Weeks passed, and Mauve adjusted to life at Hogwarts. She had students asking for help often so she had to make a schedule that she posted to her office door. And given day she could be found in her office with a few students, helping them when they needed it.
Concerning the Weasley twins, Mauve now met with them and their friend, Lee Jordan, once every two weeks to help them with their 'free lance potions'.
She did spare time with her friends, although it wasn't much. She started sitting with them during meal times, one at a time of course. Mauve was looking forward to this weekend very much because it was the first Hogsmeade weekend, and she could spend the whole day with them.
The group met in the Great Hall and had to wait until an unclean man whom Mauve later learned was named 'Filch' checked the students off on a list that seemed as tall as the Great Hall's ceiling.
They entertained themselves however, by making fun of Filch and the third year students who tried to get past Filch without guardian permission.
Walking into Hogsmeade was like walking into another world for Mauve. She had grown up in a muggle community, and Salem didn't have any town like Hogsmeade nearby. The sights and sound were loud, colorful, but inviting. Mauve didn't think she could ever get bored of a pace like this.
They visited every shop, starting at the Shrieking Shack, then backtracking to The Three Broomsticks. They had such an eventful day that Mauve honestly remembered a very exciting blur. In what seemed like no time the group had to go back to the castle for the feast.
The Great Hall was greatly decorated, but the candles had always been Mauve's favorite. They were in pumpkins, each carved into different shapes. Some were scary, but most were either funny or beautiful.
As Mauve walked up to the teachers table she spotted a cat, a party hat, a wand, a peace sign, the man from 'The Scream', and a smaller pumpkin all carved into some floating pumpkins.
Mauve smiled at Dumbledore and received one in return. Their relationship had been getting better, at least there were less awkward silences than before. They had been meeting sporadically - whenever they both had time. They talked about their lives, getting to know each other how they should have many years ago. They talked about Mauve's grandmother, how Mauve saw her and how Dumbledore met her.
Mauve learned that Dumbledore and Mora - Mauve's grandmother - had gone to Hogwarts together. They started out as friends but in their final year became more. Mora knew about Dumbledore's plan to travel the world after school so they decided to end it before they graduated. They kept contact, but superficially. Dumbledore told Mora about her sister in brief terms, and Mora kept from him the fact that she was pregnant. She figured he already had enough to deal with with his sister, he didn't need another person to feel responsible for.
One of their best meetings was when Mauve got to meet Fawkes. She had seen him before, but only on the days before his burning day. The day in question was right after he had burned. There he was, a baby bird gray as the soot he was sitting in. The two had become friends right away.
Mauve sat and soon the feast began. It was a joyful event and like the day it went by fast. Soon it was time for the feast to end and as Mauve stood Dumbledore asked her to stay. They waited for the room to clear before Dumbledore began to talk.
"Severus has been cross about you lately. Apparently you have been using quite a bit of his ingredients. So much that he has run out of some." Dumbledore looked at her through his spectacles with a touch of humor in his eyes.
"As if! I ask him every time before I take anything from his supply closet! And what, is he not man enough to come and tell me himself?" Mauve was angry, although Dumbledore's chuckles told her he wasn't angry or upset.
"Frankly he is scared of you, even if he didn't say so in so many words. Apparently you have quite a glare, so my plan is to set up a supply closet next to your office for you to use. Just tell me when you run out. We should be able to set it up ton-"
Dumbledore was abruptly interrupted by a student who had tun into the room while breathing heavily. Dumbledore and Mauve stood and when they heard "Fat Lady….attacked" Dumbledore was off like a flash.
Mauve ran after Dumbledore all the way to the Gryffindor's tower, where she could barely see over the heads of the entire Gryffindor house. When they saw Dumbledore, however, they parted like the Red Sea and Mauve was able to see giant tears in the Fat Lady's portrait.
Dumbledore spoke to the portraits next to the Fat Lady's abandoned portrait and found that Sirius Black had attacked the Fat Lady while trying to get into the tower. It was incredibly fortunate that the school body was in the Great Hall, but he must have heard the noise of the voices so why was he trying to get into an empty tower?
Dumbledore ordered all of the students to spend the night in the Great Hall and called all the teachers together. There he had the teachers, and Mauve, split up and search the castle from top to bottom for any trace of the Fat Lady or Sirius Black. Filch was able to find the Fat Lady but there were no traces of Sirius Black, how he had gotten away no one knew.
Mauve spent the night sleeping restlessly, happy when it was her turn to patrol the hallways. When the school woke up and was having breakfast you could feel the fear in the air. Everyone wanted to know why Sirius Black was trying to get into the Gryffindor tower and more importantly, where he was at the moment.
Throughout the day students asked Mauve if she knew anything else but she only had as much information as they did. That incredibly frustrated her, she hadn't failed to answer a question until now.
When the Weasley twins sauntered into her office she was enjoying a few moments of peace and sighed outwardly.
"Why the long face? You finally get to see us." Fred winked.
"Maybe that's why." Mauve said. The twins frowned dramatically, and George responded.
"Aw, look, she's playing coy-."
"Pretending like he doesn't enjoy our company." They both broke out in a chorus of awe's.
"Oh, shut up both of you? What'd you come here for anyway, you don't have an appointment."
"My dear girl, when will you learn that we are above mere mortal appointments." Fred said while wrapping his arm around Mauve's shoulders.
"When will you learn that you are mere mortals?" Mauve stood up while shaking off Fred's arm.
George put up his hands in surrender. "Oh, we could debate this all day, I have a feeling you're as stubborn as both of us-"
"Got that right" Mauve muttered.
"So, how about we get to work. Here is our latest idea,"
They spent the better part of that morning talking about how the idea of exploding candies were repulsive and criminal. The twins were convinced they could work, while Mauve worked as hard as she could disproving their ideas. No, it wouldn't be funny especially if someone actually swallowed the candy. By providing them to you could be responsible for what they did with the candy. No you could not give them to Snape, and so on.
Their meeting greatly improve Mauve's mood, so much that for the rest of the day the mood of the castle didn't effect her and she finally got a good night's rest.
The rest of the week passed like the first day, but by the end of the week the school was cheering up because of the up coming match of Hufflepuff verses Gryffindor. Mauve watched Quidditch, but it wasn't her favorite thing to do. She figured she could go to watch and seeing as the whole school was going if she stayed behind she wouldn't have anything to do. Mauve made sure to were both houses colors so she couldn't be considered bias.
The match seemed to start fine, the commentary was quite entertaining. The Weasley twins were quite good, which was something that surprised Mauve. In the middle of the match a feeling of utter hopelessness overtook Mauve, and she recognized the feeling from the dementors. Not here, not now. Mauve thought.
But what Mauve was feeling was nothing compared to Harry Potter. His broom had come to a stand still and Mauve was scared to see it looked like he was tripping. Mauve was frozen still in fear as she watched him falling, as if in slow motion.
Snapping out of it Mauve cast a nonverbal spell that would slow down his fall. She was thankful to see she wasn't the only person who thought of that spell. Mauve saw the other spell join hers, making it stronger.
Dumbledore had marched down into the field and was yelling at the dementors. His face was the scariest she had ever seen and she was amazed he felt well enough to be so angry. Thankfully Mauve watched as the dementors floated away and Mauve's mind was cleared of her swirling unpleasant thoughts.
Mauve had only one thought as she sat down in relief. This year just got a lot more interesting.
Took me long enough right? Thankfully I have an entire week break from school and seeing as I finished this chapter tonight I might have time to make another chapter during this week. We can only hope :) As always, tell me what you think :]