Chapter 20: Centaurs and Mudbloods.
"Whats wrong with him?" Ron asked. He, Neville, Ginny, Hermione and Harry sat in the Great Hall and were the only ones left except for a very put out looking Snape in the corner. He was of course referring to the very sour looking Snape.
"Obviously something's made him mad." Hermione whispered as a tired Ginny rested her head in Hermione's lap.
"Ok. The portkey is ready. Let's leave." Faith said walking into the Great Hall. Hermione bent down next to Neville, who was sleeping, and gently shook him.
"Neville." She said softly.
"Leave him." Faith said drawing out her wand. She was able to levitate the sleeping Neville and had the other four follow her.
"Well, We have quite a walk ahead of us." Faith said as they left Hogwarts and started walking towards the Forbidden Forest.
"Professor…we can't go through there." Hermione said.
"And Why not?" Faith asked.
"The Centaurs. They haven't exactly been friendly lately." Hermione said. Harry and Ron nodded.
"Do you mean to tell me that they won't even let a professor and her students pass through to reach their way home?" Faith asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well….no." Hermione said.
"We'll just see about that." Faith muttered.
"Excuse me, but why are we walking so far?" Harry asked.
"We need to reach the portkey." Faith said.
"But couldn't we just have one on campus. Why walk so far?" He asked.
"Because its to someone's home. There are only two portkeys that will work on Hogwarts grounds and those go to Saint Mungo's and The Ministry. Only in very special cases can you go else where." Hermione answered.
"Now to keep your mind off the forest, let me tell you a story." Faith said as she entered the forest.
"Well…James wanted to give Lily something special for Christmas of our 4th year at Hogwarts. This of course was another one of his feeble attempts to win over her heart. Sirius took it upon himself to get something for James to give to Lily. Sirius of course got this from Peter Pettigrew, who got it from Lucius Malfoy. Peter was always incredibly gullible and stupid." Faith said rolling her eyes.
"What is it?" Faith asked.
"A Present." Sirius said smiling.
"What's in it?" Faith asked rolling her eyes.
"A surprise." He said coyly.
"Sirius Black." She said sternly.
"Yes?" he said with that sly smile of his. Faith just frowned at him.
"Could you just give it to Lily. She'd pitch it straight into the fire if James tried to give it to her. Please." He said give her his best pouty look.
"Whatever." Faith said grabbing the neatly wrapped box and heading up to the girl's dorm.
"I think you should have just hit him." Sarah said.
"I was thinking about it." Faith said shrugging.
"I bet you'll hit him before the years over." Sarah said as they barged through the door of the girl's dorm. Faith tossed Lily's present on her bed, and jumped on her own.
"Did I hear a bet?" Alice asked poking her head up from her yellow sweater.
"I say….10 sickles has Faith hitting or slapping Sirius before the year is over." Sarah said.
"Aww look it's our little Yankee bookie." Heather Shadow said with a laugh before she left the room.
"Bitch." Faith muttered as Heather left the room.
"Ok. I think it will take a while. Unless Sirius decides to start tidying up his hair." Alice said teasingly and throwing a pillow at Faith.
"Whatever! It's not my fault that he has the whole 'I just rolled out of bed' thing going on for himself." Faith said.
"Lily!" Alice hollered. Lily walked over while putting her hair up into a ponytail. A hair tie held firmly in her teeth.
"Vhat?" She asked, the hair tie muffling her speech.
"If the whole 'I just rolled out of bed thing' attractive?" Alice asked.
"Yeah." Lily said tying her hair up and giving Alice a look that said 'Are you crazy! Of course it is!'
"See!" Faith said beaming. Alice just rolled her eyes.
"What's this?" Lily asked finding the present on her bed.
"I don't know." Faith said coolly. Lily inspected the package. She then took a minute and ripped it open. She took out a silver heart necklace that was positively gorgeous. All four of the girls gasped.
"Who is that from?" Alice asked with a large smile as she moved to look at the necklace. Lily pulled a card out of the box as Alice admired the necklace.
"From...POTTER!?" Lily screamed.
"Hmm…fancy that." Faith said calmly.
"Faith Sloom. You knew about this. How could you let him give me something…especially something this…" Lily said searching for the words.
"Beautiful." Faith said.
"I didn't say that." Lily said.
"No. But I did. And you know its true. Who cares if its from James. I don't see anything from that Mr.Crush of yours." Faith said.
"Wait…My mom had a crush on someone?" Harry asked.
"Of course she did! We we're teenagers. Every teenager has a crush on someone at least once in their lifetime whether they admit it or not." Faith said.
"Who was it?" Harry asked.
"Now that I cannot say. Your mother made me swear on my life, and Sarah's, that we would never tell and I intend to keep that promise." Faith said shaking her head.
"Lily swore she would never wear the necklace, but we were able to somehow force her to wear it that day. Bad Idea." Faith said starting up again.
"Lily it's adorable. Stop worrying about it." Sarah said as they hurried down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Lily just put her hands by her side and tried not to fiddle with the necklace. After breakfast they headed outside for a bit of fun in the snow. On their way out James stopped Faith and asked
"Does she like it?"
"She does." Faith said and James broke out into a large smile.
"I have to ask you….Where did you get it?" Faith asked.
"Ohhh….promise not to tell?" James whispered. Faith gave a small nod
"I got it from Sirius. He's always had a way with the ladies and I told him how I wanted to get her something special. The next day he had something. I never asked any questions." James said with a small smile. Faith just nodded and then left James to follow after her friends.
Sarah was already packing a rather large snowball in her hands. She gave a devilish grin and yelled
"Faith!" Faith of course turned, but when she saw the tonnage of snow flying her way she ducked. The snowball flew right into the face of Remus. Sarah's face went scarlet red. Pelting your crush with snowballs was not the best way to win their heart.
"Sorry about that Remus." Faith said, quickly covering for her friend.
"That was from you?" He asked.
"Yeah…it slipped." Faith said giving a small smile and when Remus just shrugged it off she ran to join Sarah.
"Ugh…Whenever I get around him it's like my tongue goes all tied up in knots. My stomach also does flip flops like when we're flying." Sarah said, her face still red.
"You're just too shy." Lily said.
"You're one to talk." Faith said crossing her arms.
"Yeah….I don't see you talking to….him….at all." Sarah said with a slight smirk, happy to have the lime light off of herself. As they continued to talk they walked by a group of Slytherins. They took one look at Lily, pointed and started in on a fight of giggles.
"What was that all about?" Faith asked looking back. Sarah tapped Faith's arm gently and pointed at Lily who was looking back at the Slytherins. It took Faith a minute to realize what Sarah was pointing out. Lily's necklace suddenly morphed into big red letters that said: MUDBLOOD. Faith clamped her hands over her mouth and Sarah's eyes widened.
"What?" Lily asked when she noticed her friend's shocked faces. They quickly dropped their expressions and said
"Nothing." Lily just shrugged it off. Faith pulled Sarah back a few steps and said through gritted teeth.
"Ok. You somehow get that necklace off of Lily. I'll get Potter." Sarah only nodded and rushed after Lily. As Faith stormed after James she could see that after many attempts to get the necklace off, Sarah resorted to just snatching the necklace off of Lily's neck and tossing it into the lake. Lily threw her hands up at Sarah and she obviously came up with a quick lie,
"James! Where's Sirius?" Faith roared. James's head snapped up from the tree he was sitting under.
Faith stopped there though because suddenly several large centaurs blocked their path.
"Why do you pass through our woods?" One barked. He was easily the largest of them and had long black hair.
"We only wish for a way to get home. If you would just let us pass through your forest we'd be most grateful." Faith said with a slight bow.
"Do you condescend us?" The large one hollered, and stepped forward threateningly.
"Kyjinak." A voice said. A much older centaur approached.
"We are above violence. Let them pass. They only wish to get home." The older one said. Kyjinak looked to be fuming at the ears but moved out of their way just the same.
"Thank you." Faith said bowing to the old centaur. The old centaur just nodded and the group continued on.
"Ok. So where was I? Oh yes…" Faith said starting up again.
Sirius hung upside down from the tree and said
"Yes?" with that smile of his.
"Get down here." She said pointing to the ground. Sirius just smiled and let himself fall out of the tree.
"James tells me that you're the one that picked out Lily's gift." Faith said. Sirius just got a proud smile and said
"Why of course. I can get another if you'd like one."
Faith's eyes seemed to light on fire. She whipped out her hand and slapped him right across the cheek.
"Bloody hell! What was that for?!" Sirius shouted. His eyes already were beginning to well up with tears.
"That's not funny in the slightest!" Faith roared.
"What are you talking about? It's a necklace!" Sirius barked loudly, his cheek beginning to turn a bright red.
"Oh yes! A necklace that flashes mudblood when she puts it on!" Faith screamed at him.
"Don't blame me! I got it from Peter!" Sirius said grabbing Faith's wrist as she tried to hit him again. (A/N: I have to admit, writing their fighting scenes is quite fun. Give it a try sometime)
"Huh?" Peter asked looking up at the two.
"The necklace." Sirius said still holding onto Faith's wrist.
"I g-g-got it from Lucius." Peter stammered.
SMACK! Faith hit him right across the face.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Lucius Malfoy!? Why didn't you just give her a bomb instead!" Faith screamed at Peter as he whimpered on the floor. Faith then walked away in a huff to deliver a smart slap to Lucius.
"Ohhh..she slaps hard." Sirius said rubbing his cheek.
"And I bet the cold doesn't help it any." James said casually.
"No it does not." Sirius said.
"She's a little mad." James said with a smirk.
"Why'd you tell her that I gave you the necklace?" Sirius said rubbing his cheek as he sat down.
"She asked me where I got it and I told her that I was talking to you about it, asking for advice, cause you're the big ladies man on campus and-" James started but was cut off by Sirius.
"You told her I was the big ladies man on campus! Hello James Potter! Are we forgetting that this is the girl I'm trying to win over, telling her I'm a ladies man doesn't help the situation any." Sirius said steaming.
"Well giving Lily a necklace that said Mudblood didn't help me neither." James said rolling his eyes.
"Wait…how do you know what they were saying?" Hermione asked.
"Ahhh…wondering when someone was going to catch on to that. Well…years later we all ended up talking about it and laughed about the boy's reactions to some of the stuff we did." Faith said with a smile. The all continued to trudge through the forest until the trees began to thin out. Faith pointed to a wooden box and said
"There it is. Our way home." Suddenly there was a loud snap far off. Hermione spun around
"What was that?" She asked.
"Probably those damn centaurs again. Now everyone touch the portkey." Faith said gently waking Ginny and Neville.
"Professor!" Hermione shrieked and pointed. Faith spun around and raised her arm in defense as Kyjinak's large hooves came smashing down on her. This caused the wand to be knocked right at off her hand. Before anyone could react Kyjinak reared back, his hooves flailing. He came down again and got Faith in the head.
"Avada Kedvra!" a loud voice hollered. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Ginny all turned to see Professor Snape step in front of Faith. Kyjinak fell to the floor with a sickening thud. The 5 students all looked in shock at their two professors, one of which was lying on the floor unconscious. Snape didn't seem to notice them. He knelt down and picked Faith up, a nice gash above her forehead. Snape walked over to the box and placed his hand and Faith's on it. The others followed suit and they could feel themselves being taken back to Grimmuald Palace.
Faith could feel herself waking up. She looked around her surroundings.
"Your up!" Sarah said cheerfully.
"Sarah…what happened?" Faith asked touching a hand to her head.
"Well from what I hear you had a run in with a centaur. Serverus saved you though. You've been out for a few hours. Its almost time for dinner." Sarah said smiling and handing Faith a glass of water.
"I need to tell you something." Faith said sitting up. Faith told her all about the Christmas dance and Serverus.
"Hmm…well that is interesting. It sure is going to be akward when you see him again huh?" Sarah said with a small smile.
"Gee you're a lot of help. Thanks for that." Faith said rolling her eyes and climbing out of bed.
"I need to go. Clear my head. I'll see you at dinner." Faith said leaving the room. Faith wandered down the long hall and came to the top of the staircase. She leaned over the edge and could hear the laughter of the others and they prepared the food. Faith turned around and went down the hall way. She passed about 10 doors before the hallway seemed to be smothered in darkness. The house was large and Mrs. Weasley had only been able to clear out the rooms down stairs and enough of the bedrooms for people to sleep in. The rest of the house was filled with darkness and cobwebs. Faith had wished she had brought her wand but decided to just continue forward instead of go back and get it. She felt along the walls and managed to bump into 3 miniature tables. Faith placed her hand on the door knob and give it a soft twist. She felt around the room and found an old candle with some matches lying next to it. Carefully Faith lit the candle and surveyed the room. Her heart stopped.
This was Sirius's room. When he was younger. When he was alive. She could see his large bed against one wall. Posters and pictures smothered the walls. Faith examined the walls carefully and found that there were posters from different quidditch teams that looked to be as older than the dust that covered them. Pictures covered most of the posters. Faith wiped the dust off and saw smiling faces waving excitedly at her. James and Sirius shared evil grins and Remus looked up from a book long enough to smile. The pictures were only from their 1st through 5th year. After that Sirius went to live with James.
Faith moved away from the wall and turned around. She saw the thin outline of a desk. She moved towards it and wiped a hand across it, startling the dust that lay there. The desk drawers groaned in protest as Faith pulled them open. Faith pulled out letters addressed to Sirius from James, Remus and Peter. Faith lay the letters back in the drawer and closed it. She turned around and left the room, keeping the candle with her. At the end of the hall was a door, she opened it and was greeted by a steep wooden staircase. Sighing, Faith climbed them and found herself in the attic. There was a ray of moonlight shining on a blanket and pillow lying on the hard wooden floor. Faith stood on the blanket and stared up at the sky light. A half moon hung overhead with a sea of stars. Faith lay there and thought as she stared up at the stars.
"Well I have to be leaving." Sarah said grabbing her coat.
"Are you sure dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Yes. It's the full moon and I need to be getting home." Sarah said heading for the fireplace.
"Well alright." Mrs. Weasley said. A green fire flared up and Sarah had gone.
"Faith. Glad to see you decided to join us." Charlie said as Faith walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah I just had to figure some things out. Clear my head. That sort of thi-" Faith started but was cut off by a loud shriek that said
"Filth! Mudbloods! Half-Breeds! Monsters! Stains on Society!" Faith rushed out into the hall.
"Whore! Mudblood! All of you! Filthy Scum of-" Mrs. Black hollered.
"Shut up!" Faith roared and pulled the curtain over the portrait.
"S-S-Sorry. Didn't mean to. It's hard her- Faith!" A young looking girl with ultra violet hair said.
"Tonks!" Faith said turning around to see the woman.
"W-When did you get back?" Tonks asked raking Faith in for a hug.
"Just in August. Gosh it's been forever." Faith said smiling.
"Yes it has…Listen. I'm sorry about Sirius…" Tonks started.
"Don't be. It wasn't your fault." Faith said pulling a fake smile.
"Tonks, What are you doing back?" Mrs. Weasley said smiling as Tonks and Faith entered the kitchen.
"Oh….I was done with what I was doing. I'll tell you later." Tonks said as she noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting there.
"Order business." Ron muttered to the others.
"And besides Dumbeldore asked me to plan a party. For all the adults in the Order." Tonks said with a broad smile. She was very happy to be given something to do outside of the Order.
"Wanna help me plan it?" Tonks asked. Faith though 'Are you crazy?! I just planned one party. You wanna give me a heart attack before I hit 40!' but then Faith saw Tonks bright smile.
"Sure." Faith said shrugging.