"Many times."
Remus Lupin shook his head. "Well, if it makes any difference, I'll talk to him. I have to admit, he can be stubborn often... But he's good to his students."
"Yeah, real good." Tonks muttered, staring out the window. "That's why he let us handle last year's problem."
"And the one the year before." Harry chimed in.
"He was away that time. You can't exactly blame him." Solieyu said.
"Yeah, well... I still had to fight that weird Quirrell-Voldemort hybrid on my own." Harry scowled.
"Hopefully the black sheep of the family doesn't decide to pay a visit, eh?" Tonks asked, cheerfully patting Harry on top of the head.
Making a face and swatting her hand away, Harry replied, "Yes, well, if he does, it's par for the course, isn't it? I wonder why everything waits until around the end of the school year..."
"Fate loves a good story." Solieyu offered.
"I assume you've heard the news, Professor." Tonks said, looking over at Lupin.
A dark shadow crossed Lupin's already drawn face. It quickly passed, though Solieyu shot the man another strange glance. "Yes, I have. Albus informed me directly, in fact. I've been... keeping myself away from news in general as of late."
"Why's that?" Tonks asked.
"Ahh, I can't explain that." Lupin said, offering the girl a smile. "Albus likes his secrets, you see."
"Mm, so he does." Harry said.
"I must admit, Harry, I was expecting you to look a bit more... ah... fleshed out, shall we say." Lupin began, smiling crookedly. "I was also sort of hoping you would have been Sorted to Gryffindor."
"That stupid hat tried to put me everywhere." Harry said, grumbling quietly. "First Slytherin, then Gryffindor... I'm pretty sure it would've suggested Hufflepuff too, if I hadn't gotten antsy."
"Harry, look!" Tonks suddenly said, tugging at Harry's sleeve. Glancing over at her, he caught sight of Hogwarts castle in the distance. The train ride was finally coming to a close.
"Well, I need to be ready to leave as soon as the Express comes to a halt. I still have some business to attend to before the Sorting begins." Lupin said, getting to his feet and grabbing his suitcase. "I'm afraid, as staff, we aren't allowed to show favoritism towards students... so be aware that, once on school grounds, I'll be behaving the same as any other professor there..."
Nodding, Harry replied, "I know. It was nice meeting you, Professor."
"Yeah, thanks for saving us from that Dementor." Tonks added. "Hope nothin' bad happens to you!"
"You just jinxed it." Solieyu commented.
"Oh, hush up." Tonks said, sticking out her tongue.
Chuckling, Lupin slid open the compartment door. "Well, I certainly hope nothing bad happens to me, either. And I hope my classes prove to be considerably more enlightening than those you've had for the past two years."
And with that, he was gone, leaving the three sitting in relative silence. Eventually, the train's brakes activated and the familiar screeching could be heard throughout. And, right on cue, there was a rush of activity in the train's corridors. It seemed to be tradition to get out of your compartment before the Express was fully stopped. Harry had no earthly idea of why.
"Shall we join the chaos?" Tonks asked.
"Oh, why not?" Harry said, standing. "It's not like we're going to be doing anything else in here."
"I'll be waiting for awhile, I think." Solieyu said, crossing his legs and smiling knowingly at his friends. "I saw a Hufflepuff run up the hallway a minute ago. His head was a giant tangerine. I'm not going to willingly throw myself into Fred and George Weasley's shot path."
Harry and Tonks looked at one another, then down to Solieyu. Nodding once, then two backed up and sat back down where they had been. Not a minute later, a burst of pinkish light flittered past. The cry of an older girl rang out, followed by one of the twins swearing and calling out, "Sorry, Angelina! Didn't mean to remove those!"
A pair of blue knickers soared past the compartment window.
Unable to keep the grin from his face, Harry turned to Tonks and started to say something. Figuring she knew perfectly well what it was going to be about, she grabbed him by the lips and gave him a withering glare. "Don't. You. Dare."
Harry let out a disappointed 'aww' around Tonks' fingers. When she let go, Harry jutted his lower lip out. "I wasn't going to say anything bad! Honest! I was just going to ask who you thought they perfected that one on."
Tonks blinked. Tilting her head in confusion, a look of horror slowly dawned on her face.
A few compartments down, Remus Lupin had just opened the door leading off the train when an odd noise filled his ears. He couldn't be sure, but it sounded like a girl screaming the word 'ew' as loudly as humanly possible.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
The return to Hogwarts was refreshing for Harry. Despite his bad luck the previous two years, he still felt safer there than anywhere else in the world. The Sorting was interesting as always, with Harry already wondering when he was as small as the frightened first-years coming in. Gryffindor gained the most new recruits that year, topping Hufflepuff by a good half dozen.
Harry had noticed that Snape kept shooting Lupin vile glares during the Welcoming Feast, but he paid little mind to it. It wasn't like Snape to act that way towards another member of staff, but he glared at everyone else - what did one more person matter?
After everyone had finished eating, Dumbledore gave his typical start of term speech. This year included a bit about being careful when out on school ground. It seemed as though a good portion of the student body was somewhat unnerved by Sirius Black's escape. Dumbledore promised that everyone would be safe in and around the school... but he had done that so often, Harry didn't believe him one bit.
If the headmaster couldn't find a dirty great snake in the school, what chance did he have of finding a deranged man? The fact that Dementors were almost swarming the bloody grounds did little to reassure anyone. Half of the people seemed to be more frightened of the Azkaban guards than of a possible attack by Black.
Once opening ceremonies were over with, students began filtering out of the Great Hall. Classes wouldn't be starting for Harry and his friends until evening the following day, so they could afford to stay up a bit late and talk with each other. Wanting to escape the admiring stares of the Ravenclaw firsties, they decided to head up to their still-secret tower, the Raven's Nest.
"I wonder if I could rig up some beds in here or something." Harry wondered aloud as he leaned back against the stone wall. "Or at least some cushions. This place could do with some more comfort to it."
"I second it. When we learn enough Transfiguration to pull it off, let's dress the Nest up!" Tonks said, sitting down next to Harry.
Solieyu was outside, leaning against the tower's rail and staring up at the sky, a strange expression on his face.
"Right, you've been acting off since we got on the train. Mind filling us in, Leon?" Tonks asked, voice dry.
"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing, really." Solieyu said, glancing back over his shoulder. Seeing Tonks' doubtful expression, he continued, "It's just... something felt odd about Professor Lupin."
"He's normal. Of course something would seem odd about him. Last two professors weren't exactly shining examples, were they?" Tonks replied, leaning against Harry. "I refuse to believe the Golden Snake-snack was normal."
"You sure you aren't misreading him, Leon?" Harry asked, blushing faintly when he felt Tonks' weight shift against his left side. "He knew my parents... said he and my dad got on well. I don't think dad would choose sketchy friends."
"Perhaps. But do you really know he was a friend of your father's? Who's saying that he isn't just weaving a lie to get closer to you?" Solieyu asked, turning around to look at his friends. "It wouldn't be the first time a professor's tried to murder you, you know."
"I know, I know." Harry said, waving his only free hand vaguely. "But... still. I'd like to give him a chance. He's the first Defense professor that's actually been nice. Unless he's some sort of monster in class, I don't see any reason to dislike him so far."
Shrugging, Solieyu tilted his head back to stare up at the night sky. "If you say so. But I still think there's something distinctly... feral... about him. I just wish I knew what."
"Feral? He looks like he could fall asleep standing up. In a hail storm." Tonks said. "You sure you aren't still recovering from your attack?"
"Very." Scowled Solieyu. "My senses don't lie to me. Mark my words, something's not right here, Harry. I'm not telling you how you should feel about him, just. be cautious. It would help if he could produce some sort of proof that he was friends with your parents, of course. Wizarding photographs are almost impossible to tamper with."
Harry paused, an odd look in his eyes. "...Hey, yeah! He might have some pictures of mum and dad! I've only ever seen them once. And that was in the Mirror back in my first year. I'd like to know how they looked... to see if the Mirror was lying to me or not."
"Hopefully you can talk to him about that without the involvement of Dementors." Solieyu said, looking over his shoulder and down at the school grounds. "I can't believe Dumbledore is allowing so many. Safety is one thing. There must be more than a hundred of those foul things gliding around."
"At least they can't fly." Tonks commented.
"A flying Dementor?" Harry asked. "Well that would look pretty stupid, wouldn't it?"
A moment passed.
"Anyway, after the first week of classes is up, I'll try pulling him aside and asking. Hopefully he won't mind." Harry continued.
"I don't see why he would." Tonks said. "He didn't seem mean-spirited at all. He must have a couple photos laying around."
"It'd be nice if I got to keep one." Harry said, more to himself than either of his friends.
"It's getting late." Solieyu murmured. "And unless you want to carry Tonks back to Ravenclaw Tower, we should get going."
"M'perfectly fine." Tonks said, pouting. Her pout was interrupted by a yawn, which caused Harry to chuckle. She hmphed and stuck out her tongue at him. "Not a word, Potter. Not a word."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"You know, Tonks..." Harry began, walking alongside his friend. "I'd like to think that we're fairly intelligent..."
"If we weren't, we'd be kicked out of Ravenclaw. I should hope you think that way." Said Tonks, glancing aside.
"So answer me something, eh?"
"What?"
"Why in the name of Merlin's bristling nose hairs are we taking Divination?" Harry asked, slouching somewhat.
"Because we have nothing better to do." Answered Solieyu in Tonks' stead. "And because it'll keep you from trying to overthink everything in creation."
"I don't--" Harry began, straightening up so he could glare at his friend at eye level. Tonks, however, sent him a look that clearly meant 'Yes you do, now behave.'
Harry settled on scowling instead.
"Okay, fine. But out of all the electives we could've chosen, why Divination?" Harry asked.
Solieyu shrugged. "Because the twins said it was easy?"
"All we have to do is keep predicting our own deaths, apparently." Tonks chimed in, grinning crookedly. "After what we've been through since arriving here, I don't think we need to try terribly hard at that, do you?"
"Okay, point for your side, then." Harry said, making a face. "Still don't like it. You know, I don't think I've even seen this Professor Trelawney. What's she do, get her meals delivered by house elves or something? Why's she never in the Great Hall?"
"Third Eye affecting her normal vision? I dunno. Ask Fred and George, they're more likely to know than I am." Tonks said.
"If you two are quite done." Solieyu interrupted, clearing his throat before speaking. "We're here."
And indeed they were. After a fair amount of upward slopes and odd staircases, they had finally arrived at the ladder that lead up and into Professor Trelawney's classroom, such as it was. They were at a dead end, with nowhere to go but up. Harry glanced at the ladder, then went over to the nearest window to take a peek outside. After letting out a low whistle, he walked back over.
"Betcha her knees are bad or something. Maybe she had an accident after getting up into there and now she can't get down." Harry suggested.
"Magic, Harry." Solieyu and Tonks commented in unison.
"Right. Sorry. Mouth before my brain that time." Harry said. "Okay, I'll go on up first, then. Might as well get it out of the way. Plus I'd really appreciate there being someone to catch me if something odd happens."
"Just because I fell on you a time or two doesn't mean you get to fall on me!" Tonks said, eyeballing Harry suspiciously. "You watch your step."
"Yes, ma'am." Harry replied, rolling his eyes as he started up the ladder.
The room looked as if it had escaped from the 70s without a fight. There was a strange smokey mist in the air, which Harry could only hope wasn't going to somehow make him want to peer into teacups all day. The only places to sit, it would seem, were on giant, devour-you-whole cushions of sorts, which were scattered all around the room. Harry took the one nearest the entrance.
"Whatcha sittin' back here for?" Asked Tonks as she and Solieyu followed him up and in. "Don't want to be front row for what's probably going to be a train wreck?"
"I want to be able to leap down the escape hatch if she tries to predict my death." Harry deadpanned. "By all means, go sit up front, where she can get at you."
"Oh, come on. It can't be that back, can it?" Tonks asked.
"Well, here she comes. You tell me." Harry said in a quieter tone.
And indeed, Professor Trelawney had chosen that moment to come gliding in from a door on the opposite side of the room. She had on robes that more resembled a multi-layered dressing gown, her hair was wild and puffed up, and she had glasses so thick that Harry wondered if she was wearing goggles.
"My vision's bad." He whispered as Tonks slumped down on the cushion beside him. "She has to be legally blind."
As Solieyu sat on a neighboring cushion, he leaned aside and whispered, "Who catches her if she tumbles out a window?"
"You can, since you're so worried about it." Harry returned, smirking.
"Good day, class." Said Trelawney, dreamily. "And welcome to Divination..."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"First order of business - We find Fred and George." Harry said.
"Check." Said Tonks.
"Second order of business - We string them up by their underwear."
"Check."
"Third order of business - We pray that fruit bat runs headlong into a bludger."
"Check!"
"It wasn't that bad." Solieyu said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, well, she didn't spend the whole blasted class predicting how many ways you were going to die this year, now did she?" Harry asked.
Solieyu shrugged. "I thought she was getting pretty creative towards the end."
"Yeah," Tonks said, grinning. "I'd almost like to see a large meteor break through all the floors of the school and land on your head in Potions class just to see if it was possible."
"I hate you both."
Tonks giggled. "Oh cheer up, gloomypants."
"Why? We're leaving a smoke-encased tower of babbling idiocy and heading out to a class taught by Hagrid, where something's liable to eat our faces." Harry said.
"Do you honestly think they'd let him have anything dangerous?" Solieyu asked.
"Neither of you looked out the windows before leaving, did you?" Harry muttered, glancing aside.
Tonks and Solieyu exchanged a look. The girl shook her head slowly.
Harry just smiled in reply.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"...Is that what I think it is?" Solieyu asked, taking a step back.
"Mmhmm." Harry said.
"Why did they let him have one of those?" Tonks squeaked.
"Dunno. Wonder if Trelawney's watching on from her tower. Y'know, to see if it really does eat my face." Harry wondered aloud, craning his head to peer up towards the Divination tower.
"Look on the bright side." Tonks said, stepping closer to Harry. "Maybe it'll decide Malfoy looks like dinner."
"We should be so lucky." Harry mumbled.
There was still a little while until class began, and all the students had started to get a bit restless. Including Solieyu, who kept glancing towards the Forbidden Forest and pacing slightly.
"What's up?" Tonks finally asked.
"It's... I'm not sure, to be honest. Something in that forest is unsettling to me, though." Solieyu said, tilting his head slightly. "I've always felt like something was in that place, watching me. Ever since I first came here, in fact."
"That's weird." Harry said, looking past his friend to the woods. "Is it... y'know... something evil?"
"I...wouldn't say evil, per se..." Solieyu started. "More like...cautious. I don't know how to explain better than that. Not without knowing what's actually residing in there."
"Ah, it'll pass." Tonks said. "Try and relax a bit. I don't think it'd be a good idea to be nervous around that thing." She motioned towards the creature that Hagrid had prepared.
"I'll try."
A few minutes later and everyone had gathered outside of the hut. The large man was off a ways, having a quiet, intense conversation with a hippogryph. The winged creature seemed to be glaring at Hagrid, as if it wanted to be around the students as much as they wanted to be around it. In the end, Hagrid straightened up and decided to wave the class over rather than trying to bring the hippogryph over to them.
"Sorry 'bout tha'." Said Hagrid, glancing over his shoulder. "Seems like 'e's got a bit o' stage fright, if ya get my meaning..."
And so, another class begun. Hagrid taught the students the proper way to approach a Hippogryph. Harry, of course, was pushed into actually getting on it, however. And, while he very much enjoyed flying around on his broom, he didn't quite like sitting on the back of a feral creature that would just as soon bite his nose off than look at him.
But he had made it through the ordeal with his life intact. Tonks enveloped him in a tight hug once he staggered his way back over to her and Solieyu. A few more students, encouraged by Harry's success, began stepping up to the hippogryph, which Hagrid kept referring to as 'Buckbeak.' Things were running remarkably smooth, a fact that didn't pass Harry by. He knew better than to expect a class with Slytherins to go properly. But as time passed, Harry began to wonder if someone had the whole of Slytherin house under some kind of obedience charm.
And no sooner had the thought passed through his head did it happen. Draco Malfoy, jerking his arm away from Pansy Parkinson's grasp, sauntered up to Buckbeak, a smug expression on his face. Harry glanced sideways at the group of Slytherins he had been in the midst of. Most were glaring at the blonde. Even Pansy looked rather disgusted with him.
Harry heard, rather than saw, the events that unfolded next. By the time Malfoy had let out his girly shriek and Harry looked back, Hagrid was already scooping him up. Buckbeak had been tied back down and, as the large man rushed the blonde towards the school, Harry only barely made out high-pitched whimpers.
"Wow, I was almost right." Tonks marvelled, watching Hagrid leave. "Shame he was around to keep the hippogryph away, eh?"
"Yeah. We could've been out one nuisance." Harry said, eyes wide. He looked over at Buckbeak, who was still keeping a wary eye on the students. The two locked eyes for a brief moment and, as Harry slipped his hands into his pockets, he smirked. "Well, class was dismissed, then. What say we go find Fred and George?"
"Why? Planning to make things even worse for him?" Came a female voice that definitely wasn't Tonks'. Harry looked away from his friends to see Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherins passing by.
"I doubt the big ponce was even hurt. Probably faking it to get attention." Harry replied, cocking an eyebrow.
A smirk crossed Pansy's face. "Yes, probably. Be that as it may, you and your Gryffindor friends had better keep your noses out of his business, Potter. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen, after all."
"Is that a threat?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Take it however you want." Replied Pansy with a one-sided shrug. "But if you're really as smart as you think you are, you'll know when not to get involved."
"Parkinson, if I could arrange it, I'd never have to even look at Malfoy again, let alone exchange words with him." Harry said, shaking his head. "If he would leave me be, I would leave him be."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Potter." Pansy said, turning to head back to the group that was still waiting. "Not all things are as simple as day and night."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked.
"You're a Ravenclaw. Figure it out on your own." Pansy said. And then, addressing the other Slytherins, she murmured, "Come on. He'll be wondering where we are."
Watching the Slytherins leave, Harry removed his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms. "What the bloody hell was that about?"
"Best not to try and work out how they do things." Solieyu supplied, passing by Harry and resting his hand on his shoulder briefly. "It'll only give you a headache. Come on. Let's go get the twins."
"Oh, you're wanting in on it now?" Tonks asked.
"Not particularly. But I think that stuff that was wafting around her classroom is messing up my senses." Solieyu said, making a face. "I can still smell that smoke."
"You two go find the twins." Harry said, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "I think I need some fresh air and silence for awhile. I'll be up in the Nest if anyone needs me."
"Alright." Tonks said. "We'll go wiffle the Weasleys with a toilet seat and meet up with you there. What a good way to start the year."
"Yeah." Said Harry. "Why do I have this feeling that things won't stay peaceful for long?"
"You call all of this peaceful, do you?" Tonks asked, spreading her arms wide.
"Considering nothing's tried killing me yet? I'll take what I can get." Harry said, smiling crookedly.
"Good point."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Notes: Oh jeez. This is late as can be, isn't it? Toldja I hadn't dropped it. I wrote over 300kb twice in the span of like two weeks, though. Making a Rockman.EXE walkthrough for the website I work at (see my profile for a link, if you're interested) and it just completely burned me out. I'm still feeling pretty out of it. But at least I finished this one, huh? I'm sorry it isn't longer, given how long you guys had to wait for the damn thing.
I AM looking forward to chapter 7 - Lupin's first class! And you guys know what THAT means - Boggarts! What do you think Tonks' is going to be? Or Leon's? Ought to be interesting.
And speaking of - I hope no one minded me adding an exchange between Pansy and Harry. I need to set up... certain events for further down the road. And no, I won't tell you what.
I'd like to write at least one more chapter between now and Xmas, because I now damn well that once the 24th rolls around, I'll be giving games my time again. Animal Crossing: Wild World and Mario Kart DS, mainly. Oi. My notes for chapter 7 are actually really short. Meaning I could either work in random stuff or have a complete writer's block moment again.
So yeah. I really hate that it's been SO LONG since I last updated, but my responsibilities to TUS come first. But the guides are done now and, marring any small revisions I need to make, I won't be writing anything for the site for a good while.
That's my explanation. Like it or hate it.