A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I've been sick and then
with school and all I haven't typed anything. Then I had this huge case of
writers block (which I still have a bit of). If this chapter is horrible or
boring I'm sorry but my mind doesn't want to work very well so deal with it
I'll try to make the next chapter better so on with the story.
Oh and as for the answer to how old Lily is. She was born in may and it is
now September thus she is 3 and a half months old ron and hermione's twins
will be a year old in October or November. (most likely the latter.)
Disclaimer: I'm too lazy to type it all the time so check chapter 1 or 10. It's less work for me.
Chapter 12: Trouble is Brewing (and for once it isn't Sirius' fault)
The train ride to the school was ten times as bad as when the teachers had been kids. Professor Snape (after much argument) boarded the train to begin what he would consider the worst journey since he had been in school.
Harry and Cho were the first to the train and quickly claimed the last compartment. Lily gurgled as Harry sat her on the floor while they awaited the arrival of the others. Professor McGonagall sat with Snape in the first compartment as far away from the rather loud bunch of teachers and children.
The train was set to leave at 11 as always and at exactly 11 the last of the group boarded. Hermione was happy just to have something to do once more (besides look after the kids). Ron was happily reliving the memories of the train rides of their early years, Remus and Tonks were making plans for their wedding, and Sirius well he was planning what pranks to do on Snape.
"Hey Sirius. I wonder if our names are still written on the wall. Do you remember where we wrote them?" Remus stated out of the blue.
"Oh yeah I had forgot about that. I believe we wrote it above the luggage racks. Lets see if its still there." Sirius stood on one of the seats and looked at the corner wall. "Hey Moony its still there. 'Below are the names of the worlds greatest pranksters known to Hogwarts and the number of detentions received for said pranks. James 'Prongs' Potter 4,872 Sirius 'Padfoot' Black 4,870 Remus 'Moony' Lupin 3,986' Remus became a prefect and thus had to avoid as much trouble towards the end." Sirius looked at Remus. "James last two detentions were for beating Malfoy into a pancake for calling Lily Mudblood thus he beat me."
"I remember that. Malfoy spent the last two days of term in the hospital wing. I believe James broke two of his ribs and dislocated his jaw. It took the both of us to keep him from killing Malfoy. I can't believe that 20 something years later our names are still engraved on the train." Remus smiled at the thought.
"Daddy. I'm hungry. Can I get something to eat?" Hope spoke up from where she sat coloring.
"Sure thing hun. Let me go get you something. While I'm up what does everyone else want?" Ron asked as he stood to go look for the food cart.
"Ron lets just buy the whole cart cause there are a lot of us and we all know how much Sirius can eat." Harry said from his spot next to Cho who was reading the journal from Harry's parents.
"Good idea. I'll be back." Ron left to find the cart and the others began telling stories of their adventures on the train.
"Hey Mione, you remember our first train ride? You were already performing magic and Ron tried to turn Peter yellow." Harry smiled thinking what would have happened if Peter had turned yellow.
"Remember second year when Fred and George found out that Percy had a girlfriend." Hermione smiled at the memory of their faces that day.
"Or after fourth year when Malfoy and his cronies came in and they looked like a mangled mess when we were through with them. Then George literally walking on Malfoy's face. I think that actually helped his looks." Harry smiled.
"Hey Sirius remember our first train ride?" Remus shot out.
"Ah yes we had no experience in the field of pranking. Well you didn't me and James had lived next door to each other for so long we were used to the whole pranking thing. Oh yeah Harry doesn't know that story. See for a while James lived on the same street well actually it was a few streets down but we were sort of good friends well until my parents found out. My parents hated James and forbid me to see him. Then we came to Hogwarts and nothing could separate us. Every Christmas I'd go to James house so I wouldn't have to stay with my family. When my parents first found out that I was friends with Remus they almost killed me. I was forbidden to hang out with Remus and James and even Lily. We all know how well I followed that rule. I still have the scars to prove how many beatings I took to stay friends with these too." Sirius looked depressed for a moment. "Oh well. Our first train ride we let dung bombs off in all the compartments and bewitched some of the food on the cart."
"Yeah some of the Slytherins never got over that. Not that they liked us anyway." Remus sighed at the memory. "Good old James. That traitorous rat never spent the train rides with us. He always disappeared half way through the train ride. We should have known he wasn't loyal to us. Always took the cowardly way out." Remus spat at the bitter memory.
"The train rides to and from Hogwarts weren't that eventful for me and my friends. But that is probably because we followed the rules unlike the rest of you." Tonks spoke up.
"Hey I always followed rules. The rest of you might not have but I did. My friends and I always had a great time on the train without breaking rules." Cho defended herself.
Everyone began laughing. "Breaking the rules at Hogwarts always was a great adventure." Harry said smiling. "Hence the trouble we always ended up in. Took Hermione a while to get warmed up to it but it was for the benefit. And dear you did break rules. Everyone here knows that. You were part of an illegal society and you read the article in The Quibbler thus you broke rules as well."
"The ones that hag made up do not count. No one followed those rules. Even the teachers broke those rules." Cho defended trying to keep her good reputation.
Ron entered at that moment with the cart of food. Everyone ate snacks and when Sirius turned into a canary everyone promptly put the food down. They had forgot one detail. The twins were on the train. Just as Sirius turned back human the door opened to reveal none other than.
"So Gred looks like it worked."
"Looks that way to me too Feroge. How is everyone this lovely afternoon?"
Hermione glanced at the twins suspiciously and glared at Sirius who was trying to teach the twins magic while the other twins distracted her.
Lily chose this moment to attract attention to her by letting her toy snitch smack into Ron's face. Soon the tension broke and they began playing exploding snap and throwing random jinxes at each other.
"Weasley, Jonathan!" Professor McGonagall called as Bill and Pearl's adopted son walked up to the stool and the hat was placed on the rather terrified looking boy. Bill and Pearl adopted the boy when they learned that his parents were killed during the war with Voldemort. The boy had bright red hair, (strangely enough) and had lived in a muggle orphanage for the last few years. Bill and Pearl adopted him when he was seven and now four years later the boy was entering Hogwarts.
The hat seemed to think for quite a while before finally deciding on Gryffindor. As he was the last first year everyone turned to Dumbledore to see what he would say. The later years looked expectantly at their plates.
"Only two words this year. Dig in." Immediately food appeared on the plates and everyone began catching up on what happened over summer vacation.
At the head table Harry and Cho were having a conversation about what house Lily would be in when she got to school. "I'm just saying she's going to be in Gryffindor because she seems to be taking after my mother in so many ways." Harry argued as he piled food onto his plate.
"Yeah yeah yeah. I don't care if she ends up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw so long as she doesn't end up in Slytherin. I couldn't bear the thought of her turning into the scum that Malfoy turned into. If she does end up in Gryffindor she will not be as reckless as you hopefully. Anyway why are we talking about this now, she's not even one. Hey Remus when are you guys planning on getting married?" Cho turned the attention to Tonks and Remus.
"Um.I dunno when do you want to get marry sweetie?" Remus asked turning to Tonks.
This remark made Sirius spit pumpkin juice out his nose. "Sweetie? That's a new one. You are so whipped Moony." he said as he wiped his face.
Just then Lily took the spoon of baby food from Cho and sent it flying at Sirius.
Remus began laughing but stopped abruptly when one of the twins hit him with a glob of their own food. Soon enough it was an all out food fight with Harry getting hit from both sides. Lily found it fun to throw food at her father who stood in front of her to block the majority of the food from hitting her.
The laughter from the group was so loud that no one noticed Fred and George slip in the room. (Well Dumbledore noticed but we all know he know almost everything) Fred and George noticed the food fight and decided to enchant some food to attack everyone at the head table and dance around in front of Dumbledore singing the Hogwarts song.
This got everyone's attention. Harry and company soon shrunk as far as they could into their seats when they caught the murderous look McGonagall gave them. They all knew not to push their luck with the Deputy Headmistress.
Meanwhile the whole student body stared at the Head table in amazement at what they had just seen. Well all but John. He was used to it by now.
"Hey John, aren't you going to watch the food fight?" one of John's fellow Gryffindor asked as they noticed he was completely ignoring the scene.
"Nope. I see this a lot. You should see the Christmas parties every year. Professor Black will start something with someone and then everyone else will join in. That or Professor Potter will start something with Uncle Ron and it will go from there. Either way at least one food fight will start." John replied as he continued eating.
"Students I have a special announcement but first some reminders." Dumbledore said as Lily latched onto his beard looking extremely happy at having her toy back. "Now let me introduce you to Misters Fred and George Weasley owners of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They will be opening up shop here where students can buy.supplies." At this Filch was so shocked that he passed out.
The students started chattering all at once and kept looking at Dumbledore wondering if the old man had lost his mind. Snape on the other hand looked more miserable than even Filch. Not only did he have to deal with his mortal enemy's son and family and friends but now the twins would be joining the two remaining Marauders. Snape soon began rhythmically beating his head on the table to which Professor Flitwick addressed Snape saying, "Severus if you are going to do that please do not shake the table. I would think the whole school would be happy to see the two students who had the guts to stand up to that Umbridge woman again. Oh well. You might need to wash your hair to get the pudding out of it." He finished noticing the pudding that was stuck to the man's greasy hair.
Sirius heard this remark and started laughing. "Snape wash his hair? Does he even know how to?" he whispered to Tonks.
As the students headed off to their dorms to get sleep after such an interesting start to another year at Hogwarts, Flitwick turned to Harry who was magically cleaning Lily and listening to Professor McGonagall lecture Sirius about starting food fights.
"So, Harry, you got stuck with Sirius as your co-teacher. Are you sure your class can survive the year?" Flitwick asked as he transfigured a piece of parchment into a teddy bear and charmed the bear to sing a lullaby for Lily. He handed her the teddy and she hugged it to her chest as she turned to snuggle into Harry's body.
"Sure. Maybe not in one piece but they will survive. I don't know if Remus will survive with a prank shop in the school for Sirius to buy 'supplies' from. So long as he doesn't hurt Lily or tick off Cho he will survive. Cho is still mad at him for the whole anniversary thing. The man is doomed if he tries something else on her so soon." Harry grinned at the thought.
"Yes well I have an early class tomorrow so I will be going. Have a good night Harry." Flitwick then left.
The school year was going to be quite eventful.
The next morning the owl post arrived barring a letter for Cho and another for Harry. Harry looked at the letter confused.
"Who's it from?" Ron asked noticing Harry's confused look.
"I'm not sure. As almost everyone who writes to me is at this table and I don't recognize the writing. Sort of makes me suspicious. Well let's see who its from." Harry opened the letter.
Dear Harry,
Hello. I am a fan of yours and I was wondering if I could meet you. I know you are busy with your teaching career and all but I have this fan club going and I would like you to come and maybe tell us of some of your adventures. I know that this is probably not a new request but I would really appreciate it if you were to come.
This fan club I host is made up of mostly children and teenagers. All of the members are not yet of age to attend Hogwarts and would like to meet their hero before they go. I only ask this because these children will probably never get a chance to go to Hogwarts because they live in the states. If you would do this I would gladly pay you and I will make sure you have appropriate accommodations.
Think of it as a chance to see the sights of the great United States of America. I hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you, Ms. Tina Laren Head of the Harry Potter Fan Club in Washington D.C.
Harry's eyebrow rose at the end of the letter. "This is a new one. Hey Ron read this." Harry handed the letter to Ron.
Ron read it quickly and started laughing gaining Hermione's attention who was at the time trying to get the twins to eat something. Soon the letter was passed throughout the group and all but Cho had read it. She had just finished reading her own letter when the letter came back to her and Harry. She glanced over the letter and handed it back to Harry.
"So are you going to go?" She asked not really caring about Ron's hysterical laughter.
"Not likely. First off I can't just up and leave Hogwarts in the middle of a term. Second it's a fan club and you know how I feel about those. Finally I'm not leaving you and Lily here while I go tour the world." Harry stated returning his attention to breakfast.
"You wouldn't be leaving us here and we can go on one of the breaks. We can go during Christmas break and as for you feelings on fan clubs it won't be that bad. Besides I've always wanted to see the states."
Harry noticed that their argument was getting attention from more than just their friends. "Hon can we talk about this later?" Harry figured it was something best fought out in private.
"Fine with me."
A/N so the chapter sucked. Its leading up to something don't worry. I shall try to update more often but my brother is in town this month and with the holidays I'm not sure if I'll have time to update. I hope this doesn't make you want to quit reading. Sorry it took so long to update. Next time it takes so long send me a howler to thethirdtroll@aol.com. Thanks.
Disclaimer: I'm too lazy to type it all the time so check chapter 1 or 10. It's less work for me.
Chapter 12: Trouble is Brewing (and for once it isn't Sirius' fault)
The train ride to the school was ten times as bad as when the teachers had been kids. Professor Snape (after much argument) boarded the train to begin what he would consider the worst journey since he had been in school.
Harry and Cho were the first to the train and quickly claimed the last compartment. Lily gurgled as Harry sat her on the floor while they awaited the arrival of the others. Professor McGonagall sat with Snape in the first compartment as far away from the rather loud bunch of teachers and children.
The train was set to leave at 11 as always and at exactly 11 the last of the group boarded. Hermione was happy just to have something to do once more (besides look after the kids). Ron was happily reliving the memories of the train rides of their early years, Remus and Tonks were making plans for their wedding, and Sirius well he was planning what pranks to do on Snape.
"Hey Sirius. I wonder if our names are still written on the wall. Do you remember where we wrote them?" Remus stated out of the blue.
"Oh yeah I had forgot about that. I believe we wrote it above the luggage racks. Lets see if its still there." Sirius stood on one of the seats and looked at the corner wall. "Hey Moony its still there. 'Below are the names of the worlds greatest pranksters known to Hogwarts and the number of detentions received for said pranks. James 'Prongs' Potter 4,872 Sirius 'Padfoot' Black 4,870 Remus 'Moony' Lupin 3,986' Remus became a prefect and thus had to avoid as much trouble towards the end." Sirius looked at Remus. "James last two detentions were for beating Malfoy into a pancake for calling Lily Mudblood thus he beat me."
"I remember that. Malfoy spent the last two days of term in the hospital wing. I believe James broke two of his ribs and dislocated his jaw. It took the both of us to keep him from killing Malfoy. I can't believe that 20 something years later our names are still engraved on the train." Remus smiled at the thought.
"Daddy. I'm hungry. Can I get something to eat?" Hope spoke up from where she sat coloring.
"Sure thing hun. Let me go get you something. While I'm up what does everyone else want?" Ron asked as he stood to go look for the food cart.
"Ron lets just buy the whole cart cause there are a lot of us and we all know how much Sirius can eat." Harry said from his spot next to Cho who was reading the journal from Harry's parents.
"Good idea. I'll be back." Ron left to find the cart and the others began telling stories of their adventures on the train.
"Hey Mione, you remember our first train ride? You were already performing magic and Ron tried to turn Peter yellow." Harry smiled thinking what would have happened if Peter had turned yellow.
"Remember second year when Fred and George found out that Percy had a girlfriend." Hermione smiled at the memory of their faces that day.
"Or after fourth year when Malfoy and his cronies came in and they looked like a mangled mess when we were through with them. Then George literally walking on Malfoy's face. I think that actually helped his looks." Harry smiled.
"Hey Sirius remember our first train ride?" Remus shot out.
"Ah yes we had no experience in the field of pranking. Well you didn't me and James had lived next door to each other for so long we were used to the whole pranking thing. Oh yeah Harry doesn't know that story. See for a while James lived on the same street well actually it was a few streets down but we were sort of good friends well until my parents found out. My parents hated James and forbid me to see him. Then we came to Hogwarts and nothing could separate us. Every Christmas I'd go to James house so I wouldn't have to stay with my family. When my parents first found out that I was friends with Remus they almost killed me. I was forbidden to hang out with Remus and James and even Lily. We all know how well I followed that rule. I still have the scars to prove how many beatings I took to stay friends with these too." Sirius looked depressed for a moment. "Oh well. Our first train ride we let dung bombs off in all the compartments and bewitched some of the food on the cart."
"Yeah some of the Slytherins never got over that. Not that they liked us anyway." Remus sighed at the memory. "Good old James. That traitorous rat never spent the train rides with us. He always disappeared half way through the train ride. We should have known he wasn't loyal to us. Always took the cowardly way out." Remus spat at the bitter memory.
"The train rides to and from Hogwarts weren't that eventful for me and my friends. But that is probably because we followed the rules unlike the rest of you." Tonks spoke up.
"Hey I always followed rules. The rest of you might not have but I did. My friends and I always had a great time on the train without breaking rules." Cho defended herself.
Everyone began laughing. "Breaking the rules at Hogwarts always was a great adventure." Harry said smiling. "Hence the trouble we always ended up in. Took Hermione a while to get warmed up to it but it was for the benefit. And dear you did break rules. Everyone here knows that. You were part of an illegal society and you read the article in The Quibbler thus you broke rules as well."
"The ones that hag made up do not count. No one followed those rules. Even the teachers broke those rules." Cho defended trying to keep her good reputation.
Ron entered at that moment with the cart of food. Everyone ate snacks and when Sirius turned into a canary everyone promptly put the food down. They had forgot one detail. The twins were on the train. Just as Sirius turned back human the door opened to reveal none other than.
"So Gred looks like it worked."
"Looks that way to me too Feroge. How is everyone this lovely afternoon?"
Hermione glanced at the twins suspiciously and glared at Sirius who was trying to teach the twins magic while the other twins distracted her.
Lily chose this moment to attract attention to her by letting her toy snitch smack into Ron's face. Soon the tension broke and they began playing exploding snap and throwing random jinxes at each other.
"Weasley, Jonathan!" Professor McGonagall called as Bill and Pearl's adopted son walked up to the stool and the hat was placed on the rather terrified looking boy. Bill and Pearl adopted the boy when they learned that his parents were killed during the war with Voldemort. The boy had bright red hair, (strangely enough) and had lived in a muggle orphanage for the last few years. Bill and Pearl adopted him when he was seven and now four years later the boy was entering Hogwarts.
The hat seemed to think for quite a while before finally deciding on Gryffindor. As he was the last first year everyone turned to Dumbledore to see what he would say. The later years looked expectantly at their plates.
"Only two words this year. Dig in." Immediately food appeared on the plates and everyone began catching up on what happened over summer vacation.
At the head table Harry and Cho were having a conversation about what house Lily would be in when she got to school. "I'm just saying she's going to be in Gryffindor because she seems to be taking after my mother in so many ways." Harry argued as he piled food onto his plate.
"Yeah yeah yeah. I don't care if she ends up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw so long as she doesn't end up in Slytherin. I couldn't bear the thought of her turning into the scum that Malfoy turned into. If she does end up in Gryffindor she will not be as reckless as you hopefully. Anyway why are we talking about this now, she's not even one. Hey Remus when are you guys planning on getting married?" Cho turned the attention to Tonks and Remus.
"Um.I dunno when do you want to get marry sweetie?" Remus asked turning to Tonks.
This remark made Sirius spit pumpkin juice out his nose. "Sweetie? That's a new one. You are so whipped Moony." he said as he wiped his face.
Just then Lily took the spoon of baby food from Cho and sent it flying at Sirius.
Remus began laughing but stopped abruptly when one of the twins hit him with a glob of their own food. Soon enough it was an all out food fight with Harry getting hit from both sides. Lily found it fun to throw food at her father who stood in front of her to block the majority of the food from hitting her.
The laughter from the group was so loud that no one noticed Fred and George slip in the room. (Well Dumbledore noticed but we all know he know almost everything) Fred and George noticed the food fight and decided to enchant some food to attack everyone at the head table and dance around in front of Dumbledore singing the Hogwarts song.
This got everyone's attention. Harry and company soon shrunk as far as they could into their seats when they caught the murderous look McGonagall gave them. They all knew not to push their luck with the Deputy Headmistress.
Meanwhile the whole student body stared at the Head table in amazement at what they had just seen. Well all but John. He was used to it by now.
"Hey John, aren't you going to watch the food fight?" one of John's fellow Gryffindor asked as they noticed he was completely ignoring the scene.
"Nope. I see this a lot. You should see the Christmas parties every year. Professor Black will start something with someone and then everyone else will join in. That or Professor Potter will start something with Uncle Ron and it will go from there. Either way at least one food fight will start." John replied as he continued eating.
"Students I have a special announcement but first some reminders." Dumbledore said as Lily latched onto his beard looking extremely happy at having her toy back. "Now let me introduce you to Misters Fred and George Weasley owners of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They will be opening up shop here where students can buy.supplies." At this Filch was so shocked that he passed out.
The students started chattering all at once and kept looking at Dumbledore wondering if the old man had lost his mind. Snape on the other hand looked more miserable than even Filch. Not only did he have to deal with his mortal enemy's son and family and friends but now the twins would be joining the two remaining Marauders. Snape soon began rhythmically beating his head on the table to which Professor Flitwick addressed Snape saying, "Severus if you are going to do that please do not shake the table. I would think the whole school would be happy to see the two students who had the guts to stand up to that Umbridge woman again. Oh well. You might need to wash your hair to get the pudding out of it." He finished noticing the pudding that was stuck to the man's greasy hair.
Sirius heard this remark and started laughing. "Snape wash his hair? Does he even know how to?" he whispered to Tonks.
As the students headed off to their dorms to get sleep after such an interesting start to another year at Hogwarts, Flitwick turned to Harry who was magically cleaning Lily and listening to Professor McGonagall lecture Sirius about starting food fights.
"So, Harry, you got stuck with Sirius as your co-teacher. Are you sure your class can survive the year?" Flitwick asked as he transfigured a piece of parchment into a teddy bear and charmed the bear to sing a lullaby for Lily. He handed her the teddy and she hugged it to her chest as she turned to snuggle into Harry's body.
"Sure. Maybe not in one piece but they will survive. I don't know if Remus will survive with a prank shop in the school for Sirius to buy 'supplies' from. So long as he doesn't hurt Lily or tick off Cho he will survive. Cho is still mad at him for the whole anniversary thing. The man is doomed if he tries something else on her so soon." Harry grinned at the thought.
"Yes well I have an early class tomorrow so I will be going. Have a good night Harry." Flitwick then left.
The school year was going to be quite eventful.
The next morning the owl post arrived barring a letter for Cho and another for Harry. Harry looked at the letter confused.
"Who's it from?" Ron asked noticing Harry's confused look.
"I'm not sure. As almost everyone who writes to me is at this table and I don't recognize the writing. Sort of makes me suspicious. Well let's see who its from." Harry opened the letter.
Dear Harry,
Hello. I am a fan of yours and I was wondering if I could meet you. I know you are busy with your teaching career and all but I have this fan club going and I would like you to come and maybe tell us of some of your adventures. I know that this is probably not a new request but I would really appreciate it if you were to come.
This fan club I host is made up of mostly children and teenagers. All of the members are not yet of age to attend Hogwarts and would like to meet their hero before they go. I only ask this because these children will probably never get a chance to go to Hogwarts because they live in the states. If you would do this I would gladly pay you and I will make sure you have appropriate accommodations.
Think of it as a chance to see the sights of the great United States of America. I hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you, Ms. Tina Laren Head of the Harry Potter Fan Club in Washington D.C.
Harry's eyebrow rose at the end of the letter. "This is a new one. Hey Ron read this." Harry handed the letter to Ron.
Ron read it quickly and started laughing gaining Hermione's attention who was at the time trying to get the twins to eat something. Soon the letter was passed throughout the group and all but Cho had read it. She had just finished reading her own letter when the letter came back to her and Harry. She glanced over the letter and handed it back to Harry.
"So are you going to go?" She asked not really caring about Ron's hysterical laughter.
"Not likely. First off I can't just up and leave Hogwarts in the middle of a term. Second it's a fan club and you know how I feel about those. Finally I'm not leaving you and Lily here while I go tour the world." Harry stated returning his attention to breakfast.
"You wouldn't be leaving us here and we can go on one of the breaks. We can go during Christmas break and as for you feelings on fan clubs it won't be that bad. Besides I've always wanted to see the states."
Harry noticed that their argument was getting attention from more than just their friends. "Hon can we talk about this later?" Harry figured it was something best fought out in private.
"Fine with me."
A/N so the chapter sucked. Its leading up to something don't worry. I shall try to update more often but my brother is in town this month and with the holidays I'm not sure if I'll have time to update. I hope this doesn't make you want to quit reading. Sorry it took so long to update. Next time it takes so long send me a howler to thethirdtroll@aol.com. Thanks.