Chapter 12: Read between the Lines
"Oi, Brenna, Quidditch practice tonight at 4." James called as she walked past the Marauders minus Peter who were sitting on 'their' couch on Friday afternoon.
"Yeah, I know, I'll be there…Can I borrow your owl?" All three boys turned to look at her puzzled by the seemingly random request.
"My owl?" James repeated eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"Yeah, you know, to send a letter."
"Don't you have an owl?" Sirius asked pretty sure that someone with the newest and most expensive broom on the market would have an owl.
"Well, kind of, but Cyrus borrowed her."
"Doesn't he have an owl?" James asked. The two boys often shared the same thought lines leading many to believe that they really are biological brothers that were separated at birth.
"His isn't around."
"So why don't you use a school owl?"
"They're not fast enough. Look, are you going to lend me your owl or not?"
"Why mine? Why not McKinnon's or Prewitt's?"
"They're not as fast as yours. You know what, just forget it." She said frustrated at his lack of comprehension.
"No, wait you can use my owl, I presume you know which one it is since you know it's fast." A loud tapping at the common room window made the four Gryffindors turn to see a bird that was clearly not an owl with bluish black wings, black wing tips and a white underbelly with thin dark black bands. Brenna walked over and opened the window, holding her arm out as a perch for the bird before turning back to the boys.
"Turns out I'm not going to need your owl, Potter."
"What kind of bird is that?" Remus asked regarding the bird curiously.
"Peregrine Falcon, her name's Nirvana." She said as she stroked the bird's feathers. Nirvana's piercing eyes stared at the boys menacingly, though Brenna was completely unafraid of the fierce bird on her arm and it's incredibly sharp beak.
"A falcon? You can have one of those at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked unaware of the specie's allowance at the school.
"Not technically, but being a transfer student has its perks. Dumbledore was hardly going to make me and Cyrus get different birds."
"You both have Falcons? Aren't those hunting birds?" Remus asked.
"Yes they are, Remus." Brenna set Nirvana down on the back of a chair and untied the small scroll on the Falcon's leg before retying a different one. The boys' watched curious as to what could need such a fast delivery that her first choice was a Peregrine Falcon, the fastest animal in the world, faster even than a cheetah.
Brenna took the bird back to the window and stroked its head once, whispering what the boys assumed to be the location of the delivery before sticking her arm out the open window and allowing the bird flight. Within mere seconds, Nirvana was out of sight, and Brenna turned back to the boys, the scroll she had just received still held in her hand.
"I've been meaning to ask, are you guys planning a prank on the Slytherins?" The boys all looked at her with raised eyebrows; people rarely asked them what they were planning.
"That's confidential." Sirius responded thinking of her Slytherin twin and why they could possibly want to know prank plans. Brenna nodded but walked closer to them so they could talk more privately.
"Then could you not prank them, at least until after the Hogsmeade trip?"
"Brenna, if you're asking for your brother..." Brenna crouched down next to James, dropping her voice so the boys were all straining to hear.
"My brother is more than capable of taking care of himself, and trust me, I'm not asking for him. If you idiots want to prank him than you'll deal with the consequences whatever they might be. I'm asking you to not prank the Slytherins until after the Hogsmeade trip; you don't want something the Slytherins do as a result on your conscience."
"We can handle a little retaliation." James said confidently matching her low volume.
"I'm not talking about a little prank like every Gryffindor ending up transfigured into strange creatures; this will be way bigger than that and you know it. You're the ones that always say Slytherins are ruthless; do you really think that if they were humiliated they'd retaliate with an essentially harmless prank?"
"Wait what're you saying?" Remus asked confused by the implied dangers behind her words. Brenna stood up as more people flowed into the Common Room and their private setting became far too public for her liking.
"I'll see you at Quidditch." She said before walking out of the Common Room briskly.
"Does anyone else find what she just said incredibly unnerving?" Remus asked as the three Marauders stared at the closed Portrait hole where she had disappeared from their view.
"Yeah, more than usual actually." James said frowning in thought.
"What do you think she was trying to say? Why would she be asking us not to prank the Slytherins?" Sirius asked no one in particular.
"If it really was about her brother then why would she only ask us not to until Hogsmeade?" Remus pointed out.
"I reckon we should ask her at practice tonight. She was going to say more but then people came in and we know how secretive she is." James concluded. "Let's get to Transfiguration."
The boys spent their last class of the day focussing on things far from Transfiguration; each trying to piece together what Brenna could've been talking about, why she was concerned and what she hoped to gain from no Slytherin pranks until after Hogsmeade. That was another mystery, why only until Hogsmeade? What was supposed to happen there that had her worried? And what was their connection to it all? What could they possibly do to set a string of dangerous events into action?
Though they weren't concentrating on Transfiguration, not even Remus who was generally a good student, they were silent, a change in demeanour that alarmed Professor McGonagall. In the five years that she had taught them and dealt with their antics, she could not recall a single point in time where all of the Marauders were silent.
She supposed she should be pleased at this change, since it would appear that they had finally grown up and decided to pay attention to a lesson, but she didn't feel pleased. In fact, the class didn't seem right without her having to stop to tell them to be quiet or giving them a detention. It just wasn't normal.
This was not the way life was supposed to be, the Marauders should not be quiet. McGonagall found herself wondering if she had been unknowingly transported to an alternate universe. But of course, this was a crazy notion, an alternate universe; she assured herself that if Minerva McGonagall had in fact been transported to an alternate universe, she would at least know.
McGonagall felt incredibly uneasy. It was as if this was a bad omen, a sign of things to come…perhaps she was in an alternate universe, Minerva had just sounded as though she were teaching divination, what a horrible thought. But still, she could not shake the feeling that something was off, there was something troubling these three Marauders, and that trouble could very well end up involving the entire school knowing those boys. Minerva definitely would not put it past them.
Though this seemed more serious, usually they would cause trouble and wreak havoc, but they never stopped joking or talking even if only amongst themselves.
Something indeed was troubling the Marauders, and as their head of house, Minerva felt a responsibility to talk to them about it, if for no other reason than the simple fact that if these boys were worried about something, there was an incredibly likely chance that there was, in fact, something to be worried about, for these boys were not ones to be scared or worried or even concerned about frivolous things.
"That is all for today class, you're homework is to write a 13 inch paper explaining today's lesson. Potter, Black and Lupin please stay behind, class dismissed."
The students quickly packed up their things, no one even wondering why the present Marauders were being held after class though they hadn't said a word through out. They were all used to the trouble caused by the popular Gryffindors and so suspected that they were being held behind in relation to another incident, in fact that was a very likely situation.
The only one who looked at McGonagall with a raised eyebrow was Brenna Templar, and the look she gave McGonagall told the older woman that this 15 year old knew something was up. She knew that this was not in relation to a prank or disturbance but rather the lack of a disturbance in the class. McGonagall also sensed that Brenna knew about whatever it was that was bothering the three teenage boys at the very least; it was also highly possible that Brenna was directly behind the change in behaviour. But then, McGonagall expected nothing less from this member of the Order of the Dragon, the girl's purpose at Hogwarts was to know about things and Minerva had been told that this girl was not, in any way, average, even for the Order of the Dragon.
Nevertheless, Brenna packed up her things with the rest of her peers, and followed Lily Evans, Alice Prewitt and Marlene McKinnon to the door. As she passed the professor's desk, however, Brenna discreetly slid a piece of parchment onto it that Minerva hadn't even realised she was holding and she thought that she probably would never have noticed it had Brenna not positioned it directly in front of where she sat. Brenna didn't even glance at McGonagall or the desk as she made the exchange which resulted in a completely common and unsuspicious circumstance of a student brushing against the desk.
With only a few students remaining in the classroom, Minerva unfolded the small piece of parchment that Brenna had slipped and read it, finding only two generic words written neatly in the center. New Information was all it said and Minerva instantly understood this to mean that Brenna had, well, new information to share. Waving her wand, the parchment burst into a single flame before turning to a pile of ashes which McGonagall proceeded to vanish. Looking up, she found that the last of the students were walking out the door, save for Potter, Black and Lupin who were huddled together whispering, occasionally glancing up at her, presumably wondering what they had done.
SIRIUS POV
James, Remus and I sat in transfiguration, for once in our troublemaking lives completely silent. Its not that we were listening to anything Minnie was saying, we weren't, come to think of it, I don't even know what we're supposed to be learning today, I was too nervous about Brenna's creepy message and I don't know why.
I, Sirius Black, do not get nervous about the crazy things that birds say; Merlin knows I've had to listen to some crazy birds in my time here at Hogwarts. Like this one time a girl came up to me and told me that I was her saviour and without me to look at she'd claw her eyes out…it was pretty strange and honestly I never saw that girl again, I think her parents pulled her out of school, and hopefully got her some "professional" help. But even then I wasn't nervous or worried, I mean at first I was a little concerned, but the day after she left Hogwarts.
Now Minnie wants to talk to us after class. This is ridiculous! We cause a disruption and we have to stay after class. We are completely silent and we have to stay after class. I'm sensing a little discrimination…
"Hey Prongs, have we pulled anything recently?" I couldn't think of anything we'd done that would warrant a stay after class from good old Minnie, and judging from the looks on James and Remus' faces they were thinking the same thing.
"I don't think so…" He answered slowly obviously wracking his brain for something we had done and forgotten about.
"Maybe, we're not in trouble for once?" Remus suggested hesitantly but clearly didn't believe it.
"Well let's go find out." James said standing and slinging his bag over his shoulder, Remus and I quickly followed suit and walked over to Minnie's desk in our usual confident manor despite our nervousness.
"You wanted to talk to us, Minnie?" I asked leaning against one of the desks in the front of the class. McGonagall fixed me with a glare at the way I addressed her but didn't say anything, I'm pretty sure she was used to it now, if not, she should learn how to adapt; it has been four years going on five.
"Yes, is everything alright with you boys?" She asked in a kinder voice than I'd ever heard and thought possible for the normally stern witch. James, Remus and I exchanged a look that clearly said what the hell?
"Erm, yes…?" James answered hesitantly.
"You know that if there is anything troubling you, you can always tell me, right?"
"Um, yeah…" Remus answered and I'm sure we all had the same bewildered and surprised looks on our faces; turns out we weren't in trouble.
"You were all very…quiet today, is something worrying you?" McGonagall asked obviously she was a put off from our proper behaviour. That's a little ironic isn't it? The professor that's always telling us to behave more maturely is completely shocked when we sit through an entire lesson quietly and the only explanation she can fathom is that we're worried about something, which is true, but still. I guess Minnie really does like our form of entertainment.
"Nothing that I can think of, professor." James responded politely. As if we, the Marauders, would tell McGonagall that something Brenna said had us entirely freaked out.
"Very well, if anything does concern you, please feel free to come and talk to me in my office. You may go now." Still slightly confused at the kindness of McGonagall's voice and the entire conversation, we walked toward the door.
I pulled open the door and stepped out, only then realising that across the hall Brenna stood leaning against the opposite wall, one foot propped up against it, and a leather-bound book open in her left hand. She glanced up at us and quickly snapped the book shut, a medallion hanging on the end of a ribbon book mark that I couldn't identify.
"Waiting for us, Brenna?" I asked flashing her a cocky half smile and receiving no reaction from her as she pushed herself off the wall and stood up straight. What the hell is wrong with this bird? Any girl in their right mind would be swooning and stuttering by now. Why doesn't she react to anything?
"No, shocker as it may be for you, I need to talk to McGonagall." She said grabbing her bag from the ground and slinging it over her shoulder before walking closer to where James, Remus and I stood in front of the door. "Are you going to move, or am I going to have to hex you?" She asked as we realised that we were standing directly in her way.
"What do you have to talk to McGonagall about?" I asked not moving from my position in front of the door.
"That really doesn't concern you, now does it?" She said tilting her head to the side as I pouted at her.
"Friends aren't supposed to have secrets." I said giving her my best puppy dog face. Still, nothing. Not even a smile! Damn it, why doesn't anything work?
"Only my very best friends know my secrets, you're not at that level." Brenna shrugged a shoulder looking at me patronizingly and I could feel the confused looks of Remus and James, I hadn't exactly gotten around to telling them that I was her friend. "Now, I've got to talk to McGonagall before Quidditch Practice and I'm running out of time to do that, so I'll see you blokes later." James, Remus and I all quickly moved out of her way, and giving us a quick smile she walked into the room shutting the door behind her.
"Want to go back to the Common Room?" I asked James and Remus, we had a half hour before practice would start and really nothing better to do. My mates shrugged and together we began walking down the corridor toward Gryffindor Tower.
"So you just forgot to tell us that you were friends with Brenna?" James asked curiosity in his voice.
"Erm, yeah, but it's not like she's told me anything useful."
"You guys are seriously going ahead with this investigation? Don't you think that maybe you shouldn't mettle in people's lives especially when they tell you not to?" Remus asked that stupid prefect badge has gone to his head, I swear.
"I think we should investigate even more when people tell us not to. It means their hiding something, Moony."
"Prongs, she told you she's got a secret obviously she's hiding something! I just think that maybe we should respect that for once. You heard what she said today, she's involved in something way more than just pranks."
Remus dropped his voice to little above a whisper before continuing, "For all we know, her brother's a Death Eater, and she could even be one too. I don't think we should stick our noses in somewhere they don't belong. We don't want to end up dead with a dark mark above our bodies."
"You can't just accuse people of being a Death Eater, Moony. That's a dangerous accusation. If they are and they don't want people knowing then you're as good as dead. If they're not then you've given them the biggest insult imaginable. I highly doubt that Brenna's one of them, she hardly seems the type, and if she was don't you think she'd be in Slytherin?" James pointed out in a whisper but we were all uneasy. Remus had brought up a very good point. We don't know Brenna or her brother; we haven't been going to school with them for four years and we haven't known them since they were 11 like we have the others.
"I know Prongs, and I'm not accusing anyone, I'm just saying that we don't know, and I think we should be more careful with this. Life is dangerous now; we can't just close our eyes to the potential consequences. We just need to be more careful about everything, particularly Brenna and Cyrus." As much as I didn't want to admit it, I know Remus is right. We don't know anything about Brenna, we don't know where she came from or even who she really is, and after the way she spoke this morning I can't deny that everything's gotten a lot more dangerous.
A/N: Review please?