Keeping You In The Dark
"I can't believe you never told us what you had planned to do to Dawn Umbridge!" Ron told Hermione in a mixture of irritation and awe.
"I read about the spell from the library book How To Make Your Parchment Work For You. I told April about it and she wanted me to keep it a secret to surprise the rest of you."
Harry saw the guilt in Hermione's eyes and deduced she did not give them the full reason. "You mean April did not want me to know?"
"It's nothing personal against you, Harry." Hermione hurriedly clarified. "April just did not want Sirius to know about it. And since you're close to him…"
"I don't see any harm in letting Sirius know."
Hermione bit her lip. "April was adamant that he should not be told."
Harry was deciding whether to protest or let the matter rest when his godfather entered the Gryffindor common room.
"Sirius!" Hermione was the first to spot him. "None of our professors, with the exception of Professor McGonagall who's our house mistress, visits our common room on a regular basis like you do." She shot him a reproaching look, while adding, "And I don't think this is an emergency."
Sirius shot the girl a look of surprise. "This is not the first time I'm here. Remus and April were here too."
"But you're a professor now. Times are different and you should set a good example and abide by the rules!"
He gave her an easy smile. "Rules are meant to be broken, young lady. Besides, who'll mind? Dumbledore and McGonagall will not object. Even if they do, they know fully well that they can't stop me."
"And just in case you did not realise, I'm only taking the classes next week. So technically, I'm not a professor yet," he added. "But of course, I will still continue to come and go as I please when that happens."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Sirius stopped her, "Watch it, Granger. You mustn't be rude to your professor."
Hermione did not like Sirius' jibe but knew better than to carry on this argument. "I'll drop by the library before class," she announced to no one in particular and swept out of the common room.
Sirius took the seat vacated by Hermione. "Busy?" he looked at Harry.
"No, not at all. We're just here to kill time in between lessons," Harry replied immediately.
"What have you guys been talking about?"
Harry thought quickly. There was no way he could tell Sirius the truth. "We're just discussing that it's bad luck that our Quidditch match has to be postponed."
"Yeah, injured Ravenclaw goalkeeper," Sirius murmured. "April was just asking me when the first match will be held." He leaned back into his seat and made himself comfortable, obviously intending to stay in the room.
Harry thought Sirius was behaving a little strangely. He looked distracted and deep in thoughts. Harry wondered if he should ask Sirius to find out more in the presence of Ron.
Ron must have felt the same way as she soon cleared his throat awkwardly and got to his feet. "I'm going to the owlery to look for Pig," he said and quickly made his exit.
Sirius' eyes followed Ron's departure before staring blankly into space once again.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Harry tried.
"No," Sirius snapped out of his reverie and threw his godson a surprised glance. "Why do you ask?"
"You seem deep in thoughts, that's all. And…" Harry hesitated.
"And?"
"And you seemed distracted at the celebration we had last night too."
Sirius did not answer and continued to stare into space.
"Is it April Flamel?"
Sirius turned his head sharply to look at Harry.
"So my guess is correct?"
Sirius took a deep breath and asked, "What do you think of April, Harry?"
"I like her," Harry replied simply. He then shot Sirius a sly smile, "But I guess you like her much more than I do."
"What?"
"I think she'll make you happy."
Sirius broke into a smile, "You don't mind if I go out with April?"
"Sure I don't mind. In fact, I'll only mind if you don't do that."
"Why's that?"
"Because I can tell you like her. One must always fight for our own happiness."
"That's deep," Sirius teased lightly.
"So have you asked her to stay?"
"Now you sound like Remus."
"Professor Lupin said that? So he doesn't like April…you know…in that special kind of way?"
Sirius shook his head. 'You think he does?"
It was Harry's turn to shake his head. "No, Hermione did."
Sirius frowned thoughtfully as he pondered over what Harry said.
*
April had just sent off an owl with her letter. She decided to linger at the owlery, simply to enjoy some peace and quiet.
She was admiring a fine-looking hawk when she heard footsteps and knew that her solitary moment has passed.
"Hi there!" she called to Sirius who smiled somewhat uncertainly before approaching her. "You're here to send a letter too?" April asked, puzzled. As far as she knew, Sirius did not have any family or friends outside the school grounds.
"I'm just taking a walk," Sirius lied. He could not bring himself to tell her his real motive for being here. He had managed to convince himself to come outright and ask the dark-haired girl to stay. He had been searching the school for her as soon as he mustered his courage, and Flitwick had told him that he saw April make her way in the direction of the owlery. But now that she was standing before him, he found himself tongue-tied.
"You've sent your letter?" he asked quickly, to distract her before she had time to doubt his lame excuse.
She nodded. "I sent a note back home."
Sirius saw his chance. "You're not in a hurry to go back, are you?" he asked.
April looked at him curiously. "I can't decide if you're hinting that I should leave or telling me not to be in a hurry to go back."
"I'll not chase you away, of course!" he immediately assured her. "You don't have to be in a hurry to leave."
"I can't stay here forever, Sirius. I have no role here, especially now that Hagrid's back," she sighed. "I'm just a visitor."
"Don't you want to spend more time with Dumbledore? You mentioned that he's like family to you."
She nodded again, "Sure, I'd love that. But Albus is a busy man. I don't want to take up too much of his time." April frowned before continuing, "Voldemort has been too quiet lately. He must be up to something. I know Albus is troubled by this too, but he changes the subject each time I ask him about it."
"It has been unnaturally peaceful these days," Sirius agreed.
"The calm before the storm," April stated quietly. "Sirius, if anything happens, can you please send me an owl? I've a feeling Albus will not tell me even if Voldemort strikes, but I want to help."
"Sure," Sirius replied, before an idea struck him. "Why don't you find an excuse to stay in Hogwarts? Then you'll surely be among the first to know."
"And what will my excuse be?"
Sirius looked away, avoiding her eyes. "Isn't there any other reason for you to stay?"
"Such as?"
"People."
"People?"
"Yes, people…you know…like Dumbledore, McGonagall and Moody."
"Sure I'll miss them," April replied evenly. "And Hagrid, Remus and the kids too."
"That's all?"
"Unless you can think of anyone else who'll miss me when I'm gone?"
Sirius remained silent.
"So will you?" April asked.
"Will I what?"
April was getting frustrated. "I was asking if you'll miss me, but I guess the answer will be no."
Without waiting for a reply, she brushed past Sirius and made her way towards the exit.
"Wait." Sirius caught hold of her arm. It's now or never, he told himself. "Of course I'll miss you." He almost heaved a sigh of relief for having said that.
"You will?" April's lips curled.
"I hope that you'll stay," Sirius told her in a soft voice. "So that I'll never get the chance to miss you again."
She widened her eyes. "Again?" she echoed dully. "So you missed me when I was gone earlier?"
"Do you have to make me spell out everything?"
"Yes," she replied bluntly.
"Alright. Listen up then, young lady. I did not like it when you were gone and I do not want to go through that again. I want you to stay where I can see you everyday."
She was smiling now. "And why would you want to see me everyday? You're not afraid that I'll irritate the hell out of you?"
"I can live with the irritation," he said simply.
She shot him a look of mock anger.
"So will you continue to irritate me?"
"Ouch, that insult hurts," she said playfully.
"I'll take back my words then. Will you continue to…" he pondered for a few moments.
"Brighten up your days?" April supplied.
"Oh yeah."
She puckered her brow. "That doesn't sound very sincere."
"What do you want me to do?" Sirius asked, exasperated.
"Speak to me nicely," she sulked.
"I already did."
"You have to try harder then."
"April Flamel!" he barked. "Stop behaving like a ten-year-old!"
"I'm twenty-five and I'm acting my age!"
"Can you stop throwing a tantrum?"
"I'm not throwing a tantrum!"
"You are! Just look into the mirror!" Sirius raised his voice.
"You deserve a tight slap in your face!" she growled.
"Oh yeah? Try me!"
April glared at Sirius. Suddenly her eyes began to water.
"April…" Sirius softened at once.
"Get away from me. You deserve Dawn Umbridge!" she spat.
"Hey…"
"I HATE YOU!" She stormed out of the owlery before Sirius could stop her.
*
April almost collided with Remus on the way back to her room.
"Be careful!" Remus said, holding April by the shoulders to steady her. He was taken aback when he saw her upset face. She looked as though she was going to burst into tears any moment. "Are you all right?" he asked gently.
April shook her head miserably.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"Nothing. It was a stupid fight over nothing."
"You fought with someone?"
Her tears came pouring down. "I was a fool. I was a spoilt brat."
"No, you're not," Remus said soothingly.
"He'll never bother about me again. I just told him I hate him."
"Sirius?"
April looked at him through her tears. "How did you guess?
Remus shrugged. "That's not too difficult."
She sighed gloomily. "I should just pack up and leave right now."
"You're not a quitter, April."
"I'm not?"
Remus shook his head firmly. "The April Flamel I know does not give up so easily. She is a fighter."
April looked at Remus, unconvinced.
"Never doubt yourself," he told her. Before he knew it, he had touched her left cheek with the back of his hand and wiped away a falling tear.
"LUPIN!"
Both Remus and April looked at the source of the voice, and saw Sirius stepping out from the shadows. His eyes were narrowed and he looked absolutely furious.
* * *
Lil Lupin : Yes! More sparks will coming our way!
padfoot1979 : This is not their last argument. They're a quarrelsome pair, aren't they? :)
Senshichan14 : I've already graduated from the U a few years back. So there's no school for now! LOL
peachgirl1608 : Thanks for recommending my fic to your friends! I really appreciate that!
Diosa Alexia : I hope this chapter will not make you sad!
oOo-Sirius-oOo : Thanks!
Lily Skylo : I'll be adding more stuff from Book Five into this fic gradually.
black-cat-on-the-wall : She knows now :)
Fire'N'Ice : She can't help talking about Remus!
Ainsley Sloan : You're indeed awesome! Yay, yay, YAY!!! But I still can't figure out the song…
ANNE( v )79 : I'll keep writing!
SjabRox : Thanks for recommending your friends to read my fic too!
Star06 : She behaves like a kid when she's around Sirius. (which girl won't? LOL) But then again, he can be quite childish when he's with her too.
anarane gilraen : Thanks! I'm so happy to read your review! You'll keep coming back to this fic, won't you? Just don't pass out this time! LOL
OutofAzkaban : The time spent writing your fic will get shorter and shorter as you get more accustomed to writing! I used to spend 3-4 hours on each chapter, which was shorter. Now I spend about 1-2 hours on longer chapters. Yay! I want to read about the date soon!
nunnya buiznes : I've got three reviews from you! Oh no…what did you do to almost get detention! But luckily, you don't have to face Dolores Umbridge like Harry does in detentions… Be a good girl, ok? LOL
dogcollar : Thanks for your very encouraging review!
Ice and Fire Vanessa : Thanks for dropping a comment. This is not the last one, right? ;)
Annoriel : Thanks for adding me in your fav authors' list!
night : I wish I know JKR personally so that I can tell her day and night not to do that!
LILRKCHK : Nice try! LOL
