Chapter 19
April 14
Well, what I said earlier really got to me… about Dad and Sirius, and April Fools'. I don't know how I came up with it, but it was bothering me so much that I finally had to ask. So I did.
I went to Dumbledore's office and explained that I was wondering if he had any memories of Sirius and Dad that I could see, preferably an April Fools' one. He smiled slightly; I have no idea why.
"Sure, Harry." He led me over to his Pensieve and prodded around a bit in it before gesturing for me to look. As my nose hit the surface, I was plunged into his memory.
I was in the Great Hall. Apparently it was breakfast time. Dumbledore was making a speech about Dungbombs in the hallways and the Marauders were sitting in a group at the Gryffindor table. The food appeared on the tables, and as soon as people started to put their forks into it, the food turned into a ton of birds and flew out the windows. Dad and Sirius high-fived under the table, grinning. I could've sworn Dumbledore smiled. He clapped his hands twice and the food reappeared, all the while looking knowingly at the Marauders.
Dad, Sirius, Remus and Pettigrew headed off to classes. I tried to follow them, even though I knew I couldn't follow them far because this was Dumbledore's memory… but surprisingly, I could. I followed them all the way to class and sat there, even though Dumbledore stayed in the Great Hall.
"Wow," said Pettigrew, astounded. "However did you guys do something like that?"
"Easy, Wormtail, don't get your knickers in a knot," Dad said.
"We just snuck into the kitchen, distracted the house elves and hexed the food. Nothing major," said Sirius. Pettigrew still looked amazed.
Apparently they had History of Magic with Professor Binns, the same then as he is now. After about fifteen minutes of a dull lecture, Sirius signaled to Dad. He nodded and raised his hand. It took a moment for Binns to realize it and, startled, he wheezed, "Yes…?"
"Harold Perkins," Dad said.
"Right, Perkins?"
"I think I may throw up. So I should probably leave. May I be excused?"
"Th-throw up, Periwinkle?"
"Yes. Be sick. Very sick. So can I leave now?"
"Yes, uh, Parsley, go."
Dad threw on his Invisibility Cloak. Binns didn't notice. Dad snuck up to the fireplace behind Binns and threw in a fistful of powder and said "Diagon Alley." Binns disappeared in a whirl of color.
The class sat in shock. I laughed out loud. Some prefect ran off to tell Dumbledore or another teacher.
"Obliviate," said Sirius, and the entire class, with the exception of the Marauders, had distant looks on their faces. Dad ran into the hall and modified the prefect's memory, so that they remembered the prank but not the culprits.
After History of Magic the Marauders walked down the hall, talking and laughing and slapping high fives. Snape walked down the hall past them just then, clutching his books to his chest and muttering darkly to himself. Dad jabbed Sirius with his elbow, and he grinned. Sirius walked up to a pretty blonde girl and started talking to her, flipping his hair and winking. The girl giggled and nodded, and approached Snape. Sirius, with a wink, rejoined Dad.
"Hi… Severus, right?" asked the blonde girl, sidling up to Snape.
"Uh… yes," said Snape uncomfortably, looking at her through his stringy hair.
"I'm Mandy," the girl said, batting her eyelashes. "Well, Amanda really, but call me Mandy." Snape was silent; he seemed surprised someone was taking the initiative to talk to him.
"I've noticed you're really good at Potions," Mandy said hopefully. Snape was still dumbfounded. "Well, here," Mandy said, thrusting something small into his hand. She smiled, blushed and then walked away. On her way out, she turned to look at Sirius. He winked at her, and she smiled elatedly, giggled and walked away.
I turned my attention back to Snape. He looked at the toffee in his hand, looked puzzled, and then ate it. He gagged a little, then broke out in song to "Magical Moments" by Celestina Warbeck. The hall erupted in laughter after the initial puzzlement. People stopped and pointed. Snape looked absolutely horrified, but he couldn't close his mouth.
"Wormtail!" said Sirius. Pettigrew scrambled to pull a camera out of his robes and began clicking away.
It was hysterical. I was cracking up as well. Finally, amidst the commotion, Sirius pulled out his wand and said, "Accio pixie cage!" You would have to be standing right by him to hear him over the laughter and chaos. A cage full of Cornish pixies zoomed to his hand. Dad pulled the latch of the cage up and the pixies flew out. The hall was in an uproar. After Pettigrew had snapped a few more photos, the Marauders walked down the hall, laughing. I tried to follow them, but I was sucked back into Dumbledore's office.
He was smiling, and waited a moment before he spoke. "Well? What did you think?"
"It was great. Thank you, Professor."
"You're welcome, Harry. Ah, I'd be much obliged if you didn't tell anyone about this outside of Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. Professor Snape might not be too fond of it."
"Of course." I turned to leave, but then stopped.
"Something wrong, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"No… yes. Professor, why was it that I could go anywhere Sirius and my dad went when it was your memory?"
"Ah." He smiled. "I thought you might notice that. It is because it is not my memory."
"What d'you—?"
"You went wherever your father went, Harry, because it was your father's memory."
"What!"
"Your father gave it to me before he died. You may keep it if you like."
"But how did he—"
"Harry, I'm terribly sorry, but I must be getting along. So many prior commitments. I trust you will sleep well."
"But—"
"Goodnight, Harry." I couldn't argue with him, so I turned toward the door.
"One last thing, Harry." I turned back. Dumbledore was holding out his wand, a silvery string hanging from it. "I do believe this is rightfully yours." I took it, touching the tip of my wand to his, and left.
I wore my Invisibility Cloak all the way back to GryffindorTower, not wanting to talk to anyone. When I got back, I put the memory into my Pensieve, its first content.
Why did my dad give Dumbledore his memory? He could have shared it with me personally. Did he know ahead of time that he was going to die? Did he give Dumbledore any other memories?
I just lit up, because I was so confused from all this thinking, but then I thought of Ginny and what she would think. I immediately put it out, but I still crave one.
The Pensieve and my dad's memory gave me an idea. I touched the tip of my wand to my temple and pulled out all my memories of Danielle. I deposited them in the Pensieve. They're swirling around inside, and I feel much better.
April 17
Merlin. N.E.W.T.s are about a thousand times worse than the O.W.L.s, and I thought those were bad. I had Transfiguration first, and, all in all, that went pretty well. The only things I couldn't do were silently transfigure the examiner into a teapot and back… well, I couldn't do either, so it was kind of okay. Defense Against the Dark Arts went fine; I could do everything they asked me to. I even distracted Malfoy so the old witch examiner scolded him. It was a win-win situation.
Charms wasn't as good; I could do a little more than half of what they asked me to. Potions was—needless to say—terrible, but it's not as if the Ministry is going to care whether I got top marks on a measly Potions exam when they ask me to be an Auror.
History of Magic was terrible, but it's not like the Ministry's going to care about that, either. Astronomy was okay; I left a couple stars blank, but it was a small percentage.
I think I did pretty well. I can't wait to start work as an Auror. Maybe I'll go out for a drink to celebrate.
Oh. I forgot. It's a good thing group is coming up soon.
April 19
Just got back from group. I don't know how I feel; I have mixed feelings about this whole thing.
Ginny and I left the dorms around seven. We were among the first in the room. I hate being early, but Ginny wanted to talk to some people so I had to come.
She started talking to some girl with stringy blond hair hiding her face. I didn't want to socialize, so I took a seat at one of the random spots in the big circle. Were there really that many people in Hogsmeade with a drinking problem?
Apparently, there were. All the seats were filled, but I learned that not everyone was from Hogsmeade. Almost half were from Hogwarts, and some were from other towns.
One at a time, they all stood up and said their name and how long they had been attending the group.
"I'm Ginny," Ginny said. "I'm a member." As she sat down, she whispered to me, "You become a member when you've been going for a month or something."
I stood up reluctantly. "Harry," I said. There were collective gasps around the room. I rolled my eyes and sat down.
Ginny glared at me. "He's new," she said. There were murmurs all around the circle. God, were these people complete idiots?
"A newbie," said the leader. She was a middle-aged, twig-thin woman with large spectacles. "Wonderful. You'll have to introduce yourself at the end of names." I thought I just had introduced myself.
When it was my turn again, I stood up and said, "I'm Harry." I didn't know what else to say after that, so I said nothing, just awkwardly stood there in a quiet room with thirty people staring at me.
"Well, Harry," said the spectacled lady. "How long have you been an alcoholic?"
"I'm not an alcoholic."
The entire room clicked their tongues at me.
"Still in denial, Harry?" said the sickly-thin woman. "The first step is admitting it."
How did I know it would come to this? "Look, lady—"
"Mrs. Havorford."
"What?"
"My name is Mrs. Havorford."
"Mrs. Havorford," I said through clenched teeth, "I am not an alcoholic. I drink when I feel like it, when I celebrate."
"Only when you celebrate, Harry?" Mrs. Havorford asked.
"Yes—well—why is it any of your business?" I asked.
"Because you're here," she said.
"Look, I'm only here because my girlfriend made me!" I think I threw my arm in Ginny's direction. "I see you're all a bunch of lunatics, and I've got better things to do."
On my way out, I saw Ginny's face. She was angry, but she was more hurt than anything. Her brown eyes were glassy, but she remained where she was, didn't follow me out.
Okay, so the whole thing was a disaster. Maybe it wasn't the group that I had mixed feelings about. Maybe it was something else. Someone.
A/N: Feedback, as always. Lots of it, please?