A Break from Monotony, or, How That Idiot Sirius Black Managed to Charm Me
Disclaimer: The fabulous Ms. Rowling is the owner of all characters from the Harry Potter series. Credit is given where credit is due.
Chapter 11
Happy Christmas
Morgana awoke on Christmas Day not unlike how she had awoken every other day of Christmas break – to some form of shouting, yelling, screaming, or a small explosion.
This morning, it was all four. Sirius had somehow managed to reach a whole new level of annoying.
And Lily thought he would be tamer without James.
Morgana sighed and got out of her four poster bed. Pulling on her robe, she half noticed the pile of gifts at the end of her bed, but did not give them too much thought. She felt it was her responsibility to make sure that the common room was not on fire.
She was not alone in her trudge down the stairs. She was joined by the few other Gryffindor girls who had stayed at Hogwarts for the holidays. Morgana did not know any of them very well, but was not surprised when one asked her if it was Sirius again.
"I wouldn't doubt it," She answered, slightly ashamed to be associated with Sirius.
When the girls arrived in the common room, they found all was well. This, however, only meant that the explosion had occurred in the dormitory, which was smaller, and therefore, quicker to go up in flames.
Morgana was at the head of the group of girls as they ran up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. As they got closer and closer, they could hear frantic shouts from both Sirius and Remus.
"God dammit, Sirius! Put it out!"
"I would if I could, Remus!"
Morgana wrenched open the door to find one of the four poster beds in flames. Both Sirius and Remus, with their wands out, were standing as far away from the bed as possible. They both seemed at a loss for words and could not think of any proper spell to put out the flames.
Luckily for all of them, two of the girls knew a spell that produced jets of water. "Aguamenti!"
The others caught on, and after a few minutes, the flames died out, though, they left behind the unmistakable smell of burned fabric.
"Justin is going to kill me when he finds out," Sirius murmured, though no one laughed. It certainly was not funny.
The other girls left, muttering curses underneath their breaths. Shortly after, the Head Boy, who had taken the obvious time to put on his school robes, ran in, breathless, and demanded to know what had happened.
He need not ask, however. It was apparent what had happened.
The Head Boy could not speak properly, he was so angry. "I – I – what were you thinking? Were you even thinking?"
Sirius was at a loss for words for the first time in his entire life. Morgana was standing, stiff as a board, next to the Head Boy in the door way. Remus, surprisingly, was standing loyally by Sirius' side.
Sirius opened his mouth, but could not speak a single excuse before he was cut off by the Head Boy. "I have to report this to McGonagall, I hope you know."
Whatever color was left in Sirius' face drained at the mention of McGonagall's name. However, he did not retort nor protest, but hung his head in shame.
The Head Boy looked pleased with himself, and marched down the stairs, presumably to fetch McGonagall.
"Sirius?" Remus asked timidly, attempting to get a view of Sirius' face.
Morgana edged closer into the room, also curious to see Sirius' reaction to his impending punishment.
To Remus and Morgana's surprise, when Sirius lifted his head, he was smiling.
"Why the hell are you smiling?" Remus asked loudly. "You almost just burned the tower down! You're probably going to get expelled, Sirius!"
"I'm not too concerned," Sirius said, coolly.
"Well why the hell not?" Remus asked, his face redder than Morgana had ever seen it.
"I just mastered Incendio without help whatsoever," He said, his smile widening. "How bitchin' is that?"
Thoroughly irritated, Remus threw a pillow at Sirius and left the dormitory.
"You have to admit, it was pretty cool. James would have thought it was cool," Sirius said to Morgana, though he seemed to be looking for assurance.
"You're an idiot," Morgana said before leaving the dormitory as well.
Remus was slumped in a chair far from the fire, with his face in his hands and his elbows propped up on his knees. Awkwardly and nervously, Morgana approached him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
He shot up quickly, causing Morgana to jump back in surprise.
"Sorry," He said gruffly.
Morgana shook her head. "Come on, let's get some breakfast."
"But we're not dressed-"
"It's Christmas, Remus. No one cares,"
The two were inches away from the portrait hole when it slammed open. It was McGonagall, followed by the Head Boy and, to Morgana's deepest surprise, the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore.
Morgana and Remus made to climb out of the portrait hole when McGonagall shouted at them. "No, you two come with us!"
They exchanged nervous glances, but followed without a word up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.
Sirius was sitting on his bed, still in pajamas, when the group entered the first year boys' dormitory. At the sight of Dumbledore, Sirius quickly got out of bed and stood.
"Good morning, Profess-"
"Mr. Black, do not attempt to charm us!" McGonagall said tersely. "Nathan tells us that you set fire to one of the four posters this morning."
McGonagall was livid. Dumbledore, however, was smiling serenely.
"Um, yes, Professor, it was an accident," Sirius said, not so bravely. His belief that he would avoid trouble was draining from him with every second.
"Mr. Black, someone could have been seriously injured! What if you had lit fire to Mr. Lupin's bed, or even your own?"
"I hadn't thought-"
"Naturally!" McGonagall cried, throwing her hands in the air. "Of course you hadn't thought!"
Sirius hung his head, and Morgana suspected that he was not smiling this time.
"Minerva," Dumbledore said suddenly. His voice was soft and calm. "Please, calm down."
"Calm down, Albus? This boy almost lit the castle on fire!"
"Almost, Minerva," Dumbledore smiled. "But, luckily, he only managed to light this bed on fire. And good riddance, I say. I did always hate these hangings."
Nathan, who had been nodding in approval with McGonagall the entire time, suddenly allowed his mouth to fall open. McGonagall looked shocked as well. "Albus," She started, "This boy-"
"Was merely experimenting with magic?" Albus said, his eyes twinkling at McGonagall. "I remember a time when you merely experimented with magic, Minerva. My beard had never been so blue."
"But, Albus,"
"Minerva, it's Christmas," Dumbledore said kindly. "Let's celebrate the fact that young Mr. Black here did not burn down the castle."
McGonagall said nothing, but merely stared at Dumbledore in disbelief.
"Now, I think Mr. Black should be awarded five points for a perfectly executed Incendio charm. And, how about another five for the students who helped put out the flames? Yes, I think that will do." Dumbledore winked at Sirius, whose face has lit up. "Come, Minerva, Nathan. There are some kippers awaiting us in the Great Hall."
Both McGonagall and Nathan were stunned beyond belief, but allowed themselves to be led out of the dorm by Dumbledore. Once he was sure he would not be heard, Sirius let out a loud laugh.
"I knew it!" He cried, pumping his fists in the air. "I knew I wouldn't get in trouble!"
There was two minutes of silence between the three first years. Sirius was eagerly awaiting praise, practically bouncing up and down as he smiled at Remus and Morgana.
However, Sirius was not awarded such admiration.
"I'm getting breakfast," Remus said, before leaving the dorm, shaking his head in utter disbelief.
Without any further comment, Morgana also left the dorm to join Remus in his pursuit of the Great Hall.
X
Morgana and Remus left the Great Hall at separate times and in separate directions.
"I need to return some books to the library," Remus said, referring to his bulging book bag.
"It can't wait?" Morgana asked.
"No," Remus said. "Definitely not. Madam Pince already let me keep them a few extra days."
Morgana groaned. "But I'm going to be alone with him!"
Remus rolled his eyes. "I'll catch up to you sooner than you think. Just go on without me."
"Ugh, fine then," Morgana said, waving Remus off.
Quite alone, Morgana climbed up seven stories worth of stairs. Did Madam Pince eat you, Remus? Morgana thought to herself, as she approached the Fat Lady's secret corridor.
"Baubles," Morgana said, in a rather bored tone.
"Happy Christmas to you, too," The Fat Lady said sarcastically. Perhaps she expected Morgana to burst into song?
Regardless, the Fat Lady swung open.
Morgana could not get one good look around the common room before she encountered a face full of Stink Sap.
"GOD DAMMIT, SIRIUS BLACK!"