The Wolf of Change
Chapter 15 - End of a Term
"Yeah!" The Gryffindors looked up as Sephine came charging through the Great Hall waving a piece of parchment.
"Yeah?" Sirius asked as she squeezed in between him and James, oblivious to the offended glares that she was getting from the other Gryffindors.
"Yeah," she repeated, grinning broadly. Proudly she set the shred of parchment down on the table in front of them.
Remus looked up from the article in The Daily Prophet that announced Dumbledore's certainty that ghosts were behind last weekends' hauntings. The note on the table read:
All students wishing to take the Hogwarts Express to London and return home for Christmas are free to do so, but must be sure to sign the notices in the house common rooms or else permission aboard will not be granted.
Professor M. McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress.
Sirius pulled a face. "No way, Seph you know my place. I'm staying right here."
"C'mon, think of the snowball fights we'd miss!" Martin whined.
Sephine pouted. "Well I was thinking we could maybe meet up someplace, have a bit of a party and snowball fight and whatever for Christmas, but I guess you all want to stay at school like Charlie then?"
Lily hurriedly picked the parchment up before Sephine could snatch it away again. "Seph, I'm sure some of us would love to meet up. I'm not staying in the castle for winter for certain. Anyone else agree?" She glared pointedly around the table.
"I'm going home." Remus said quietly.
"Me too." Peter added.
James shrugged and looked sideways at Sirius. "Well sorry, Si, but I promised mum and dad I'd be home and tell them all about my first term."
"Can't you send an owl?" Sirius moaned, looking sincerely distressed.
James shrugged awkwardly again. "You could always stay at my place without telling your mum you've left school? I mean, it's not like your folks owl you often, is it?"
"Thanks for reminding me," he growled.
Sephine, still sitting between them, fidgeted anxiously. "Uh, sorry about bringing this up, Si. I guess I forgot about your place. James' idea could work though."
"Yeah, I guess."
Remus had serious misgivings about this idea of James', but he said nothing. However, by Sirius' expression when he caught Remus' eye, he could see that his friend also wasn't too keen on the prospect.
Surprised at Sirius' sudden regard for rules Remus wondered what he'd meant by, You know my place. Sephine seemed to have brightened up considerably though, and soon she'd left to tell Charlie that he simply had to come now. Sirius, apparently eager to move the topic of conversation on, picked up Remus' copy of The Daily Prophet. "Well lookie who was right? Ghosts it is!" He rolled up the paper and whacked James on the head with it as he stood up. "C'mon - who else is up for a last snowball fight before the final week?" Martin leapt from the bench, throwing his scarf (which he was wearing indoors) back over his shoulder. He pointed a finger dramatically towards the door. "To the snow drifts, my friends!"
* * *
"Do you really think we'll get away with this one?" James asked, hands on hip and surveying their snowman. Sirius patted the snow around the creation's forehead and peered closely at it. "I don't reckon it'll do him any lasting damage - served him right for walking through our fight and insulting us." Lily was still horrified. "I can't believe I did that! James how could you make me do such a thing?" "Lily you can't say that you didn't enjoy putting Petrificus Totalis on Snape. You know it's the best thing you've ever done!" She scowled and crossed her arms, her wand still held in one thick, slippery woollen glove. Remus brushed some of the snow out of his fringe, and found he had to admit that Snape did make a pretty awesome snowman. They'd even managed to keep the hooked nose when covering him. Martin's cheeky grin alerted Remus to the approach of Sephine and Charlie. "Hey Cookson! Winters! Come see what we made!" "What is it?" Charlie asked, squinting at it. Whereas, "Wow - look's just like Snape. Are we gonna lob ice balls at it?" was Sephine's question. James grinned at Sirius. They wouldn't be letting the Ravenclaws in on this little beauty. "I've got a better idea - I hear you found a pretty useful spell in Defence Against The Darks, eh, Rem'?" Remus grinned. "It's really simple - make a load of snowballs, put this spell on them and you can tell them to follow one person around all day, whilst randomly attacking them." Sirius rubbed his hands in glee. "Right, we'll get to work with the snowballs and you and Lily can do the charms." "Um, Sirius, who are we charming them to attack?" Lily asked, her round face masked by hesitance. "Snape?" Sephine queried hopefully. Sirius shrugged and looked sidelong at James again. James shrugged back. "We'll decide when we see them." Sephine rolled her eyes and nudged Charlie, "c'mon, they're not saying a thing - let's get to work on these snowballs." Once there was a considerable pile of about thirty well-compressed lumps of snow, the first-years stood back, and surveyed the bright Hogwarts grounds. Everywhere there were people having snowball fights, sledding and even skating on the frozen lake. One group of people that stood out included the wildly gesticulating Avery, the grim-looking Trurn, and the disgusted Lucius Malfoy. The older boy brushed his fringe out of his eyes, sneering at Trurn and his cronies. They then left him, and upon catching sight of the group of young Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and their snowman, the Slytherins began to approach. They halted some distance away, Trurn holding Avery back from the possible reach of snowballs. "Nice snowman, kiddies! How many spells did you have to use to get him like that?" Trurn called. James nodded to Remus and Lily, and the first of the snowballs shot towards the Slytherins. Trurn leapt aside in astonishment, but Avery lacked the intelligence for such a quick move. The snowballs began circling him, one every so often grazing a cheek with its icy surface after the first one had hit him square on the nose. Meanwhile, Trurn had found that clever dodging didn't fool these snowballs. He waved his hands futilely and grimaced as they swooped and swerved like Bludgers in a game of Quidditch. The troublemakers doubled over with laughter and ran back up to the castle, knowing the difficulty that Avery and Mahbism would have in following them. "That was a great end to the term!" Sephine gushed, leaning on the banister as they gathered at the foot of the main stairway. "Hey, Charlie, did you decide what you're doing for the holidays yet?" James asked, scratching the back of his head absent-mindedly. Charlie shrugged. "What fun would I have here all on my own? I guess I'm going to have to go home!" Sephine grinned broadly and threw herself at Charlie. "Thanks, Cookie! You know I'll make it up to you! Now let's go get our names written on the form before McGonagall takes it down," and she proceeded to race across the Entrance Hall towards the general notice board. Charlie's grin was suddenly almost as wide as hers was. "Well," he coughed, tugging his jacket down a little. "What are we waiting for?"
* * *
The second trip Remus had on the Hogwarts Express was not filled with the maniacal, hyper energy that the previous one was. Sirius was still apprehensive about James' plan and Lily, Peter and Martin were in a compartment with some Hufflepuffs who supported the same Quidditch team as Martin and Peter. Lily had joined them because she was getting gradually more fed up with James' crude attempts to buoy Sirius' spirits. Remus sat in awkward silence, sandwiched between the window and Charlie Cookson, who was having an especially loud game of exploding snap with Sephine. Opposite him Sirius stared out at the blurred scenery and James meticulously ordered his Chocolate Frog cards on the low table, mumbling and occasionally yawning to himself. It was deep darkness that greeted them at platform nine and three quarters, punctuated only by a single orange light that highlighted the outlines and cold breath of the parents who waited there. "Come on, Si," James said, sweeping his cards up and stuffing them in a pocket of his green robes. "Mum knows you're coming and she doesn't mind a bit, I promise!" Sirius got up and smiled a little tiredly. "Sure, James. Thanks." They walked out of the compartment then, followed by Charlie, who thought their wizarding clothes highly amusing, although seemed to have a different opinion of Sephine's. Seemingly oblivious to his favouritism, she left the compartment after him, her navy skirts swishing a little. Remus was wearing his Muggle trousers and thick woollen jumper, his dad having informed him that they'd be doing some last minute Christmas shopping in London before heading home. It all seemed so wrong that they should be so quiet before splitting up for the holidays, and he wished that they had not drained their energy at school, but kept enough to spend on the train journey. When he noticed his father's proud face light up as he waved goodbye to all his friends, Remus again wished they could have shown a little more enthusiasm, but Roland didn't seem to notice. "Remus!" he cried with joy, slinging an arm around his shoulders and taking his case from his hand. "Tell me everything, kiddo, and we'll go and have a nice warm drink in the Leaky Cauldren."
Chapter 15 - End of a Term
"Yeah!" The Gryffindors looked up as Sephine came charging through the Great Hall waving a piece of parchment.
"Yeah?" Sirius asked as she squeezed in between him and James, oblivious to the offended glares that she was getting from the other Gryffindors.
"Yeah," she repeated, grinning broadly. Proudly she set the shred of parchment down on the table in front of them.
Remus looked up from the article in The Daily Prophet that announced Dumbledore's certainty that ghosts were behind last weekends' hauntings. The note on the table read:
All students wishing to take the Hogwarts Express to London and return home for Christmas are free to do so, but must be sure to sign the notices in the house common rooms or else permission aboard will not be granted.
Professor M. McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress.
Sirius pulled a face. "No way, Seph you know my place. I'm staying right here."
"C'mon, think of the snowball fights we'd miss!" Martin whined.
Sephine pouted. "Well I was thinking we could maybe meet up someplace, have a bit of a party and snowball fight and whatever for Christmas, but I guess you all want to stay at school like Charlie then?"
Lily hurriedly picked the parchment up before Sephine could snatch it away again. "Seph, I'm sure some of us would love to meet up. I'm not staying in the castle for winter for certain. Anyone else agree?" She glared pointedly around the table.
"I'm going home." Remus said quietly.
"Me too." Peter added.
James shrugged and looked sideways at Sirius. "Well sorry, Si, but I promised mum and dad I'd be home and tell them all about my first term."
"Can't you send an owl?" Sirius moaned, looking sincerely distressed.
James shrugged awkwardly again. "You could always stay at my place without telling your mum you've left school? I mean, it's not like your folks owl you often, is it?"
"Thanks for reminding me," he growled.
Sephine, still sitting between them, fidgeted anxiously. "Uh, sorry about bringing this up, Si. I guess I forgot about your place. James' idea could work though."
"Yeah, I guess."
Remus had serious misgivings about this idea of James', but he said nothing. However, by Sirius' expression when he caught Remus' eye, he could see that his friend also wasn't too keen on the prospect.
Surprised at Sirius' sudden regard for rules Remus wondered what he'd meant by, You know my place. Sephine seemed to have brightened up considerably though, and soon she'd left to tell Charlie that he simply had to come now. Sirius, apparently eager to move the topic of conversation on, picked up Remus' copy of The Daily Prophet. "Well lookie who was right? Ghosts it is!" He rolled up the paper and whacked James on the head with it as he stood up. "C'mon - who else is up for a last snowball fight before the final week?" Martin leapt from the bench, throwing his scarf (which he was wearing indoors) back over his shoulder. He pointed a finger dramatically towards the door. "To the snow drifts, my friends!"
* * *
"Do you really think we'll get away with this one?" James asked, hands on hip and surveying their snowman. Sirius patted the snow around the creation's forehead and peered closely at it. "I don't reckon it'll do him any lasting damage - served him right for walking through our fight and insulting us." Lily was still horrified. "I can't believe I did that! James how could you make me do such a thing?" "Lily you can't say that you didn't enjoy putting Petrificus Totalis on Snape. You know it's the best thing you've ever done!" She scowled and crossed her arms, her wand still held in one thick, slippery woollen glove. Remus brushed some of the snow out of his fringe, and found he had to admit that Snape did make a pretty awesome snowman. They'd even managed to keep the hooked nose when covering him. Martin's cheeky grin alerted Remus to the approach of Sephine and Charlie. "Hey Cookson! Winters! Come see what we made!" "What is it?" Charlie asked, squinting at it. Whereas, "Wow - look's just like Snape. Are we gonna lob ice balls at it?" was Sephine's question. James grinned at Sirius. They wouldn't be letting the Ravenclaws in on this little beauty. "I've got a better idea - I hear you found a pretty useful spell in Defence Against The Darks, eh, Rem'?" Remus grinned. "It's really simple - make a load of snowballs, put this spell on them and you can tell them to follow one person around all day, whilst randomly attacking them." Sirius rubbed his hands in glee. "Right, we'll get to work with the snowballs and you and Lily can do the charms." "Um, Sirius, who are we charming them to attack?" Lily asked, her round face masked by hesitance. "Snape?" Sephine queried hopefully. Sirius shrugged and looked sidelong at James again. James shrugged back. "We'll decide when we see them." Sephine rolled her eyes and nudged Charlie, "c'mon, they're not saying a thing - let's get to work on these snowballs." Once there was a considerable pile of about thirty well-compressed lumps of snow, the first-years stood back, and surveyed the bright Hogwarts grounds. Everywhere there were people having snowball fights, sledding and even skating on the frozen lake. One group of people that stood out included the wildly gesticulating Avery, the grim-looking Trurn, and the disgusted Lucius Malfoy. The older boy brushed his fringe out of his eyes, sneering at Trurn and his cronies. They then left him, and upon catching sight of the group of young Gryffindors and Ravenclaws and their snowman, the Slytherins began to approach. They halted some distance away, Trurn holding Avery back from the possible reach of snowballs. "Nice snowman, kiddies! How many spells did you have to use to get him like that?" Trurn called. James nodded to Remus and Lily, and the first of the snowballs shot towards the Slytherins. Trurn leapt aside in astonishment, but Avery lacked the intelligence for such a quick move. The snowballs began circling him, one every so often grazing a cheek with its icy surface after the first one had hit him square on the nose. Meanwhile, Trurn had found that clever dodging didn't fool these snowballs. He waved his hands futilely and grimaced as they swooped and swerved like Bludgers in a game of Quidditch. The troublemakers doubled over with laughter and ran back up to the castle, knowing the difficulty that Avery and Mahbism would have in following them. "That was a great end to the term!" Sephine gushed, leaning on the banister as they gathered at the foot of the main stairway. "Hey, Charlie, did you decide what you're doing for the holidays yet?" James asked, scratching the back of his head absent-mindedly. Charlie shrugged. "What fun would I have here all on my own? I guess I'm going to have to go home!" Sephine grinned broadly and threw herself at Charlie. "Thanks, Cookie! You know I'll make it up to you! Now let's go get our names written on the form before McGonagall takes it down," and she proceeded to race across the Entrance Hall towards the general notice board. Charlie's grin was suddenly almost as wide as hers was. "Well," he coughed, tugging his jacket down a little. "What are we waiting for?"
* * *
The second trip Remus had on the Hogwarts Express was not filled with the maniacal, hyper energy that the previous one was. Sirius was still apprehensive about James' plan and Lily, Peter and Martin were in a compartment with some Hufflepuffs who supported the same Quidditch team as Martin and Peter. Lily had joined them because she was getting gradually more fed up with James' crude attempts to buoy Sirius' spirits. Remus sat in awkward silence, sandwiched between the window and Charlie Cookson, who was having an especially loud game of exploding snap with Sephine. Opposite him Sirius stared out at the blurred scenery and James meticulously ordered his Chocolate Frog cards on the low table, mumbling and occasionally yawning to himself. It was deep darkness that greeted them at platform nine and three quarters, punctuated only by a single orange light that highlighted the outlines and cold breath of the parents who waited there. "Come on, Si," James said, sweeping his cards up and stuffing them in a pocket of his green robes. "Mum knows you're coming and she doesn't mind a bit, I promise!" Sirius got up and smiled a little tiredly. "Sure, James. Thanks." They walked out of the compartment then, followed by Charlie, who thought their wizarding clothes highly amusing, although seemed to have a different opinion of Sephine's. Seemingly oblivious to his favouritism, she left the compartment after him, her navy skirts swishing a little. Remus was wearing his Muggle trousers and thick woollen jumper, his dad having informed him that they'd be doing some last minute Christmas shopping in London before heading home. It all seemed so wrong that they should be so quiet before splitting up for the holidays, and he wished that they had not drained their energy at school, but kept enough to spend on the train journey. When he noticed his father's proud face light up as he waved goodbye to all his friends, Remus again wished they could have shown a little more enthusiasm, but Roland didn't seem to notice. "Remus!" he cried with joy, slinging an arm around his shoulders and taking his case from his hand. "Tell me everything, kiddo, and we'll go and have a nice warm drink in the Leaky Cauldren."