Thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited the story! It makes my heart warm everytime I read a review or get an update that someone else has liked it! This chapter is a bit of a break from the usual plot heavy ones I've been posting, but the ending always makes me laugh so I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review if you do!
Thank you to my amazing discord friends, Maddie Rose for updating so I could update (go check out her story decadence), and to randomfandoming1 for indulging my silly ideas and listening to me rant about them.
Enjoy! :)
The Fool
upright:innocence, new beginnings, free spirit
reversed:recklessness, taken advantage of, inconsideration
Her excitement burst in her chest and carried over onto the Quidditch pitch, a weight lifted off her shoulders despite being nearly fifteen minutes late and still in her school uniform.
"There you are," Aubrey glowered, shaking his head as she jogged onto the field, quickly tying her hair back. "You're lucky no one else has tried for your spot Tonks or you'd be dead meat."
"Come on Aubrey," She shrugged, raising her eyebrows up in a challenge, "I was studying and lost track of time, you know how that goes."
He waved her excuses away, "Yeah, yeah, OWLs and shit, I get it. But you still have to try out Tonks."
She let out an exasperated sigh and moved toward the benches on the side of the field. Dorcas was sitting there in her exercise gear, curls in protective braids and broomstick in hand, trying not to pay attention to Cressida.
"Are these the keeper tryouts?" She asked, hoping to thaw her friend's frosty exterior with small talk, even if all she wanted to do was apologize for standing her up. Dorcas said nothing, not that she could blame her. Although Cressida did think she deserved a bit of a break, especially considering Dorcas knew she was going to be studying for a while before Quidditch. But then realization hit her. Because she couldn't tell Dorcas the real reason she was late because it required her to come clean about four years worth of study sessions with Remus which would only lead to more arguments and more questions and honestly Cressida just wanted to wait until the tryouts were over and they were back in the common room with Emmeline as a buffer. But she knew that Dorcas wouldn't wait, because like Cress, she held a grudge and refused to let anything go.
"Dor, I'm sorry I didn't show up to practice with you," Cressida began, preparing herself for whatever reaction awaited her, "I got caught up studying. It won't happen again, I promise." She secured her promise by grasping the girl's hand and squeezing it in hers. Dorcas continued to stare at the broomsticks flying above them, but Cressida thought she spied a hint of a smile on her lips, "It's chaser tryouts."
Cressida had never been so relieved to hear those words leave Dorcas' mouth. "I thought Aubrey-"
"Did those first?" Dorcas finished for her, shaking her head, "He used to, but this year he switched some stuff around. I finished the Beater tryouts just a few minutes ago."
Cressida scoffed. The fact that everyone had to try out again no matter what was ridiculous, especially since they'd almost won the cup last year if it hadn't been for Gregory Goyle smacking a bludger directly into her and breaking her rib-cage. If it hadn't been for the cushioning spell Miss Hooch had placed, Cressida would have broken a lot more.
Madame Pomfrey had mended her injuries with a simple potion and some much-needed rest, but she'd been benched by Flitwick for the rest of the year.
But she still didn't see why she had to try out again. Or Dorcas for that matter. She and Aubrey have been the Beaters since third year when she and Cressida had been placed on the team. It was insulting putting them through this process just because Aubrey was a sexist pig who didn't think girls could be beaters or seekers. In her opinion, anyway.
The whistle blew and Cress and Dorcas clapped for the prospective chasers, their brooms lowering to the ground. Cress spied a few familiar faces like Sara Crouch and Dedalus Diggle, her teammates from the previous year. Sara's brother Barty was standing just a few feet away from the bench, clapping his hands loudly for his sister. His broom was still at his side and sweat dotted his forehead, no doubt leftover from keeper tryouts.
Cressida gulped.
If Aubrey had just finished Chaser tryouts, and both Barty and Dorcas were done with trying out for their positions….that only meant the seeker was left.
She wanted to slap herself. Aubrey had changed things around because of her tardiness, which had probably messed with everyone else's heads. Her thought process was interrupted by a pair of sweaty arms wrapping themselves around her, an excited squeal catching her off guard, "There you are!" Emmeline smiled, her once perfectly ironed curls plastered to her forehead, "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show! But I knew you wouldn't miss this."
Her mouth dropped open in shock. Emmeline was never a flier. She wasn't even that interested in Quidditch last time she checked. But here she was, trying out to be a chaser without letting anyone else know.
"Yeah, I got held up," Cressida quickly explained away, trying to piece everything together, "Uh, What-how-?"
Emmeline giggled, wiping her face with a towel, "After last year I started to get lonely in the common room while you and Dor went to practice. So I decided to ask my Mum to help me practice flying!" She spoke excitedly, a part of her that Cress had never seen shining through, "I figured since she was a Chaser herself, she'd give me some pointers."
The laugh that left Cress's lips was entirely involuntary, but the happiness fluttering in her chest wasn't unwelcome. Emmeline was glowing, her smile wider than anyone had ever seen, trading soft gazes with Dorcas as Aubrey scribbled on his clipboard.
"TONKS!" He bellowed, blowing his whistle as he gestured to the pitch, "Your turn. Now hurry up so we can head to the great hall before supper's over."
Grabbing hold of her broomstick, Cressida let out a frustrated groan and launched into the sky. She glided through the air, a wry smile working its way across her face as she turned in mid-air, staring down at Aubrey and daring him to not put her on the team when she was the only one there to try out. She watched him open the box and unchain the bludgers, the black balls headed straight toward her. But that's not what she was interested in. Cressida caught sight of a golden glint and sped toward it, searching the grey skies for the tiny object, but not before being cut off by Aubrey himself. Frustrated, Cress moved to duck under his broom, but something stopped her. It was an undeniable pull, her broomstick refusing to move where she wanted to go. It bucked underneath her and she tightened her grip. Instead of moving downward, her broom shot toward the skies, rising higher and higher until her friends were barely visible anymore, her tight grip the only thing keeping her tethered to the broom. Squeezing her eyes shut she forced her broom upward, the tool moving the opposite direction as she continued on her chosen path. The jerkiness of her Cleansweep Six made the movements much harder, especially since she had to reorient herself. When she moved to go left, it went right, so she had to force herself to go the opposite direction. It made her much slower and tryouts much harder. What she didn't understand is how it could've happened? She'd kept the broom under lock and key under her bed since the train, and the only person she knew who would do something was….
Cressida froze in midair, anger rumbling in her stomach as she turned toward the Gryffindor stands, knowing exactly who was behind this. Especially after they'd finished studying jinxes and their counters this week.
Clutching her wand from her pocket, she whispered, "Homenum Revelio" She knew James' stupid cloak would keep most spells from affecting it, but that didn't mean that it was infallible. She'd read the upcoming spells and performed the accompanying motion, hoping it was enough to uncover the two of them.
To the rest of the world James' cloak kept him and Sirius invisible, but with a simple fifth year charm she could see the two of them laughing. The blood rushed to her face, causing it to redden.
She sped toward the Gryffindor stands, the snitch in the opposite direction, but she didn't care.
"TONKS!" Aubrey called after her, anger lacing his voice as he floated above the pitch, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"
His words bounced off her ears. Cressida was only focused on the two boys who had messed with her broom, casting the jinx over and over to mess with her chances of regaining her position.
"Expelliarmus!" She shouted, directing the red beam of light at the two fifth years. Their wands went flying, and Sirius jumped out of the cloak to grab the wands, everyone staring at the two Gryffindors.
The game was up, and James took of the cloak, revealing his presence to the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.
Cress's mouth was pressed in a thin line, eyes hardening as she stared down the two boys, jaw clenched.
Aubrey brought his broom next to hers, an incredulous look on his face, "This is a closed tryout!" He bellowed, his face turning as red as the tie around Potter's neck. "I'll be having a word with McGonagall, Potter."
Potter's hazel eyes locked with Cressida's brown ones, a wry smirk on his face. Sirius was smiling, the two boys proud of their prank. "What? Got nothing to say Miss Perfect?"
Her grip on the broomstick tightened at the nickname, knuckles white.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor," She decided, relishing in her victory as Potter and Black's mouths fell open in anger.
"I'm going to kill them," Cressida growled, squeezing out the water from her hair into the shower as she stepped out into the dorm, towel clinging to her body. "Potter and Black had the audacity-"
"At least Potter warned you," Dorcas chimed in, sprawled out on her bed, her hair cinched in a pineapple and wrapped in an old t-shirt. "Black wouldn't have given you the time of day."
Cressida slipped back into her uniform, checking her watch as she realized that she didn't have much time to finish up her DADA essay before her next patrol shift. "That doesn't matter," Her grip on the hairbrush was tight, ripping through the tangles with satisfaction, "Quidditch is sacred, and I thought James respected that but clearly he doesn't if he's willing to fuck with tryouts like that."
Emmeline gave her a look, her smile still on her face from being made chaser, "Come on, you had to know he was gonna try something, I mean, it's James Potter."
Cressida emphasized her friend's point with her hairbrush, "Exactly. It's James freaking Potter, quite possibly the biggest Quidditch nerd I've ever met," She slammed the accessory down on the counter of the bathroom, slipping her shoes on and moving over to her bed to grab the prefect badge, "I made the mistake of assuming that his love for Quidditch outweighed his love for pranks. Clearly, I miscalculated."
The anger pressed against her chest, forcing her to take smaller breaths as she let out a sigh. She could handle any of the boys on their own, but together they formed some kind of four-headed Hydra, unable to be beaten unless you cut all of them off at the same time. Remus and Peter were the only ones she could tolerate. Especially since Black and Potter were nightmares whenever they were together.
"Look on the bright side," Emmeline chimed in again, her smile starting to annoy Cressida, "We all made the team. Dorcas is a beater, You regained your spot as seeker, I'm a chaser. Potter and Black got in trouble, everything's fine."
"It's the principle of the thing Em," Cressida sighed, taking a seat between her friends and laying back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Ugh, tonight's gonna be a nightmare."
The three girls sat in comfortable silence for a moment, relishing in the small break they'd gotten.
Emmeline stared at her watch, letting out a sigh as she stood up, "I have to go do rounds."
Cressida propped herself up on her elbows, creasing her brows in silent confusion at her friend. The asian girl sighed and leaned against the doorframe, tucking a silky black strand of hair behind her ear. "Remus asked me to cover for him tonight."
Cress shot straight up at that news. "What?"
Emmeline shrugged, "He didn't say much, just that he had to go visit a sick relative and wouldn't be back for a few days."
Cressida couldn't stop the disappointed sigh that left her. Remus hadn't said anything at all to her during the study session, but she knew that this was a habit of his. Sometimes some of the boys went with him too, but every time Remus came back he looked more tired than when he left. Maybe she should have a talk with him about it, explain that he doesn't need to care for this relative so much that he can't even stay awake in class.
"Well, good luck," Cress spoke up, jutting out her bottom lip in sympathy, "This is the time Trelawney likes to prowl the corridors, so beware."
A soft chuckle escaped Emmeline's lips as she disappeared down the staircase, closing the dormitory door behind her.
Cress flopped back down on the bed, a long drawn out groan escaping her. Dorcas moved from laying on her stomach to her side, staring at the brunette.
She turned to meet Dorcas' piercing gaze, arching an eyebrow, "What?"
"Are you finally gonna tell me the real reason you were late to tryouts today?"
Cressida shifted positions, propping herself up to Dorcas' level, "I told you, I was studying."
Skepticism laced the dark features of her friend's face.
"You really think I'm buying that bullshit? Cress, you have blocked out periods just for writing your damn DADA essay."
The brunette shrugged, knowing where this conversation was headed and refusing to say anything more until Emmeline got back, knowing the girl would kill her if Dorcas found out before her.
"Your point?"
Dorcas sent Cressida a look, raising her eyebrows in an expression that told Cress she didn't believe a word she said. "My point is that you care more about time management than anyone I know. So you showing up late is like a fish drowning."
Cressida shifted her gaze to the comforter she was laying on, playing with a few stray cotton threads. "I think that's a bit of an overstatement-"
She was silenced with another look from Dorcas, who clearly wasn't going to let the matter go. Cress sighed, continuing to pick at the comforter, fighting back the smile creeping across her face.
"Look, I'll tell you when Emmeline gets back from rounds, right now I gotta go work on my DADA essay,"
Dorcas rolled her eyes and Cressida grabbed her bag, descending down the stairs and into the common room, popping open her ink bottle and dipping her quill in it, wishing her teachers approved of her choice to use a pen.
Slinkhart describes counter jinxes as…
She was back by the whomping willow, the large gnarled tree nicknamed for its propensity to whack any student that came close. But two students were running toward it right now, both seemingly familiar yet unfamiliar.
The matte black that accompanied her visions settled over her and suddenly twisted bark turned into dreary cement. Cress reached out, her fingers settling into the cracks and jutting bricks that taunted her, teasing her to continue forward. So she did, even as the cold water from the world above dripped onto her face and slid down her cheek like a tear.
The hallway was clean, she noted, so someone used it recently.
Her shoes dug into the mud beneath her feet, a series of animal footprints ranging from dog to wolf to deer disappearing beneath her own.
It was like the world was slightly out of focus, the edges of her world blurring with the black background behind her, the darkness threatening to swallow her and the world around her whole with each step she took.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"Oh relax Prongs-"
"Relax? You could've gotten them bloody killed!"
"Oh, it's not like anyone-"
A howl came from the other side of the tunnel. She recognized those voices. She knew those voices. Cressida took off running, sprinting as fast as she could, the blackness following her and devouring her path, nipping at her heels.
"Hello?" She called, voice echoing like the dryad the word was named for, "Is anyone here?"
A large metal door awaited her, the doorknob almost quivering as she reached out a pale hand, thin fingers grasping ahold of it. This was where it all went wrong. This was where the monster appeared.
Her hands shook and she threw the door open.
Moonlight flooded her vision, the full moon so bright she almost couldn't see the towering figure above her. Except it wasn't towering. Not yet anyway.
It was small and weak and broken and terrified and- dear god, when had the humming become so incessant? She gasped in pain, bringing her hands to her ears as her brain pounded against her skull like a hammer brought down on a war drum. It rattled and rattled and rattled away, the pain sharp and constant like a needle stuck through her eye.
Somewhere in the distance, bones were breaking and someone was screaming, but Cressida heard none of that. Her knees buckled beneath her and she hit the wooden floor of the shack with a shriek, clutching her head and praying for it all to go away. Please just go away. She didn't want this. She never wanted this.
Her breaths were shallow, hollow gasps that barely managed to fulfill her, chest stinging in pain as it grew tighter and tighter. She didn't want this. She didn't want this.
"Let me go," Her voice broke into tight sobs, saltwater burning her face as she shut her eyes and hummed to herself, trying to get rid of the annoying sound, "Please…"
A hand landed on her shoulder and she turned around, looking into the wide, concerned eyes of Emmeline Vance.
"Cress?" Her voice was cotton, unable to be heard through the fog that surrounded her, "Cress are you okay?"
She was back in the Ravenclaw common room, her essay rolled up and tucked into her bag beside her. Emmeline stood above her, the same worried look strewn across her face. Tears stung Cressida's cheeks. So those were real.
"Cress, what happened?" Emmeline sat down beside her, her hand never leaving Cressida's arms.
Her lungs were collapsing in on each other, barely able to breathe, let alone form words. She didn't even know if she'd be able to explain what she just experienced. It was more real than anything she'd ever dreamt or seen. She remembered the roughness of the wall against her hand, the moonlight blinding her, the way her breath felt like it had been sucked out of her.
"I uh-" She swallowed, "Um, I uh, I think I had a nightmare."
"Again?"
Cressida nodded, eyebrows knitting themselves together in confusion, "I don't, um, this one was different than the rest. It felt...real."
Emmeline said nothing and to be honest, Cress didn't want her to. She was still reeling from the experience. The grandfather clock chimed and she whipped her gaze to watch the hands land on the large twelve at the top of the clock face. Cressida forced herself out of the chair, her hair still a little bit damp from her shower. "Can you take my stuff up?"
Emmeline nodded.
She turned toward the door to leave when Em called after her.
The girl's face crinkled into something worrisome, pointing toward the table. Somehow Cressida had missed it when she stood up, but there was no way to hide it now. Where once the table had been devoid of anything except her quill and ink bottle, now there lay tens of tarot cards, perfectly placed in a towering formation like a game of pyramid solitaire, except only one card was face up, and Cress gulped down the knot in her throat as she realized which one it was.
The moon was staring up at her.
Sirius could barely keep his laughter contained. While they were still new to the whole Animagus thing, thankfully Remus had helped them understand the basics of transfiguration further after his study session with Little Miss Perfect.
It was the tall boy's worst kept secret, but Sirius was begrudgingly grateful for the girl's understanding of the subject. It had helped him transform Peter back to take Remus to the hospital wing when the sun came up, while Sirius was stuck trying to figure out how to sneak a fully-grown stag into the Gryffindor Common Room without anyone noticing.
Blimey, what a life he was leading. No wonder his parents preferred Regulus to him. He bristled at the thought before shaking it away. Nope, he wouldn't think about it, especially not now.
Right now he had to deal with getting James up the next flight of stairs toward the seventh floor, trying to avoid any Prefects or Heads of School as he moved between floors. The night had been a bloody disaster right from the start. First, Sirius and James had been given a thorough verbal lashing by McGonagall for interfering with the Ravenclaw Quidditch tryouts, along with a detention that Saturday. Then, Moony had decided to get pissed about it too, which Sirius teased him about until the kid had left the Common Room. Everything had just fallen apart after that. Remus had managed to escape the Shack and into the Forbidden Forest, prompting them all to run after him like their lives depended on it, because they bloody well did.
And now Sirius was stuck escorting James back up the staircase toward the Gryffindor tower because the bloody wanker never bothered to learn how to bloody untransfigure himself.
Except now the deer wasn't bloody budging.
"Come on, mate," Sirius leaned down to meet the wide eyes of his friend, exhaustion washing over him as he did, "Moony needs our help and we can't do that if we get caught again."
James showed no signs of hearing his words and Sirius let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing his hands down his face, pulling the deer into a corridor and toward the next staircase.
He'd heard that there was a secret passageway somewhere, but for the life of him, he couldn't bloody find it.
A loud meow was heard underneath him and Sirius froze, teeth clenched and wondering if he dared to look down. One of Filch's damn cats was underneath his foot, not happy about being stepped on by a student at two in the bloody morning.
The damn things roamed the castle like they owned the place and wherever one went Filch was sure to follow with more.
"Shhhhh," Sirius shushed the cat, hoping it would listen to him, "Nice kitty...good kitty...sweet, kind, fair kitty…"
The cat hissed and bolted down the hallway, footsteps appearing not long afterward.
"Shit," Sirius whispered, trying to find a possible exit to use, "Fuck, Merlin."
He dragged the stubborn stag down the hallway, hoping to find a door. The footsteps were getting closer and Sirius didn't have enough time to make it to the staircase or find a place to hide. Sirius could hear Filch's keys jingle, footsteps quickening. His only way out, Sirius ducked behind a tapestry, pulling the stag along with him. It was there he waited, patiently and silently, for Filch to pass by and to continue with his task.
"Who's there?!" The caretaker's rough voice echoed through the hall, and Sirius could make out his silhouette behind the tapestry. If he turned this way Sirius was made and he didn't want to face Filch anymore than he wanted to make out with the giant squid. Especially with James still unstransfigured.
His grey eyes scanned the room around him, and when he turned around, Sirius wanted to let out a cry of thanks to whatever entity watched over their miserable lives. "Thank fuck," He mouthed as he caught sight of the hidden staircase. Not wanting to waste any time, He took the steps two at a time, coming to an abrupt stop on the third stair.
He turned around, hands still around the antlers of the stag, smile dropping into a frustrated grimace as he noticed that he'd overlooked one very important detail. The trick stair had reappeared, and the Stag's front legs were already sunk halfway through the step, and he was sinking further.
"No, no, no, no," Sirius whispered, clenching his teeth together again, "God fucking dammit."
The deer blinked a few times in response before trying to rub his nose against the staircase, and not for the first time that night, Sirius wondered if he'd gotten the right deer.
But it had followed him all the way back to the castle, rubbing up against him when he'd called him Prongs, nodding in agreement when Sirius told Peter the plan.
Except in retrospect, it wasn't a very good one, especially when one of his best friends was a werewolf, the other was stuck as a wild animal, and the last was off trying to help said werewolf during a full moon. And now Sirius was stuck sitting on the steps of a vanishing trick staircase, chin in his palm as he waited for the stair to disappear again.
This was why they stuck together.
He didn't know how much time had passed when he got James free from the stairs, but he hoped it had been enough. The staircase let them out on the sixth floor and Sirius thanked Merlin for that, filing the information away for later.
He'd definitely have to tell the gang when everyone got back, especially since there were probably more passages like that somewhere in the castle. Sirius remembered how excited everyone had gotten when Peter discovered the way into the kitchens, hopefully, he'd receive the same treatment.
The last staircase was surprisingly the easiest, and Sirius doubled over in relief when he caught sight of Gryffindor tower.
"Black?"
Fucking hell, his luck was bad tonight wasn't it? He came face to face with Little Miss Perfect herself, circles around her large brown eyes and her usually perfectly curled hair messy and half-straight, her natural curls making up most of the mass underneath the top layer.
Sirius could only stare, wondering what she was gonna pull this time.
Cressida Tonks crossed her arms, face knitted in pure confusion as she stared at the scene before her. "What the hell are you doing at this time of night?"
A moment of silence passed between them and when Sirius moved to answer she held up a hand, closing her eyes for a moment before shaking her head, "Actually, don't tell me, it's been…a day. Just fucking go, I'm done."
She waved him down the corridor and Sirius failed to hide his surprise.
"You're just letting me walk?" He asked, arching an eyebrow at the girl, "You're not even gonna ask about the deer?"
Cressida sighed, and now that he'd moved closer, he could see just how tired she looked. Her face was paler than usual, accentuating the sunken and hollow look that surrounded her eyes.
She looked liked Remus usually did.
"Look, I know you want to hate me and everything," She began, picking at some lint on her uniform skirt, "But I genuinely do not care what you do as long as you stay out my way."
Sirius stared at the girl for a moment, as if she had been bathed in a new light.
The brunette sighed again, "Now go, before Filch finds you"
Cressida turned her back on the pair and began to make her way toward Ravenclaw tower, her shoulders slumped and posture hunched. Sirius even felt a little bit sorry for her.
It was 4 am before Peter showed up again. Sirius had been trying every spell he knew, even Finite Incantatem, but nothing had worked so far. Finally, he'd given up and just fallen asleep beside the deer, leaning into the animal's fur as he waited for Peter to show up. When he finally did he stood up, irritation brewing in his chest.
"There you are," He exclaimed, shaking his head as the deer turned to face the short, blonde boy who had entered the room. "I've been doing this for two bloody hours, what happened?"
Peter shook his head and wrung his hands, "This one was bad Padfoot, like really bad."
Sirius dropped his wand, all anger dissipating as his thoughts turned to Moony and how he was doing. How many scars he'd given himself this time.
"How bad?"
The look on Peter's face told Sirius everything he needed to know. "Fuck," He whispered under his breath, "I should've been there, I should've stayed, I should've-"
Peter said nothing.
The sound of the portrait hole opening caught both of them off-guard, panic coursing through him as they tried to figure out how to hide the deer. Quickly grabbing a blanket and tossing it over the animal, it did the job. It wasn't perfect and anyone who looked close enough would see a strange deer-shaped lump on the floor, but it worked for the moment.
A mess of curly hair and tired eyes walked through the door and both boys' mouths dropped wide open.
"Forgetting someone you wankers?!" James Potter placed his hands on his hips, fully dressed and perfectly human, if a bit dirty from spending the night out in the forest. Sirius and Peter stood in stunned silence, sharing a look before moving their gazes to the blanket-covered lump on the floor.
The deer shook the blanket off its head, wide eyes colliding with James' hazel ones.
