a/n: Hello again to all you wonderful people! Let's see what's on the agenda for this author's note, shall we? (flips through a clipboard full of things she wanted to remember to tell her readers) Hmmm…ah yes! I have NOTES for you! YAY!
I'm going to address my single flamer first:
my god: I respect your opinion and thank you for your honesty. However, if you had actually finished reading the story before you completely tore it apart, you would have seen that I clearly had Claire change the plot in many different ways. I advise if you plan on flaming people in the future that you at least do them the curtosy of reading their entire work before you curse their "righting" skills. I also advise that when you review you try to use proper grammer, as it was very hard to comprehend what you were trying to say. (C'mon, how hard is it to get "right" and "write" mixed up! Anyone who can't get that straight certainly has no business calling other people "fing idiots.") However, despite your rudeness, I thank you for reviewing.
(satisfied sigh) Now that we got that out of the way, how 'bout some notes for the rest of you? (smiles happily)
Tears-Of-Love-Tears-Of-Hate: I like your penname—highly original and easy to spot! If you thought that was evil, wait 'til you see what's coming next…mwhahahaha…
CrAzYaNdPsYcHo Your penname is AMAZING. Haha I think you and me would get along just fine! (points to her "Cute But Pyscho" poster) Fantabulous, huh? I've never gotten a compliment quite like that, I'm flattered. You might want to install a seat belt on that seat your hanging onto, 'cuz it's just gonna get more suspenseful from here…(cackles evilly)…Thanks for reading and reviewing!
meep Also a nice name to call yourself. (I have such original, funny reviewers! How lucky I am!) I'm glad you like it. The part with Snape has definitely been my favorite part so far, although I did have fun writing all the Quidditch matches, too. Thanks for reading! (hugs back)
Siilent (bows deeply) You are far too kind. Thank you for your wonderful compliments! Yes, I did think of this idea myself. I actually had a dream where I was chasing after Harry trying to tell him that Sirius was going to die, and then a couple months later I thought, "Hmm…I should write a fic like that!" I'm not using the exact plot of the dream, but that is where I got the idea. I'm thrilled that you like the story! Thanks for reviewing!
melissa I wish it was real, too, although I am a Ron/Hermione shipper all the way! YAY RON! (cough) Sorry, haha, thanks for reading!
SerenityJc Was this fast enough for me not to get jinxed? (gulp) I'm worried! (wink) Haha, thanks for reading, you rock!
lambie (hands you cup of coffee) This should wake you up after staying up so late haha! THANK YOU SO MUCH. Really. Your review made me smile. (bows deeply) I really apprcieate how you picked apart my writing—that is the point of reviews but its hard to find people that actually do that for you. Thank you for being so honest about how you felt about the story. A lot of people have told me they thought the plot sounded stupid before they read it, but the way you worded it was much more amusing! (chuckles) Thanks again!
Bitter Twilight: Hey Judgey! (hands you oxygen tank) Don't stop breathing! How will I survive English class without you! X.x It'd be torture, I tell you, TORTURE! (uses oxygen to calm herself down) Whew. Don't scare me like that! Haha, I'm glad you are enjoying the fic! (hugs)
Blinded One: Thanks! Yes, "poor Claire" is right. She's in quite a pickle…(cackles some more for mysterious-ness)…Haha, sorry, I'm weird! Thanks again!
Padfoot's Sidekick: Good to see you again! I'm madly in love with your penname, as I've told you. Brilliant idea, wish I had thought of it. Anyway, yes: when in doubt, listen to the bird. Haha thanks for always reviewing! You rock!
Nina Hikari: AHHH! I'VE KILLED A REVIEWER! NOOOO! (runs around in panicky circles and steals the oxygen tank she gave to Bitter Twilight) I'm no good if I keep making you guys faint—how will you ever finish reading! AHHHH! (runs around some more) HAHA, sorry, I'm really hyper! Thanks for reviewing!
funkygurl3: Haha, yep! We all knew she was going to get herself in a pickle eventually! I'm honored that this story is your "pick-of-the-moment." Thanks for reviewing!
If I missed anyone I'm very sorry! I tried my best to write a little something to everyone who reviewed the last chapter but there were a LOT of you! Seriously, you guys, I love you so much! You can never know how much your comments mean to me—the good and the bad! (hugs everyone) Please enjoy CHAPTER 20! (showeres everyone with confetti)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I do own a large, fuzzy, stuffed duck! (clutches the plushy) YOU CAN'T TAKE IT FROM ME! (runs away)
Chapter 20: The Three Broomsticks
"And just how do you propose you propose you give the map back to Harry!" Aquinas hissed as she walked quickly out of the room and up the stairs. "How are you going to explain how you got the map in the first place!"
"Will you relax?" Claire hissed back, slipping behind a suit of armor and taking out the parchment from inside her robes.
"What are you doing!" Aquinas spazzed, looking anxiously up and down the hallway.
Claire pulled out her wand, looked left, then right, and returned her gaze to the parchment. Poising the wand's tip on the page, she muttered, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
"I'll say!" Aquinas said, biting his talons nervously.
Claire's eyes grew wide as a beautiful map traced itself across the scratchy, yellowing paper. Immediately, she began searching about for a particular dot.
"There!" She pointed to a dot that was on the move down to the Entrance Hall, accompanied by two other dots, heading in the direction of a bunch of other dots.
"Put it away!" Aquinas nearly squealed.
Claire rolled her eyes
"Don't you get it?" Claire said, not used to knowing something Aquinas didn't. "Harry is on the way to the Entrance Hall with Ron and Hermione! They're going to Hogsmeade, which means that Harry is going to be coming back upstairs in a few minutes."
Aquinas blinked.
"That's lovely," he said blankly. "I hope he has a nice walk…without his map!"
Claire sighed and ducked out from behind the armor, running up another flight of stairs as she explained, "No, you bird brain! It means that we can leave the map somewhere in his path for him to find!"
"ARE YOU CRAZY!" Aquinas burst out. A seventh year Ravenclaw shot Claire a piercing look, assuming Claire was insulting her. Claire smiled weakly and the girl stalked off. She glared at her feathery friend.
"Thanks a lot, Quin."
"Don't be mad at me! You're still not thinking!" He swayed on her shoulder as she began running faster, having to grab a lock of her thick, dark hair to keep balanced. "What if someone other than Harry takes the map? What are you going to do THEN, eh?"
"Trust me," Claire said, pulling a piece of scrap parchment out of her pocket from Transfiguration the day before.
"To trust you is suicide," he said bluntly.
Using the cool, stone wall as a writing easel, Claire scribbled a note:
Harry—
We want you to have this. Your needs are greater than ours. Besides, we've got the whole thing memorized anyhow. Have fun and remember, you didn't get it from us.
P.S. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
Satisfied, she took her wand and preformed a tricky little charm to make the word "Harry" flash brightly so that it would catch passerby's attention. Then she took out the map a final time and checked to make sure no one else was anywhere nearby. Seeing no one, she wiped the map clean and attached the note to it, leaving it on the statue of the one-eyed witch.
"There," she said resolutely. "It's fool-proof."
Aquinas was staring at the note, as if determined to find a flaw in Claire's seemingly brilliant idea. His expression was one of thoughtful concentration. Then, suddenly, he gasped and his eyes grew wide.
"Claire!" he exclaimed. "You forgot—"
They could hear quick footsteps coming up the staircase.
"Silencio!" Claire muttered, pointing her wand at Aquinas. His sentence left unfinished, she dove behind another suit of armor across the hall.
She peaked around and watched Harry as he came slowly in their direction. He seemed kind of distracted, obviously deep in thought. Claire knew he was thinking about working on his homework to distract himself from the fact that his friends were having a jolly time without him at the moment. She felt a surge of pride in knowing that she, Claire, was assisting in cheering him up.
As planned, Harry saw his name flashing on the statue. He went over to it, read the note, and stared the parchment curiously. Apparently, he was trying to make a decision. Then she saw him take his wand, look up and down the corridor, and finally mutter the magic words. She smiled as everything else played out just as she had hoped, Harry opened the hump of the one-eyed witch and slid down on his way into Hogsmeade for the very first time.
"Mission accomplished," she said happily, looking over at her partner in crime. Aquinas was waving his wings, trying to get her attention and pointing to his beak.
"Oops, sorry, Quin!" she said, flicking her wand at him and muttering the counter-spell.
The first words out of his mouth weren't pleasant ones.
"What!" Claire said, both offended and confused.
"You idiot!" Aquinas said through gritted teeth, rephrasing his earlier statement. "You didn't tell Harry how to wipe the map clean!"
She gasped, realizing he was right. Was there anyway to fix this?
"Wait," she said, thinking aloud. "I think I might still be okay. I need to check the book, c'mon…"
She stood up and ran in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. Yelling out the password to the Fat Lady, she flew through the common room and up the girl's staircase. She snatched the book off her nightstand and flipped open to the correct chapter, hoping against hope that she was right…
"Yes!" she said in relief. "Harry is going to hear about how Sirius supposedly betrayed his parents and not run into anyone on the way back from the Three Broomsticks. I'll just sneak up to his dormitory and leave him another note as to how you wipe the map clean. Safe again!"
She could have danced for joy, but Aquinas was not feeling the need to tap his toes.
"I hope I'm there to see the look on your face when you don't get a lucky break," he said, angered by her scraping by. "You've had one too many close shaves, in my opinion…"
"A close shave is not a failure," Claire reminded him, busily scribbling down a quick message to Harry, "even if I had two in less than five minutes."
He sighed in an aggravated tone as she finished her note, then the two of them headed down the stairs and into the common room. Unfortunately, almost the entire group of first and second years seemed to be sitting in one of the squashy purple chairs that morning. How in the world was Claire supposed to get into Harry's dormitory unnoticed?
"I'll help you out," Aquinas muttered in her ear, "if you promise only to leave the note and come straight back down."
She narrowed her eyes at his distrust, but agreed.
"I'll distract them, but you better hurry," Aquinas said. "If anyone pulls out so much as one feather…you're dead."
She hid a chuckle as Aquinas flew off her shoulder and began diving at the group of students, pecking at their heads and squawking obscenely. In all the chaos, Claire slipped up the boy's staircase and up to the dormitory at the very top of the tower.
Even though she was supposed to hurry, Claire couldn't help but have a look around. This was a room often described in the books, after all! She smiled at Dean's immobile poster of his favorite soccer team on the wall, and also couldn't help but grin at the disorganized state of Neville's trunk. However, she had a job to finish, so she headed over to Harry's bed and left the note on his pillow where he would easily spot it.
As she was turning to head out of the room, she couldn't help but feel that awful twinge of her coscience that one feels only when they really want to do something they know they shouldn't. Claire knew how badly she'd love to hear that conversation in the Three Broomsticks right now. To hear how Harry's parents were betrayed, or at least how everyone thought they'd been betrayed, as Harry heard it…what an experience! And to see Hogsmeade, one of the coolest places in the whole magical world…she'd almost kill for the chance to see it…
She sighed. She knew there could be major consequences to taking such a risk. For one, she could end up in trouble with the school, seeing as second years weren't allowed to visit the village under any circumstance anyway. For another, Aquinas would be madder than a hungry skrewt. But that really wasn't anything new—the bird was easily ticked off. Even if she didn't go she'd probably end up making him mad in some way or another. Wasn't there some way she could trick him?
A light bulb flicked on in her brain. An evil grin spread across her face as she spun around to face Harry's trunk. Somewhere in there, hidden at the very bottom, was an Invisibility Cloak…
Not thinking about anything else, as she often did, she marched right over to the trunk.
"Alohomora!" she said, making the trunk fly open.
Careful not to make it too obvious that she had been in the trunk, Claire moved this and that aside in search of the cloak. Then she caught a glimpse of something sliver—like water reflecting the moonlight. She'd found it!
Slipping it on, Claire watched her body disappear. With a rush of excitement, she locked the trunk and flew out of the dormitory, easily slipping out into the corridor as half the Gryffindor students were trying to catch Aquinas in what appeared to be a large butterfly net.
Patting herself on the back for her brilliance, Claire ran all the way to the one-eyed witch and all along the path to the Honeyduke's cellar. She was going to finally get to see the wizarding village! Her heart was pounding with anticipation. Maybe she could even visit the Shrieking Shack, or play with some of the jokes at Zonko's shop…
"OW!"
Her thoughts were interrupted by something very heavy colliding with her head. Massaging her scalp and cursing herself for her ignorance, she felt around for the handle of the trap door. She opened it and slipped inside the cellar and up the stairs.
She crossed over the threshold and into the shop. Her mouth fell open. It wasn't anything like she had imagined—it was even better. Candies of every imaginable shape, size, and color lined the shelves. Barrels of chocolates and strange sweets were being scavenged through by hungry Hogwarts students, all of which were wearing a smile. Claire snatched a lollipop off one of the trays and headed out of the shop into the snowy village.
"Brilliant…"
Claire wished she had more time to visit all the shops, but she needed to be making her way to the Three Broomsticks quickly if she wanted to be there for the whole conversation she wished to hear. She skipped happily down the street, licking her lollipop and humming. Oh, how she wished she could stay there forever…
A bell of a pub chimed somewhere in the wintry air. Claire looked up and saw the sign of the place she was looking for. Eager to warm up, she darted into the middle of a group of fifth year Hufflepuffs just as the door closed to the snowy wonderland outside.
Ducking out of the way so that no one would run into her, Claire surveyed the scene. The trio was nowhere to be found; clearly she was early. She grabbed a bottle off the counter and headed to the back corner of the pub. She figured she'd sit down have a drink to kill some time while she waited for the story to play out. Seating herself at the table next to the one she believed the trio would be sitting at in a movement, she allowed the butterbeer to warm her insides as she watched the door.
Right on cue, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, pink-faced and out of breath, appeared in the doorway. She smiled as she watched a beat-red Ron go over to Madam Rosmerta and order three drinks as Harry and Hermione headed in her direction. The three of them all sat down at the table beside Claire's and raised their glasses.
"Merry Christmas!" Ron said happily.
"Merry Christmas, indeed!" Claire whispered, raising her glass to the group as well.
Suddenly, the trio's heads turned in unison to the door. Claire looked, too, just in time to see Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Hagrid come in from the cold shortly followed by Cornelius Fudge. Claire narrowed her eyes and fingered her wand lovingly. Oh, what she'd give for the chance to curse him right now…
"Mobiliarbus!" Hermione whispered, moving a Christmas tree in front of their corner.
"Damn!" Claire muttered, for the tree had blocked her view entirely. Abandoning her drink, she slipped out of her chair and onto the floor beside Harry, Ron, and Hermione's table. Putting an ear close to the tablecloth, she could hear Harry muttering about his butterbeer being spilt on him as Ron and Hermione muttered at him to be quiet.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Claire watched as Madam Rosmerta took the teachers' order, and then joined them herself. Slowly, the conversation turned to Sirius Black, and all signs of breathing under the table were silenced.
"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta…" Fudge was saying.
"And neither do you," Claire mouthed.
"The worst?" Rosmerta replied curiously. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"
"I certainly do," Fudge said.
"I beg to differ," Claire retorted silently.
"—What could possibly be worse?" Rosmerta was asking.
"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," said Professor McGonagall, lowering her voice. "Do you remember who his best friend was?"
"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, chuckling lightly. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here—ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!"
Claire heard a thud from underneath the table as Harry dropped his glass onto the floor. Ron kicked him immediately after.
A lead weight was attaching itself to Claire's heart. Poor Harry—she'd never realized quite how hard hearing this must've been for him. Here he thought Sirius was his enemy, a madman after his life, and now to find out that this apparent phsyco killer was his father's best friend?
Still listening to the conversation, Claire crawled around to the back of the table, and slipped underneath between Ron's and Hermione's chairs. Harry was just sitting there, as if in a daze, completely absorbed in the conversation. His eyes were wide and glassy like a porcelain doll and his lips were curling downward into a frown. As quietly as she could, Claire crept over and sat down next to him. The conversation she had heard a hundred times, but Harry's expression at the time was one thing she had yet to witness.
After getting herself situated, Claire turned her attention back to the ongoing conversation.
"—Black was best man when James married Lily," Fudge was saying, as if he was the supreme knower of all things knowable. "Then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him."
The look on Harry's face told Claire the clearly Fudge was right (for once).
"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.
"Worse even than that, m'dear…" Fudge whispered back.
Claire was about ready to cry—the look on Harry's expression was one to kill. Pain was etched all over his face. He simply had a look that screamed, "Why me? Why is it always me?" His eyes were growing wider and wider as Fudge went on explaining about how the Potters went into hiding, and Claire turned her attention back to the adults as the conversation turned to the Fidelius Charm.
"An immensely complex spell," Flitwick piped up in his squeaky little voice, "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chose person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find—unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"
"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" whispered Madam Rosmerta.
A tear rolled down Claire's cheek as she turned to look at Harry's face. It was one of betrayal and loss. If only he knew that it wasn't true! If only he knew that Sirius would never do that to his best friends! If only he knew then he wouldn't have to be in so much pain…
"—James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would rather die than tell where they were, that Black was planning on going into hiding himself…"
Claire knew that Sirius was going to have to go into hiding eventually, whether he was planning on it or not he was going to have to flee from the Ministry. The injustice of this whole situation was too much to bear…
"…yet Dumbledore still remained worried." Professor McGonagall went on. "I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."
"He suspected Black?" gasped Madam Rosmerta.
"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements…"
Claire let out a silent sob as she turned to look at Harry. His expression had turned stony and hateful—if only he knew how much he'd regret those feelings later! If only he knew how much he was going to miss his godfather after he was gone…
Unable to just sit there and let Harry look so miserable, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. She hated to be around people who were hurting so badly; compassion was simply in her nature. Besides, Harry was far to consumed in the conversation to notice that he was being hugged anyway…
Suddenly, Claire heard the door to the pub open and a rush of cold air blow inside. Curious, she let go of Harry and crawled out from under the table. Peering around the Christmas tree, she saw that some rather wind-blown witches had come in, but she wasn't really interested in them. She was more interested in the owl that was perched on the counter, drinking out of some old warlock's water glass.
"Damn it!" she cursed. Aquinas had found her! She had to get out of there fast!
Sadly, she looked back at the table. Harry was concealed underneath, as she knew, and Ron and Hermione were also entrance by the conversation, although the two of them kept meeting each other's eyes worriedly. Claire dried her eyes on the sleeve of her robes and stood up. She edged around the professors' table, only wasting one second to stick her tongue out at Fudge, and then darted out the door behind some exiting Hogwarts students.
Cursing her misfortune at only getting to hear part of the conversation, Claire began running back to Honeydukes. Aquinas couldn't see her, could he? She hoped not. She had heard one too many lectures from that bird…
Suddenly, she slammed right into something incredibly solid and fell back into a snow bank. She shook the snow off of her and looked up to see what she had run into. Her mouth fell open in surprise.
There, lying on the ground in front of her, was the person she had run into. Only it wasn't really a person, it was only a floating head…the head of someone very familiar…
"Robin?" Claire gasped.
Robin's eyes were wide with the shock of falling down. She looked left and right, wondering what she had run into. Unable to see anything unusual, her hands appeared in the snow bank. They reached up and pulled on a hood of silvery fabric and she disappeared once more.
What was going on…?
a/n: DUN DUN DAAAAAAAAAAAaaa! What exactly was Robin Gregory's head doing in Hogsmeade! Is Claire in trouble with Aquinas! And furthermore, did Harry notice that someone was sitting beside him in the Three Broomsticks! Mwhahaha…the world may never know…until the next chapter at least! Sorry If that was boring for anyone! It's really hard to write these chapters where you have to get all the dialogue out of the book…Anyway, see you guys soon!