Revised and Extended
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO A Quick Trip
The morning following the spectacular dinner prepared by Lily and James, Ophelia woke up under a pile of heavy blankets. She glanced round to see Sirius laying next to her, holding a glass of water.
He rolled onto his side, nearly dropping the glass. She took it from him and set it down on her night table.
"Sir?" she whispered, nudging him with her foot. "Wake up."
"Give me five more minutes." he mumbled sleepily.
"No, we have to go back to school today." she said, "And if I'm guessing right, you haven't even begun to pack yet."
"All I have to do is wave my wand and I'm packed."
"That's not an excuse to sleep in 'til noon, now come on." she giggled, pulling the covers off him.
He groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I don't even remember falling asleep in here."
"I do. You had a bit much to drink and sort of... er, passed out."
"That sounds about right." Sirius hiccoughed, sending a large lamp flying across the room. "Sorry."
Ophelia got up and pointed her wand at the shards of glass laying on the floor. "Reparo." she muttered, making the lamp spin back together.
Sirius reached for the water next to the bed and took a long sip.
"You owe me big." she sighed, draping the blankets over him.
"Why is that?"
"Because I'm going to go pack up the rest of your stuff so that you get a bit more rest."
He smiled and rolled onto his stomache. "Thanks Phe."
Ophelia made her way down the hall to the room where Sirius had slept since his first stay at the Manor. It was unusually bright, as the drapes had been left open to let the sunlight pour in.
She shuffled through the room, running her hand over the scuffed wood of his trunk. She opened the lid and quickly went about stowing the various things into it; his books, quills, socks and things all flew into the chest. When she came across a pair of his pants on the floor, she erupted into a fit of giggles and didn't calm down until Remus came to collect her and Sirius.
"What are you doing in here?" he asked, closing the trunk. "Where's Padfoot?"
"In my room, trying to sleep off his headache." she answered absentmindedly. "I volunteered to pack up his things."
Remus frowned, "Why is he in your room?"
"Because we were up talking all last night." she lied.
"About what?"
"A-Auror business."
He nodded, "Alright. Well we should be going. Are you done in here?"
"Yes, all of my things are downstairs already. Except Bel, I can't find her basket anywhere."
As if on cue, the fluffy grey cat wandered into the room and rubbed against Ophelia's shin.
"They're all waiting in the kitchen so you should go wake Sirius," Remus instructed, "I'll take his things downstairs."
She nodded and swung Bel into her arms before heading back to her room to gather Sirius up. The two of them went downstairs to join the others in the sitting room.
Sirius ran a hand through his unkempt hair and chuckled, "Anyone else feeling a bit under the weather? Or is it just me?"
A vase flew off the mantle and crashed on the wall just above Pete's head.
"Sorry mate." he grinned.
One-by-one they Flooed their way to London. Once Ophelia had stepped from the grate, she glanced round anxiously looking for Adolphus.
She found a note tacked to the back of the front door.
Ophelia,
Good luck with you first day towards becoming an Auror. I'm so very proud of you, Butterdrop. Keep me posted with all of your studies.
Make sure to keep an eye on Remus and tell him to take his nose out of the books every few days. I'll be coming to all of his games, hope to see you there.
-Adolphus
She smiled and shoved the parchment in her purse, following her friends out the door.
A half an hour later, they arrived just in time to hop onto the Hogwarts Express. They found a compartment in the fifth car and threw themselves inside. Once they had stowed their baggage away, Talia and Mai went in search of Caradoc and his friends.
James' head whipped round to the hallway, where Severus was walking by, followed by a few more gangly Slytherins.
"I see he's managed to keep his little friends over break." said Sirius smugly.
"All the better to curse," James laughed, "Saves us time."
Severus and Marcus Tate stepped into the cabin, smirking fiendishly.
"Did we invite you in, Snivellus?" asked Sirius, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Black," he hissed through gritted teeth, "Tate was just informing me that you were disowned over summer. How unfortunate, I didn't think it was possible for your name to get any blacker."
"How long have you been saving that for?" James retorted, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Lily.
Severus' mouth disapeared into one thin line, "You wait, Potter. Every time you look over your shoulder this year, I'll be there."
"Are you hitting on me, Snivellus?"
Snape and Marcus spun around and left the compartment.
Remus glanced up from his thick Arithmancy textbook, "That was foreboding."
