room a short time later, Angelina Johnston pounded her fist in her hand. "Let's do this, team!" They all cheered, pumping their fists in the air, and spilled out into the stadium.
Meanwhile, up in the stands, Ron and Hermione were keeping an eye out for Lupin and Sirius, as Snuffles. They had their monoculars with them, and they were scanning the bleachers.
The referee stepped out onto the field, her broomstick in her hand, and spoke with the captains of the two teams. With a blast on her whistle, she hurled the red ball into the air as the fourteen team members launched themselves into the air. A moment later, Madam Hooch was also in the air, scrutinizing every move made.
Harry zipped around the stadium a few times, getting the feel of the game. He expected the opposing Seeker, Cho Chang, to mark him, so he made sure his travels were as fast and indirect as possible.
On his second pass, his eye was caught by someone in the stands. Remus Lupin sat watching the game intently; a huge black grizzly-sized dog stood on the seat next to him. The dog's eyes were fixed on Harry. When it saw Harry looking in its direction, it wagged its tail madly and barked. The man next to the dog looked at the dog then looked up as well, and waved to Harry while the dog continued to bark excitedly.
Harry waved cheerfully at them, then went into a steep dive to avoid a Bludger. He was only vaguely aware of the game going on around him; he knew both sides had scored, but he had to sneak a look at the scoreboard to find out the real score: Ravenclaw, 30 – Gryffindor, 20.
Suddenly, in a flash of gold, the Snitch raced past him. In an instant, he had turned and rocketed after it. Chang, on the opposite end of the field, saw him move and hurtled after him. But she never had a chance. Harry's Firebolt gave him an unprecedented advantage, and with his head-start, Ravenclaw's fate was sealed. Within seconds of going after the Snitch, he had closed his fist around the quivering metallic ball. A whistle sounded and the stands erupted in cheers and screams.
The rest of the team members hurtled toward Harry like six scarlet comets. Laughing and cheering, the team descended to the ground where they were met by swarms of students.
Amidst the celebrating throng and the many hands and arms around him, Harry noticed two very familiar figures making their way toward him. He was just managing to extricate himself from the mob when his two best friends got to him and flung their arms around his neck in jubilation.
"Harry, that was amazing!" shouted Ron.
Harry tugged on both of them. "Come on, guys – Lupin's over there!"
He hadn't got more than a few steps when Angelina whipped him around into a huge hug. "Way to go, Harry, I knew you could do it! Hurry back to the Common Room!" She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.
Harry finally made his way towards Lupin and Sirius. His godfather, as Snuffles, bounded toward Harry in his huge strides. Harry knelt down, wrapped his arms around the dog's neck, and whispered, "Good to see you, Sirius." Harry could have sworn the dog was grinning at him.
Just as he was standing up, he heard another shout. "HARRY!" Came the familiar bellow.
"Hagrid!" they all cried in unison. The massive gamekeeper was clumping toward them, while his equally massive dog, Fang, ran ahead to greet Snuffles. The two dogs circled each other warily for a moment, then began tussling like all dogs do. Harry had to smile, it was too funny to see what he knew was his godfather, in the form of a huge black dog, rolling around on the ground with Hagrid's dog.
Lupin drew up to Harry and his friends and held out his hand. They all shook it.
"It's good to see you again, Harry," said Lupin, smiling. "You're a wonder on that broom." Harry could only smile at his former mentor.
Hagrid, Fang, and Sirius-Snuffles joined them. The group turned and headed back toward the castle, while Harry caught up with the news from Lupin. They followed the crowd out of the stadium, walking across the long green expanse outside the school.
Sounds of what seemed to be a rather heated discussion reached their ears and made them look around for the source. They found it in four figures coming from the stands, heading in their direction. They stopped to watch.
Professor Snape and Professor Black were arguing over the match. It sounded like Black was winning.
"If you didn't want to lose, Severus, you shouldn't have wagered-" she was cut off by a baying howl from Snuffles, who, with Fang at his side, lunged toward them.
Black stopped, puzzled for a moment, then broke into a huge smile. "Fang! Snuffles!" she cried, and ran toward them. Snuffles got to her first; planting his huge paws on shoulders, he plowed into her, knocking her over, and sending both of them tumbling into a heap on the ground.
The enormous black dog was standing over her, and Fang was by its side the next instant; they were both licking her face ecstatically, tails lashing. She tried to sit up, but the affections of the two dogs proved too much and she toppled over on her back again, laughing. Everybody else had to laugh and smile at the comical sight.
All but one. Snape was not smiling or laughing, he was furious. He frowned as the dogs' high-spirited assault on Professor Black started to get a bit out of hand. She shrieked, not out of pain or fear, but out of delight; but the one sound was all it took to prod Snape into action.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lupin, and Hagrid had watched the encounter with glee. Lupin turned and whispered to Harry, "This is the first time he's seen her since she was a child, almost 20 years ago." Harry swallowed and blinked back a few tears.
A sudden movement caught Harry's eye; before he could react, Snape had whipped his wand out of his robes and was advancing on the three figures on the ground.
"NO!!" Harry's scream as he seized his own wand took everybody by surprise, except for Snape, who ignored it. The several groups of students furthest from the school turned at the sound and started running back down the hill. It was only moments before everybody watching realized what was happening.
The woman on the ground didn't need moments to analyze the situation; for her, Harry's cry and one glance up was all she needed. Before Harry's wand was completely out of his robes, she had knocked the dogs aside, flung herself to her feet, and aimed her wand at Snape.
"EXPELLIARMUS!!!" There was a blinding flash of light. Harry blinked; when he looked again, Snape was flat on his back, a horrified look on his face. Professor Black stood there, outraged and furious, holding Snape's wand in her left hand. The two dogs crouched behind her, confused and frightened. At least, Fang looked frightened. Snuffles' posture shifted from anger to fear and back to anger, as he watched the confrontation. He had not expected Snape to actually try to attack him, though it didn't take him completely by surprise, but he was totally unprepared for his sister's split-second maneuver.
Snape made a move to get up, but immediately froze when Black thrust her wand toward his chest.
She was so angry, she was shaking. "You…you…don't you EVER…." Snape had the good sense to keep his mouth shut.
She closed her eyes and seemed to gain some manner of control over her emotions. She fixed an angry glare at Snape. "You know so little about me," she whispered, barely loud enough for anyone besides Snape to hear. She pointed with his wand, still in her left hand, at the dogs behind her.
"If you hurt Fang, you'll have to deal with Hagrid; if you hurt Snuffles, you'll have to deal with Remus. But before you'd have deal with either of them, you'd find yourself dealing with me." She paused to let her words sink in.
When she spoke again, her voice was quieter, lower, but far more menacing. "Don't you ever…EVER…threaten…an…animal…in…my…presence…again."
Snape finally found his voice. "That's no animal," he started, but she cut him off.
"I've known Remus longer than I've known you, Severus, and I am well aware of your feelings for each other. But if your dislike for a person leads you to attack his pet, an innocent and defenseless animal…then you're not the man I thought you were."
Snape started to get up again. "He's not innocent-"
"Shut up. I don't want to hear it." She hurled his wand savagely at his feet, turned, and stalked off toward the school. Lupin called to Snuffles and the two of them went after the retreating figure.
Dumbledore had remained on the sidelines during the whole situation, looking with amusement at the entire situation, but now he strode forward and offered his hand to Snape, still sprawled on the ground, who took it. "Her reflexes are as good as ever. I wouldn't cross her again if I were you, Severus."
Snape scowled. "Is that all you're going to say after what she did?" he demanded.
"She was right," Dumbledore replied mildly. "You don't know anything about her; if you did, you would know that her one blind spot is animals, especially dogs." He leaned in closer to Snape, his face showing irritation. "And after last year, I would have thought you'd have known better than to do what you just tried to do." He turned away and headed back up toward the school with Professor Flitwick.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid had not moved; after the headmaster left, Snape glared at the four of them, but said nothing; after a moment, he stormed off toward the school.
Hagrid turned to the students, obviously uncomfortable with what he had just witnessed. "You three'd better head back up to t'school now; don' wan' none of yer ter get inter trouble." The three decided to take Hagrid's advice immediately, as he went back to his hut with Fang.
On the way back, Ron couldn't keep from smiling. "Did you see what she did to him! That was AMAZING!"
"Yes, and I'd wager that we'd better keep our mouths shut about it. Snape knows we saw it, and he knows we're friends with her," said Hermione. "He's not going to forget it, either. We'd better be on our best behavior around Snape nowadays."
When they arrived at the castle, instead of going up to the Common Room to celebrate with the rest of Gryffindor House, Harry tugged on their robes and pointed down another hallway.
"I want to check on Professor Black first, and see Sirius for a minute. Won't be long." They hurried after him toward her office.
Harry knocked on the door of the office; the muted voices within suddenly switched off. The door opened to Professor Black's face. "Harry! Ron, Hermione, come in." She stepped aside to let them in the room before shutting the door again.
Inside were Lupin and Sirius in dog form. He had changed from his human appearance not knowing who was on the other side of the door. As soon as the door was shut, he turned back into a man and crossed the room to Harry in a few steps, enfolding him in a bone-crushing hug. Ron and Hermione stood by quietly, waiting; when Sirius released Harry, they both grabbed his hands and shook them heartily, smiling.
"Good to see you, Harry." He also smiled and nodded at his two friends. "I wasn't sure how we were going to get out of that little situation down by the Quidditch field, though. I never expected him to try to expose me…" he trailed off. "Thanks to my wonderful sis, though – man, what moves Beck." He grinned at her, stepped back and put his arm around her shoulder, and smiled at her. She smiled back and hugged her brother.
Remus stepped forward. "Are you sure you still want to stay here, Sirius, after what Snape tried?"
Sirius
sighed. "I guess I'd better not. I can't risk that he might make another
attempt to blow my cover."
Harry didn't want to see Sirius leave so soon again. "Could you stay at the cave near Hosgmeade again? We'll send you food and stuff."
Sirius pondered this for a moment. "I supposed I could. I would like to stay close by for a while, not that I don't enjoy your hospitality, Remus."
"And I would love to have your nearby, Big Brother," said Rebekah, "but I don't want to risk another repeat of today, either."
"I think," said Lupin, "that Dumbledore will do something to ensure that it won't happen. But your little mountain retreat might not be a bad idea. I'd feel better if you kept your distance from Snape for now."
"At least for now, anyway," said Rebekah. "I'd like to be able to spend some time with you. I'll work on Severus; I'm not going to let him stand in the way of me seeing my brother."
They turned to the three students. "You'd all better run along now and get up to the celebration in the Gryffindor Common Room. I'm sure everyone is wondering where their Seeker is."
"Harry," said Sirius, "that was some amazing flying. I'm glad to see you and that Firebolt in action." He took Harry's hand for a parting handshake. "We'll see each other again soon – hopefully at the next Hosgmeade weekend."
After a round of goodbyes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the office and headed up to the common room for the victory party.
Monday morning there was a notice pinned up by the entrance to the Great Hall. Everyone gathered around to read it.
"Hosgmeade this weekend!" said Ron excitedly. "I can't wait!"
"I'd better send an owl to Sirius, let him know to meet us," Harry said as they sat down to breakfast.
Hermione nodded as she buttered her toast. "Why don't you check with Professor Black, too?" she suggested. "We could all go together."
Harry thought that was an excellent idea, but there wasn't much time to mull things over as it was soon time for Divination. Ron and Harry trudged up the long flights of stairs to the top of the North Tower. Both Ron and Harry had been relieved when they finally finished with Tarot Cards, but when Professor Trelawney announced that they would start hypnotism, they both wished they would go back to the cards.
Harry was especially reluctant to enter a hypnotic trance; he did not want to inadvertently expose Sirius. Ron was equally uneasy about the prospect. However, fortune smiled on them and Trelawney was so focused on Pavarti and Lavender that she in effect ignored the rest of the class. It was fairly easy for Harry and Ron to fade into the background and observe…or just let their minds wander.
Neither of them was particularly looking forward to facing Snape in Potions that morning after the incident at the Quidditch match. Harry would have preferred to stay in the stuffy attic environment that was Divination, but he shouldered his resolve along with Ron and began the long trek down to the dungeons.
They met Hermione outside the Potions classroom and, exchanging a knowing glance between them, they all silently filed inside and sat down quietly at their table. Snape was there, looking as foul-tempered as ever, but they were all surprised when he kept his bad mood in check and pretty much left them alone after instructing them on the preparation of their latest project, a Hardening Potion.
The story of the encounter after the Quidditch game had made it around the school since Saturday, but the Gryffindor students had enough sense to keep their mouths shut, and they cut, chopped, stirred, and boiled in strained silence. The Slytherins, however, were not quite so prudent, and they laughed, joked, and made nasty comments as was their usual practice when they had class with Gryffindor. Unfortunately for them, Snape had little patience for any classroom disruptions, and the perpetually cocky Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had their bubbles popped when they found themselves with detention for throwing slug parts across the dungeon.
All in all, it was one of the best Potions classes they had attended, with the exception of the testing of the Polyjuice Potion. As they entered the Great Hall for lunch, talk turned from Snape's unusual behavior to the upcoming Hosgmeade weekend. Harry scribbled a quick note to Sirius and left lunch early to run it up to Hedwig in the owlery.
With the letter delivered, Harry started for his next class, but detoured to Professor Black's office first. But she was not in her office. Harry shrugged and went on to class.
He tried to catch her the next day, as well, but she was nowhere to be found. The teacher once so obvious in the halls of the school was apparently not to be found outside of the classroom. They knew she was teaching – Hufflepuff students said she had been in class – but even Harry's desperate attempt to catch her between classes came up empty-handed. He realized he would have to wait until Thursday to speak to her.
Thursday morning, Hedwig brought Harry a response from Sirius. It was short and to the point:
Harry, you know where to meet me. Snuffles
Harry grinned. "Well, we know where he is now. And we can tell Professor Black today."
Professor Black had an interesting surprise for them when the arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The huge sheet-covered object that held a prominent place on her desk was by far the most obvious, but the thing that caught Harry's eye was a small glass vase containing a single yellow-orange rose; flowers had not been part of the characteristic décor of the classroom before, but he put it out of his mind as their teacher approached the front of the class.
"Today," she began, "we are going to move on to something a little more interesting, and a little more dangerous." The class looked around uneasily at her words. She reached over to grab the sheet draped over the mysterious object. She smiled mysteriously.
"I give you…" with a flourish, she whipped the sheet off and exposed the statute beneath, "…a wyrven."
The class erupted with shouts of excitement and panic. While Black waited patiently for them to calm down, Harry studied the statue she had uncovered. It was moving in a repetitive pattern, like a wizard photograph. It looked like a dragon, only it seemed more sinuous, more cat-like, than the dragon he had flown against during the Triwizard Tournament. It's head whipped slowly back and forth, its stare panning across the class. Harry got the feeling it was studying each one of them in turn.
"Calm down," she said, raising her voice slightly to cut through the pandemonium, "this is not a real wyrven, as I'm sure most of you guessed." She chuckled. "It's a statue of me in the morning before my first cup of coffee." There was general laughter throughout the group. "You don't see wyrvens very often, which is why I wanted to introduce you to them. They are relatives of the dragon, though smaller, and more intelligent. Your book doesn't say much about them because, like I said earlier, you don't see them often, and there haven't been any left in this part of the world for several centuries. They like to live near large bodies of water – oceans preferably. They feed on seals, fish, the occasional bird, and any humans foolish enough to bother their nesting sites. There are only two wyrven preserves in the whole world, one in Northern Canada, one in Scandinavia."
They spent the rest of the class doing some comparative biology and working on ways to defend against wyrvens and dragons. When the hour was up, as the rest of the students streamed toward the door, Harry held back.
"Professor?" he said hesitantly.
She looked down at him and smiled. "Yes, Harry?"
"I was wondering," he said, "if you knew that Sirius is going to meet us in Hosgmeade this weekend?"
"Yes, I did know, and I will probably be there. Sirius and I have twenty years of catch up to do – if it wasn't for Severus, he'd be staying here with me, but as it is, I can only see him on weekends and whenever I have a few spare hours." She sighed, then smiled. "I hope you don't mind sharing your godfather with me for a while."
Harry smiled back. "No, I understand; I just hope you don't mind sharing him with me."
Black laughed. "No, I don't mind one bit. And you'd best run along now, Harry. I'll see you later. Take care."
"Bye, Professor," said Harry as he turned to go, but stopped as he remembered something. "Oh, Professor…that's a pretty flower you've got there. Who gave it to you?"
She looked over at the flower for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "It was a gift." She turned back to Harry and smiled. "And if you can't figure out who sent it to me, I'm not going to tell you."
Saturday seemed a week away, and Harry was on pins and needles with anticipation by Friday evening. He was anxious to see Sirius again – and have more than just a few minutes' worth of conversation.
They had gone to visit Hagrid on Friday afternoon, and Harry was not at all surprised to find Professor Black there again, Fang once again plastered to her lap. Conversation between Hagrid & Black revolved around – of course – animals. Hagrid had been up to the castle to see her fish, and was suitably impressed with them.
Black remembered to wrap things up in time for dinner, and as they were leaving whispered to Harry, "See you tomorrow."
The next morning arrived (finally!) and everyone chatted excitedly about the upcoming Hosgmeade trip. It looked like most of the teachers would be going, too; they were all talking just as excitedly as the students.
With a rush of wings, the owls arrived with the mail. Hedwig didn't bring a letter, but she brought a brief moment of companionship when she swooped down to share a bit of Harry's toast.
At the head table, Professor Black had another one of those mysterious flowers in front of her place. Suddenly, a large gray owl dropped a bundle in front of her, knocking the flower over. She looked surprised for a moment, picked up the package, and ripped it open – numerous letters fluttered out onto her plate. She picked up one, scanned it briefly, then let out a short laugh of surprise. Her eyes on the paper as she continued to read it, she absently reached out and righted the fallen rose.
Shortly after, she gathered the letters littering the table and left the Great Hall, still reading a letter. Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran after her.
"Professor!" they called as they ran up to her.
She turned, the paper still in her hands, and smiled at them. "Almost ready to go up to Hosgmeade, kids?" she asked. "We can go together, as soon as I finish reading these." She waved the letter in the air.
"Who-" Harry started, but Hermione shushed him.
"Oh, these are from my 'Hearthies'," she said.
"Hearthies?" all three repeated.
She laughed, "Yes, Hearthies. It's a bunch of friends of mine, we call each other Hearthies. They're mostly Muggles, so they send the letters to a mutual wizard friend by their post, and she forwards them to me by Owl Post." She glanced back at the letter she had been reading and chuckled. "That frejaja…what has she done now?"
"Frejaja?" all three chorused in disbelief.
Black grinned. "Yes, frejaja is her name. And don't look so puzzled, it's not her real name. It's her nickname."
"How did she get it?" asked Hermione. "It's sort of…different."
"I don't know how she got it," the professor replied, "I guess she liked it and gave it to herself." She looked back at the letters, leafing briefly through them. "They're not all so unusual. Lindy, Mutai Fayola, Joe, Lavandeo, j'ai beau, Suzzie, EvaC, Oondie, Yondolar, Wyetookay…all members of the Thylacine Hearth."
"Thylacine Hearth?" said Harry.
"What's a thylacine?" asked Ron at the same time.
Hermione answered before Black could. "It's an extinct animal, a marsupial, from Australia."
"What's a marsupial?" was Ron's next question.
"Nevermind," said Hermione.
Professor Black laughed. "We're just a group of people from all over the world who have a common interest in a series of novels – and no, I'm not going to stand here and explain them to you, it would take too long." But she was grinning when she said it. "Some of us know each others' real names, but we usually use our nicknames when we correspond."
Harry looked up at the slim, almost delicate-looking woman. "What is your nickname, Professor? What do you they call you?"
"I should think you'd have been able to guess after last weekend." She gave a wicked smile. "They call me Rage."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Professor Black to her office; they all wanted to see her aquarium again, and, much to their delight, she had offered to let them feed the fish and learn more about their care. She was still engrossed in her letters as they walked, so the three kept their conversation to a whisper to avoid disturbing her as much as possible.
They had just turned the corner into the hallway where her office was located when she stopped suddenly. Professor Snape was pacing in the hallway outside her office door; he looked up at their approach and scowled slightly when he saw that she was not alone. She hesitated, then turned to Harry.
"Why don't you three head on out to Hosgmeade now – I'll meet you at Zonko's in about an hour…sound OK?" They looked at Snape waiting impatiently and then back at Professor Black. "Go on," she said, "I need to speak with Professor Snape alone. I'll see you shortly. Hurry now." She gave all three of them a gentle push in the direction of the hallway.
The three looked at each other, shrugged, and with one final backwards glance, hurried out toward the school's main doors and Hogmede.
One hour later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing outside Zonko's, their pockets full of tasty treats and food for Sirius, and their heads full of questions. None of them knew why Snape wanted to talk to Professor Black, nor why she seemed so flustered by it.
"It's got to be about the incident after the Quidditch match," said Hermione. "They're bound to be uncomfortable around each other after that."
Harry nodded. "Could be. Maybe he's apologizing to her for what he did."
Ron looked incredulously at Harry. "Snape? Apologize? He wouldn't know the meaning of the word." He snorted.
"No, I think he might," retorted Harry. "Just because we don't like him and he obviously doesn't like us, doesn't mean he doesn't feel bad for making a fellow teacher angry. You saw those flowers she's had lately?" They nodded. "I thought they were from Sirius, but now I bet Snape gave them to her, as an apology."
Ron shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day when Snape would go all nice and soft like that." Harry had to laugh; the idea was rather startling.
Hermione nudged him in the ribs. "Here comes Snuffles." Sure enough, padding across the square was the big black dog that was Sirius. Hermione bent down and whistled, and the dog broke into a run towards her.
The three of them fussed and fretted over him, looking for all the world like three innocent children giving a poor stray mutt some much-needed love and affection. They gave him a few snacks, which he took eagerly, then he started moving off, between the buildings. They waited for a bit, watched as he circled around, and came out at the far end from behind another building. Harry looked around for Professor Black, but there was no sign of her; he sighed and nodded to Ron and Hermione to start following. They started walking in the opposite direction that Sirius had gone, toward the little-used mountain path that led up to the cave.
They reached the path about the same time that Sirius did, and the four of them climbed the steep trail to Sirius's hideout. When they entered the cave, they found that the dog had transformed back into a man; Buckbeak was also there, lounging placidly along the far wall. After emptying their pockets for Sirius, Hermione and Ron hurried to the back. After a mutual exchange of bows, they were soon stroking and patting him, talking quietly.
Sirius, his mouth full of bread and butterbeer, said to Harry, "I thought Rebekah would be with you today; have you seen her?"
Harry hesitated. "Uh, she told us that she would meet us…but she hadn't by the time you came by. I think she had a meeting or something."
Sirius looked puzzled for a moment, but he decided not to pry, to Harry's relief. He didn't relish the idea of telling his godfather that his sister had stayed behind to talk to Snape. Sirius shrugged as he reached for a pumpkin pasty.
"So," he said, after a few more bites, "what's new with you?"
Harry filled Sirius in on the latest developments at the school; Ron and Hermione joined them soon after, Buckbeak sitting between them chewing on some chicken they had brought for him.
"Is Snape giving you any trouble?" Sirius asked.
"A little," Harry admitted, "but Professor Black told me that she'd promised you that she would keep him off my back." They all laughed.
"Is she?" asked Sirius next.
Harry laughed again. "Yeah – and you should see how flustered Snape gets whenever she gets us off the hook!"
Sirius laughed, a loud, hearty laugh, and nearly shot butterbeer out his nose. "That's good to hear; I won't have him tormenting my godson, no sir. And what she did to him after the Quidditch match…I'd have never guessed my little sis capable of something like that."
"Capable of what?" came a voice from the mouth of the cave. They all turned to look; Rebekah had finally arrived, a large bag slung over her shoulder.
"Beck!" Sirius cried as he leapt to his feet and rushed to give her a hug. "I was worried you weren't going to make it. Where were you?"
She returned his hug and brushed off his comment. "I got sidetracked with school work." She bowed to Buckbeak, who quickly returned the gesture, and she patted his neck affectionately. He nuzzled her hand, looking for food, and she opened the bag to reveal a veritable pantry.
While the hippogriff contented himself with a large side of ham, Rebekah settled down to chat with Sirius and company. They passed the hours away regaling everyone with tales from their childhood, the games they played, the places they went together. Harry finally got an idea of just how much they cared for each other – they sat next to each other while they talked, often reaching out to clasp the other's hand or give a hug. At one point, Rebekah leaned her head against Sirius's shoulder, and he put an arm around her shoulders.
"I never thought I'd see you again, Sirius," she said softly. "I've missed you so much." A single tear rolled down her cheek, which she wiped away with the back of her hand.
Sirius seemed overcome himself. "I never thought to see you again, either. So much time, so many years, lost. We can catch up with the stories, but we can never take back the time that we missed. Ah, little sister…I'm so happy we're back together." He seemed close to tears himself.
The three watching were holding back tears themselves, but it was most difficult for Harry. Ron and Hermione genuinely liked Sirius, were friends with him, and had risked themselves to save him, but for Harry, his godfather was the only link he had to his past, to the parents he barely remembered, to a life that he never got to live. He knew what Sirius had suffered, what he had to live with, the betrayal he had to come to terms with, and it nearly broke Harry's heart to see him in such pain.
The two long-lost siblings mastered their emotions, and the playful, teasing tone crept back into Sirius's voice. "So, sis, tell me…you're not married? Still single? Why? I have a good enough excuse for my bachelorhood – twelve years in Azkaban will do that to a man – but you! Young, smart, beautiful…" His eyes twinkled mischievously.
To their surprise, Rebekah actually blushed, and ducked her head. She smiled at her brother, and the smile quickly became a mocking grin. "Well, now, where am I going to find a man as wonderful as you, dear brother?"
Everyone burst out laughing at the look of shock on Sirius's face. A moment later, he joined them, shaking his head at his sister. "God, you're as quick with your brain as you are on your feet. Now I know where all the family brains went!"
Time soon came for everyone to return to the school. Sirius didn't want any of them to get in trouble, even if they did have a teacher with them. They promised to send Hedwig with more food the next day, even though Sirius had enough to last him and Buckbeak almost an entire week. Sirius gave his sister one final hug and shook hands with Ron, Hermione, and Harry. As they turned to go, Sirius put his had on Harry's shoulder and held him back for a moment. "Keep an eye on Rebekah for me, will you Harry? There's something she's not telling me."
Harry locked eyes with his godfather and nodded. Then he followed his friends out of the cave and down the winding mountain path to Hosgmeade.
The next week sped by, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were too busy with school (and Harry with Quidditch practice) to do anything except homework. Harry did manage to send Hedwig off with some food and a quick note to Sirius on Monday, but little else. Friday was Halloween, and the school was abuzz with anticipation of the festivities to come.
On Halloween night, they entered the Great Hall for the dinner feast to find floating jack-o-lanterns, fluttering bats, and black cats peeping at them from high perches and shadowy corners.
Harry saw Professor Black settling herself in her chair; she looked up and saw him and waved cheerily. He waved back. He noticed that she and Flitwick had switched seats – she was sitting on his right side, next to Professor Snape.
The food was delicious – it was always delicious – and there was freshly baked pumpkin pie for desert. Harry looked up at the head tables and saw Snape lean over and say something to Professor Black. She was smiling and nodding, and while she was listening she reached over and picked up her goblet. Just as she was taking a drink, whatever it was that Snape said to her must have been funny because she choked, nearly spewing pumpkin juice all over the table, banged her goblet down on the table, leaned her head down and gave herself over to laughter.
Harry's jaw dropped; he grabbed Ron and Hermione's arms and hissed, "Look!" They looked, and their jaws dropped too – right there, next to the Professor Black (who was still doubled over with the giggles), Professor Snape was laughing.
The rest of the school saw it, too, and the silence spread out like ripples in a pond; nobody had ever seen Snape even smile before, much less laugh. Black still had not caught her breath and was now hiding her face in her hands, still giggling.
With everyone so quiet, they could hear the few words she was managing to gasp out, "Oh, God, Severus….that was the funniest…"
By the time she managed to bring her hilarity under control, the teachers were staring as well as the students. Wiping tears from her eyes, and shaking her head in disbelief, she said, "Severus, if you're going to tell me a joke like that, please – PLEASE – let me put my drink down first, OK?"
The teachers all burst into laughter at the matter-of-fact statement. Black waved an apology to Dumbledore just as she collapsed into giggles again, this time leaning on Snape's shoulder as she tried in vain to control herself. Snape looked down at her in disbelief. "It wasn't that funny, Rebekah!" The only affect it had was to cause another spasm of laughter to shake her body.
Still chuckling himself, Dumbledore looked out at the students. "Nothing to be so shocked over, just a rather amusing joke. Don't stop your own feasting on account of Professor Black's case of the giggles."
If nothing else, his statement broke the tension in the hall, and the students laughed themselves and went back to their pumpkin pie and ice cream. Soon after, content and full, they trudged sleepily up the long, winding staircases to their dormitories for a peaceful night's sleep.
November at Hogwarts was cold, damp, and dreary. Ron and Harry almost looked forward to Divination, if only for the fact that Professor Trelawney always had a roaring fire blazing in her attic classroom. However, any warmth they absorbed while dozing in Divination was quickly doused by their double hour in the dungeon with Snape.
After seeing Snape and Black laughing together at the Halloween feast, Harry had harbored a tiny glimmer of hope that perhaps the perpetually mean-spirited professor would lighten up, but that idea was dispelled in the very next Potions class when Snape took twenty points from Harry for "breathing loudly".
As late fall progressed into winter, Harry continued to be on Snape's bad side, no matter how hard he tried to keep out of trouble. He, along with the rest of the Gryffindor students, were looking forward to the Christmas holidays for a bit of a reprieve. Both Ron and Hermione decided that they would stay at school for the holidays instead of going home. But there were few who were; they had all stayed behind the year before due to the Triwizard Tournament, and were anxious to spend Christmas with their families again.
Harry counted down the days until classes let out for the break, and it seemed that they didn't pass fast enough for his liking. He was thrilled when it was announced that another Hosgmeade trip was planned for the Saturday before the last week of classes. He hadn't heard from Sirius recently and had not been able to speak to Professor Black alone, and he was worried.
When he learned the date for the Hosgmeade trip, he sent Hedwig off with a letter to let Sirius know they were coming. He decided to ask Professor Black if she had heard from her brother. Thursday after class he stopped by her desk on the way out.
"What's on your mind, Harry?" she asked, smiling at him.
"I was just wondering if you'd heard from Sirius recently," he said, "because I haven't."
She shook her head. "I think he went back to Lupin's for a little bit. When did you write him?"
"Tuesday," said Harry.
Black pursed her lips and looked thoughtful. "He must be with Remus, then, or you would have heard from him by now. I'd dash out there to check, but it's the full moon still, and you know what that means…."
Harry grimaced. "Guess I'll just wait to hear from him, then."
Black laughed. "Yes, that's probably for the best. And Harry, even if you don't hear from him…enjoy your weekend at Hosgmeade, OK?"
He smiled. "Will do."
The letter from Sirius arrived Saturday morning at breakfast. Professor Black had been right – he had been with Lupin – but he was back at the cave now and was looking forward to their visit. He asked, of course, for any food they could manage to bring, as well as his sister. "Make sure she comes along with you this time," were his exact words. Harry grinned as he pocketed the letter.
"Now she has to come with us," said Ron, "no more staying behind to talk to Snape!"
Harry laughed. "No excuses! We'll tell her after breakfast."
Hermione shook her head. "Snape's been patrolling the hallways lately. Harry, you'd be better of going to see her yourself and meeting us there. He's bound to find some excuse to give us detention or something if he finds all three of us together."
"Hermione's right," said Harry, "I don't want to risk not being able to see Sirius. You guys go on ahead to Hosgmeade and up to the cave; I'll be along with Professor Black later. OK?"
They nodded, and shortly after they left the Great Hall; Ron and Hermione headed for the front doors of the school while Harry went down the long hallway toward Professor Black's office.
The corridors were empty, but Harry couldn't help but jump at every noise he heard, certain that Snape was just around the corner, waiting to catch him. He arrived at the door to Black's office without mishap, and breathed a sigh of relief. The door was cracked just slightly, and he could hear voices coming from inside. He knocked, and the voices stopped.
"Come in!" he heard Professor Black's voice come from behind the door.
He pushed the door open and peered into the room. Black was in her usual position in her chair, feet propped up on the desk. Sitting in one of the chairs in front of her desk was Professor Snape.
"I…uh…didn't mean to interrupt, Professor," Harry stammered, "but, uh…well, I wanted to talk to you…alone," he finished quickly. "If you have a minute."
Black smiled. "Of course I do, Harry. Severus, if you'll excuse me for just a moment?" She extended a hand toward Harry, who moved rather hesitantly into the room.
Snape was scowling. "If you insist, Professor. I will wait in the hallway." He stormed out, brushing past Harry, and slamming the door behind him.
Black shook her head. "It's a wonder he hasn't dropped dead of a stroke or heart attack by now. Anyway, Harry, you wanted to ask me…?"
Harry dropped his voice to a whisper and pulled the letter from Sirius out from his robes. "It's just that I got this today, Professor, and your brother insists that you come up to Hosgmeade with us today."
She read the letter and a smile danced across her face. "Oh, good, he's back. Yes, I will go with you…Harry, give me thirty minutes to push Severus back into his dungeon, and I'm all yours. I'll meet you outside the Great Hall."
"All right," said Harry, smiling. "That will give me time to sneak some food out of the kitchens for Sirius."
Black rose from her seat and opened the door to where Snape paced restlessly in the hallway. He looked up as they came out into the hallway, and his expression as he looked at Harry could have curdled milk. "Well?" he snapped, "Have you two quite finished your little chat, though what of any importance Potter could have to say I do not know."
Harry glanced nervously up at Black and saw that her eyes had narrowed and she was not smiling any more. "Severus…that will be enough of that. Harry," she turned to him, "I'll see you later." She reached out her hand to Snape as Harry headed off to the kitchens and pulled him toward the door. Harry wasn't quite out of earshot and he heard Professor Black's voice as she and Snape retreated into her office: "He's just a child, for heaven's sake, Severus, you shouldn't treat him like that…"
Harry smiled and practically skipped down to the kitchens to get some food for Sirius. He wasn't sure if Snape would listen to Professor Black, but at least someone was standing up and defending him. He couldn't wait to tell Sirius.
Thirty minutes later, Harry sat on the steps outside the Great Hall, waiting for Professor Black to arrive. He had a packet of food tucked in his robes for Sirius with baked chicken, potatoes, carrots, and several roast beef sandwiches. He let his mind wander while he waited, thinking about the holidays, Quidditch, just about anything that crossed his mind-
"Potter!" He was jolted out of his reverie by the familiar voice snarling his name. He looked up to see Professor Snape (of course, it had to be Snape! he thought) striding up the hall towards him. "May I ask what you are doing here? You should be up at Hosgmeade…or in your common room."
"I'm waiting for Professor Black; she asked me to meet her here," Harry replied.
Snape's eyes narrowed. Before he could say anything, however, Harry's savior came around the corner. "Severus!"
Snape whirled to face Professor Black. She wasn't smiling. "I told you to leave him alone." Snape turned and left without another word.
She turned to Harry and smiled. "Now that we're both here, shall we go?"
