A/N: Thanks, everyone! We've passed 200 reviews. My 200th reviewer is…*drum roll*…black-cat-on-the-wall! But I'd like to THANK everyone of you! Every review is special & very much-treasured!
It seems that some of you prefer April with Sirius, while others prefer her with Remus. Hmm…I'll let you find out the "verdict" later. Just hope that you'll not be too disappointed…
Someone From The Past
Sirius was once again in Dumbledore's office. But he was not alone with the headmaster. There were two other women present.
Sirius shifted in his chair for the umpteenth time. However, it wasn't the cushy chair that was causing his discomfort. It was one of the two women – the younger one in her thirties, who was making him wish that he could return to the Shrieking Shack right away. She had been staring fixatedly at Sirius ever since she entered the room, and it had been more than fifteen minutes of pure torture.
The older one was speaking to Dumbledore again, in a very high-pitched girlish voice that did not match her very unattractive and almost toad-like appearance. "Professor Dumbledore, I have completed my task and shall now take my leave," she announced before looking expectantly at the headmaster, as though she was waiting for him to thank her profusely and escort her to the door which was only a few steps away. When Dumbledore's only response was to bid her farewell, her eyebrows shot up to her hairline and she matched huffily to the door alone.
When she reached the door, she turned back and addressed the younger woman, "Dawn dearie, aren't you coming with me?"
Dawn finally tore her eyes away from Sirius and replied in the same annoying high-pitched voice, "Oh Aunt Dolores dear, may I stay for a little while more? There's some catching up I want to do."
"Right dearie, you may." With a final curt nod to Dumbledore, Dawn's aunt ignored Sirius completely and made her exit with as much dignity as she could muster.
As soon as her aunt was gone, Dawn rushed to Sirius and tried to throw her flabby arms around him. But Sirius was too quick for her and had leaped out of the armchair just in time.
"What are you trying to do?" he growled.
"Sirius! Surely you've not forgotten me? I'm Dawn, darling. Dawn Umbridge!"
Sirius threw her a look of plain dislike. "I know who you are all right. Stay away from me."
"Oh darling! Surely you don't mean it!"
"I mean what I said. And STOP CALLING ME DARLING!"
"But darling! We have lots of catching up to do!"
"I don't see a need for that!" There was slight panic in Sirius' voice now.
As Dawn began to protest, Sirius quickly dashed to the door and ran out of the room.
"Sirius! SIRIUS BLACK!" Dawn's voice was echoing behind him.
*
"Are you kidding? Dawn Umbridge is here? I mean…she's right here at Hogwarts right now?" Remus asked. He somehow managed to smile and frown all at once.
"Yeah. This is a nightmare," Sirius barked, shaking his head as though he was trying to wake up from a bad dream.
"Does she…hmm…look the same?"
Sirius threw Remus a dirty look. "No, she doesn't look the same. She actually managed to look worse! Much worse!"
Sirius walked over to the window and breathed in deeply, as though he was in desperate need of fresh air. "In fact, I just met her aunt Dolores Umbridge and I can very well picture how Dawn Umbridge will look like years later. And trust me, it's far from a pretty sight."
When Remus did not comment, Sirius continued, "Dawn Umbridge must have gained at least twenty pounds. What little neck she had then has disappeared under all the fats. Her eyes are still like bulging saucers, and she still has no dress sense to save her life. In short, she looks like a toad. A very grotesque toad."
Remus couldn't help but be amused by how critical Sirius sounded. There had always been only two people who could invoke such strong negative criticism on their appearances from Sirius – Severus Snape and Dawn Umbridge.
Remus remembered Dawn Umbridge as a girl from Slytherin, two years their junior, who took a fancy to Sirius ever since she saw him along the school corridors and had been shamelessly throwing herself at him. Of course, Sirius was easily the best-looking guy at Hogwarts during that time and he had no lack of admirers. But none of them were showing their attraction to Sirius as blatantly as Dawn Umbridge did.
The problem was, it was far easier to loathe Dawn Umbridge than to like her. She had a reputation for eavesdropping on private conversations and carrying tales to any of the professors who would listen to her. When most of the teachers had grown tired of her stories, Dawn Umbridge had turned her attention to the younger students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and tried to bully them into running all sorts of errands for her, buying her gifts and doing research for her homework.
Remus was never one to judge others based on looks, but he had to admit that Dawn Umbridge's looks were far from pleasing. She had prominent pouchy eyes, a mouth that was inches too wide, a broad flabby face and very little neck. Remus chuckled softly at the recollection of James' snickers whenever Dawn stood near Sirius as they really looked ridiculous together – Sirius the tall, slim, handsome guy who moved with grace, and Dawn the short, very plump girl with toad-like features, who moved with a waddle.
James had initially subjected Sirius to endless teasing about his not-so-secret-admirer, till Sirius finally blew his top at his friend one day. That marked a turning point and James began to attempt ways and means to discourage Dawn Umbridge's interest in his best friend, but his efforts were in vain.
It was only when Sirius was sent to Azkaban when he was finally free from all the unwanted attention from Dawn Umbridge. That was probably the only good thing about Sirius' stay in the notorious wizard prison, Remus thought bitterly.
Remus' thoughts gradually drifted back to the present. Sirius was still going on about how much he loathed Dawn Umbridge. "…her voice! That irritating high-pitched sound never fails to make me cringe and almost wish I'm dead! It reminds me of sharp nails clawing on a smooth surface. Do you know what…"
"Padfoot," Remus interrupted his friend's ranting, "so Dawn's aunt was the representative from the Ministry of Magic? What did she say?"
Sirius took a deep breath to get himself less agitated and focused on Remus' question. "She didn't say very much. She's just here to give me a bag of money. Compensation from the Ministry, she said. As though they can make up for thirteen years of my life with a thousand Galleons!"
"A thousand Galleons? That's quite generous." Remus saw Sirius' face darkening and added quickly, "I mean, that's quite generous considering that the Ministry is always known to be very cautious about every Knut spent. But of course, that's nothing compared to the injustice they put you through."
"Yeah, you're absolutely right! You should have seen that old Umbridge hag with her stupid handbag and fluffy pink cardigan…"
Remus patiently listened to another round of his friend's ranting about the Umbridges, and silently wondered what the next few days would be like.
***
So how's this new OC? Better than April Flamel??? (*evil grin*) Don't worry - Dawn Umbridge is not meant to be a substitute for April. She's just here because of what her aunt did to Harry in OotP. Oh...and April may just reappear in this fic, so keep reading! ;)
