Author's Note: Flipping through earlier chapters again I realized that a rather crucial one got lost while uploading, so I put it in subsequently. It is called "A Confession" (no. 26) and sort of the conclusion to the Marauders' little trip to Hogsmeade. I am sorry I haven't noticed this earlier, but hope you will enjoy the chappy nevertheless.
The hottest day of summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square greenhouses on the backside of the castle. The plants were all dozing in their pots, except for two of the older sundews, who were refining on their chess skills in the back of greenhouse two, without making too much noise or waking anyone up.
Mandragora Sprout was sitting in the shade of a giant, yellow umbrella, which she had set up between the entrances of greenhouses one and two, and was reading an enormously heavy, black book that she had obtained from the library earlier this morning. It was called "Identifying with Magical Shrubs" and had a very promising introductory part.
She had, however, not been reading for more than thirty minutes when a sudden noise broke her concentration and had her sit up straight in her chair, putting her book away for what she hoped was no more than a minute. A clang and the sound of footsteps appeared, and then the sound of wood being moved on the ground. Someone had entered the greenhouses without her consent. Within seconds, Mandy jumped up, whipped out her wand, and was marching towards greenhouse one, in which she assumed the offender.
A student? No way! No one (not of the younger ones at least) would be roaming the school grounds unauthorized one day before their journey home. No person of their right mind would risk having to spend their last night at Hogwarts doing lines.
'Who's there?' she asked sternly. 'And what are you doing here?'
There was no reply. Instead, the usual complete silence of this greenhouse, where mostly plants below security level C were situated (namely those without or almost without a sense of self), hit her in the face and made her pause for a short moment. There was light coming from outside only through the door behind her and she perceived her long shadow gliding over the wooden boxes and closets in front of the experimental desks. The boxes seemed in less of an order than they had been this morning and Mandy closed her fist just a bit tighter around the handle of her wand. Had they been moved?
She took a few steps towards one of the herb cartons (the quessels needed to be put in the shade, she noticed with a side-glance) and made to open one of the boxes...
Empty.
'Fair enough,' she thought, 'I told Hestia to come and collect her shrivelfigs whenever she was ready. She must have been here this morning.'
Just a dash calmer she moved towards one of the closets and made to open it, knowing that it would be just as empty, but before her hand had even moved she frowned, stopped, and whirled around at the sound of a door banging shut.
In the doorway, looking slightly off colour and very drained, stood Minerva McGonagall, a broomstick in one, her glasses in the other hand. She was slightly out of breath and a bit paler than usual.
At an instant, Mandy lowered her wand, which had flicked upwards almost automatically the moment she had turned, and hurried towards her friend and colleague, feeling a faint uneasiness about the elder witches sudden and unexpected appearance rise inside her stomach.
'Minerva!' she uttered, sounding more surprised than intended. 'It is you!'
'Aye. What did ye think?' replied the Deputy Headmistress, allowing herself to be embraced and led towards the only chair inside the greenhouse. She looked exhausted but seemed to be slowly coming back to her senses, rubbing her eyes and face with the back of her bony hands every once in a while.
'What happened?' said Mandy calmly, not letting go of the older woman's shoulder. 'Have you been away again?'
'I heid tae get oot fer a wee while,' nodded her colleague. 'Cannae miss the end-o'-term feast though. Bin visitin' my parents, ye ken.'
'I can hear it,' said Mandy smilingly. 'What did they say? You look as if you've had another quarrel with your mother.'
'Aye,' sighed Minerva and a big frown appeared on her face, looking very much as though she was scolding a student. 'But mostly wi' that daft excuse for a heid o' family... what dae ye mean ye can hear it?'
'Language,' was Mandy's offhand reply. 'What do you mean 'excuse for a head of family'? You're not talking about your father, are you?'
Minerva gave her an astounded look for another minute before she replied. Slowly, pensively, in careful RP.
'Aye... I mean... yes. I am talking about Hamish.'
Mandy frowned. 'What happened?' she said brusquely, trying to ignore Minerva's attempt of mutilating her speech. 'I have never, ever, as long as I have known you, which is going to be fifteen years in December, by the way, heard you go on about your father after a visit home. So - what happened?'
Minerva sighed and shrank together visibly. This matter was clearly too much even for the usually so composed and strong-minded Deputy Headmistress.
'He's on Grandma's side,' she said after a while, now looking disappointed rather than angry. 'Concerning Angus, ye k- know. Says it might nae be the worst of ideas to exclude him from family meetings and the like. So he can see where his unorthodox behaviour leads.'
'Does he also think his brother shouldn't be marrying a Muggle girl then?' replied Mandy calmly. 'I never figured he was of the old-fashioned type.'
'Ah, ye ke-... you know what he's like,' said Minerva frowningly. 'All ye have tae do is talk him into something long enough. Though - nay! I cannae believe that's it!'
She seemed to still be arguing with herself and Mandy decided to let her.
'It's him!' said Minerva angrily, clenching both hands to fists. 'He wouldnae agree tae such roobbish if he didnae see a point behind it all.' She shifted in her chair as if trying to get rid of a couple of unpleasant thoughts. Mandy put her hand back onto the older witch's shoulder and smiled sympathetically.
'Angus has returned from Skye then, I take it?' she said calmly.
'Ayy-yes,' said Minerva quickly. 'And of course he hasnae expected anyone to worry. He never does! It's what I told Grandma. What I told them all, in fact! But dis anyone ever listen tae me? Nay!'
'So... what is happening now?' asked Mandy as quietly as before.
'Truce,' said Minerva simply, resuming her gloomy expression. 'They won't make him marry that Fraiser lass, and he, in turn, promised he'd stop looking for Maude.'
'The Muggle girl?' asked Mandy quietly.
Minerva nodded.
'What makes him think she is still alive anyway?' Mandy went on. 'I thought it was pretty clear that she died in the war.'
'The situation of her death was a wee bit peculiar,' replied Minerva with a gloomy look. 'She didnae die as such. More of... disappeared, really.'
'Many people disappear in wars,' said Mandy shaking her dark curls. 'It's been twenty-six years now. Does he honestly think she might turn up again?'
'I daresay that's what he went off tae Skye for,' growled Minerva. 'To go and look for her.'
'But there's no point to it,' said Mandy feeling confused. 'If she's most probably dead...'
'You cannae go looking for a point in uncle Angus's behaviour,' said Minerva darkly. 'I dinnae have tae remind ye of the kilt incident?'
Mandy grinned. 'No,' she said pleasantly. 'That one has stuck somehow.'
'And yet,' the Deputy Headmistress went on, 'I sometimes think he has more sense in him than a' the others put together. I mean - you never hear him go on aboot 'pureblood bonds' and such roobbish.
'And now Hamish wants to see him excluded as well, is that correct?' Mandy pressed on.
'Aye, and that's where the matter's gettin' ridiculous!' stormed Minerva in a fit of renewed anger. 'The family council's been founded by uncle Angus! They cannae seriously expect him tae stay away! But Hamish can be so stubborn once he's made... 'his' decision.'
'You're afraid your family will break, aren't you?' said Mandy calmly, trying not to sound overly intrusive. Minerva shot her a surprised and somewhat hurt look.
'My family won't break over a daft pureblood conflict!' she snapped. 'Just because the whole world thinks it's time tae go berserk disnae mean...'
And then she stopped. Obviously realising what she was saying, obviously only now taking in the truth of Mandy's words. The Herbology witch waited patiently until her friend had regained her composure. A long, miserable sigh emerged the elderly witch's mouth, who eventually said in a tone more grave than even Mandy had expected: 'It is just the first battle of a long war, I expect.'
There was a long silence. Too much truth lay in this statement. It was too little of a badly-chosen metaphor to not be taken seriously. Very seriously. Mandy felt the need of heaving another sigh, realised, however, that this would depress her even more, so she patted Minerva's shoulder in what she hoped was a reassuring manner and tried to smile.
'They'll stand through this,' she said eventually. 'Your family has gone through a lot of... real wars without being split. Even Angus won't be able to change that.'
Minerva nodded gloomily.
'I really hope things are going to get a bit easier once the whole pureblood discussion is over,' continued Mandy in a would-be-cheering manner. 'Someone should go and akay that Malfoy fellow, for instance. He's been nothing but troub-...'
She looked into her friend's face and fell silent at an instant. Minerva McGonagall did not joke about such things. She also did not approve of simply 'akaying' people who were in her way, or the mention of it. Not even jokingly. She had told Mandy more than once, but some pieces of information kept slipping from your mind if you did not take care of them. Mandy felt herself blushing and shuffled her feet somewhat uneasily.
'Sorry,' she muttered. 'But seriously - isn't all this commotion getting on your nerves? I find it highly irritating. Especially since the students have started picking up bits and pieces of conversation and start forming their own ideas. It is highly annoying.'
'Why... who would hae guessed,' said Minerva with a weak smile, 'that Mandragora Sprout wid ever find a student annoying? Especially the thinking kind...'
'Don't make fun of me,' retorted Mandy with a smile, glad to see that her colleague was in the mood for bad jokes again. 'I don't have to remind you that as much as three Gryffindors tried out for the wizarding army this year. That is a full three more than from my house.'
Minerva pulled a grimace. 'Thanks fae reminding me,' she scowled. 'That's another matter to attend to tonight. The army applications. Of the seventh-years, ye ken.'
'Anyone who will join this summer?'
'Victor Umbridge and Zephyrus Shacklebolt,' replied the Deputy Headmistress. 'Oh, an' Alex Potter is thinking about it. But I doot he'll get in. He's lacking... qualities.' She pulled another grimace and Mandy grinned.
'Such as narrow-mindedness and the will to harm anyone whoever stands between him and success?' she suggested.
Minerva gave her a surprised look and suddenly smiled. 'That's aboot it,' she remarked. 'Though ye cannae really say that Shacklebolt has ever harmed anyone.'
'Talking about Shacklebolt...' said Mandy pensively. 'Has his father agreed on taking the Defence job? Or will we have to keep looking?'
Minerva frowned again, obviously remembering a none at all too pleasant scene.
'His exact words,' she said grimly, 'were: You will not see a Shacklebolt teach Potions, and if you ask a hundred times more, Minerva McGonagall.'
She stared resentfully at two of Mandy's favourite Begonias and shook her head slowly.
'I dinnae ken what it is,' she said finally. 'All them... army dafties seem tae have something against Potions. It is virtually impossible tae fill the position, just because everyone thinks it hasnae much to do with magic.'
'Which is ridiculous, of course,' prompted Mandy. 'It requires more skill than even Herbology.'
The Deputy Headmistress gave her a highly sarcastic look, but eventually nodded.
'True, but Herbology is more widely acknowledged because ye cannae join the Ministry if ye havenae got straight A's in it,' she said. 'It's only B for Potions, I seem tae ken.'
'That is because everyone knows that no one with less than sufficient knowledge of the subject would ever take Potions as an advanced subject,' grinned Mandy. 'And anyway - Potions knowledge is prerequisite for many careers. I hear St. Mungo's have started accepting people with top marks in Herbology and Potions only. And they are not alone...'
'Anyway, I think it is important fae students tae learn the basic magical skills,' said Minerva decidedly. 'No matter what Shacklebolt or Malfoy or anyone might say. It helps them understand aboot magic like nothing else.'
Mandy nodded darkly.
'You might be able to press-gange Fumes into doing it,' she said after a little while. Minerva gave her a surprised look.
'What? Alexander? Why of all people...'
'I seem to think he still owes you a favour,' said Mandy suppressing a mischievous grin. 'And he certainly knows the subject.'
'I doot he'll be willing,' replied her colleague quickly. 'It'd blow his reputation. Ye ken how much he'd like tae join the officers' ranks.'
'That's true,' shrugged Mandy. 'It certainly looks like he is sucking up to them. Haven't I seen him roam the Hogwarts grounds together with Perseus Black and Lance Snape a couple of days ago? I hear the latter has offered him a position down in South Africa. Second something of something. Can't remember it. But it sounded tempting, even to me.'
She was being sarcastic. Minerva noticed, but rolled her eyes to the glassy ceiling nevertheless. 'If they are indeed that close, it is practically given that he will nae take the job. Lance isnae much in favour of the subject.'
'That's because you beat him in every exam,' grinned Mandy with an innocent air about her, making Minerva look up in surprise and then smile. There was a short moment of mutual understanding about them as you could only find between two witches having the same thought at exactly the same moment. Then, Mandy broke the silence and gently cuffed her colleague's arm.
'How's Topaz, by the way? Still wanting to get re-married?'
Minerva snorted and got up. 'I dinnae ken,' she said with a sour grin. 'And I dinnae want tae ken. Are ye coming back up to the castle?'
Mandy nodded. 'Can't miss the opportunity of getting on your nerves a bit further,' she said, holding the door of the greenhouse open for her friend who quickly stepped through it. 'How many times did you say he has tried to floo you last week? A round dozen?'
When the doors of the greenhouse shut and silence spread once more over the various boxes and packets of plants, a small boy, black-haired and skinny, crawled out of one of the closets and stared in confusion at the place where the two Professors had just stood and talked.
'Got any idea what that was all about?' he whispered, trying to shut the door of the closet behind him.
'No,' said Skein. 'But I think you should go back to the castle after all.'