A/N- So umm... that took longer than expected ._. Sorry for taking such a long time to upload the next chapter. I'm just having a hard time writing. But I'll keep going, albeit at a rather choppy pace. So bear with me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
"I assure you, sloppy work will not be tolerated in my class."
The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was turning out to be a huge problem. She was extremely moody, terrible at communicating instructions, and unnecessarily harsh regarding punishments. She had given Peter a 3 foot long essay to write because he had forgotten to bring his textbook one day. If anyone underperformed in class, they would lose house points. But if they did better than what she expected, she would mark their homework more severely.
"You can't win with this goddamn woman!" Sirius stabbed his steak and kidney pie viciously, while Peter nodded understandingly.
"Well," said Remus, helping himself to some potatoes. "You didn't hide your frustration very well, did you?"
"Seriously, Pads, you almost got detention this entire week! The game against Slytherin is less than a month away." James looked more serious than usual, his voice lacking any sort of humor.
"Godric, why someone made you Head Boy and Quidditch Captain, I'll never understand," grumbled Sirius.
"That someone definitely had it in for us." Marlene sounding very gloomy as well, the bags under her eyes indicative of how stressful that first month of school had been. "Where is Dorcas, by the way?"
"Sprout kept her back after Herbology today," mumbled Peter, through a mouthful of food. "Dunno for what though. Hope it doesn't make her miss lunch."
"That'd be a nightmare, wouldn't it, Pete?" asked Sirius, nudging his friend. Peter glared at his friend and proceeded to shovel more food into his mouth. Remus rolled his eyes and turned to Mary, asking her if she had finished the Transfiguration homework. McGonagall had given them a rather difficult assignment to complete just a few days before Halloween. Which meant that the Quidditch team would probably have a rough time balancing that with the first game against Slytherin. Lily leaned over and whispered something into Dany's ear, making the latter jump up from her seat.
"Bollocks! I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me, Lils," she said, hastily throwing on her jumper and packing her bag. "I'll see you guys later."
"Hey hey hey! Where're you headed off to in such a hurry?" Marlene asked.
"Slughorn wanted me to check some of the potions from a third year assignment. I'm supposed to have that done before class today." Dany huffed tiredly. "Although I dunno how I'll do that with Arithmancy right after lunch."
"That's hardly a problem," piped up Sirius. Dany frowned at him, hoping he wouldn't say something inappropriate. "You just need to skive Arithmancy."
"I'd rather not have McGonagall on my case, thank you very much. She'd put me in detention if she found out I'd missed class."
"Ah," said Sirius, standing up slowly. "That's where you're wrong, my law-abiding friend. You see, Arithmancy won't be taking place this afternoon. It's rather unfortunate. But true. Right Moony, ol' pal?"
Remus looked amused in a distinctly resigned way, but nodded his head nonetheless. Lily had pursed her lips together but Marlene shoved her rather roughly and she went back to eating her food.
"Absolutely," said James, clapping Remus on the back. "These unfortunate circumstances occur sometimes. Tragic, innit?"
"I couldn't agree more," said Remus with a shrug of his shoulders.
"That's settled then," said James, leaning back into his seat. "Now be off with you, Dany. Make sure you do your work diligently. And we'll make sure we do ours."
"I'm not doing anything until I finish my chicken," grumbled Peter, loading his plate once more.
"Right you are, Pete. Right you are," Remus smiled affectionately.
"Thanks." Dany smiled at them and proceeded to make her way to the dungeons. A little outside of the hall she realised that someone had followed her out.
"Sirius," she said, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Helping you," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"What?"
"With the potions. Come on," he said, slinging an arm over her shoulder. "There's no way you're going to be able to finish assessing all those potions before class. Even with Arithmancy out of the way. So stop making a fuss. Time's a wastin'."
Dany rolled her eyes but acquiesced nonetheless. Oddly enough, she had been spending a lot of time with Sirius recently. They had almost all the same classes, and after class they all hung out in a huge group of nine. So it didn't really seem too out of place that he had volunteered to help her out. She was secretly happy about it. She had always enjoyed his company a lot. But with all that they had been through, she had been worried that they wouldn't be able to fall into an easy friendship again. And it was mainly because of Sirius that they had been able to. He could always switch on the relaxed charm and playful banter as if nothing had happened. And sometimes Dany was grateful for that. Because she was so unlike that. Her entire being was composed of sincerity and seriousness. Every fibre in her told her that if you're in for it then you're in for it for good - be it friendship or otherwise. In a way, it was probably for the best that Sirius had done all the things that he had done over the past year.
"Sirius," Dany asked, halfway through assessing her second potion. "What are your plans for after Hogwarts?"
"Bringing out the big guns, are we?" he smirked, noting the color of the fumes. "I'll probably go into Auror training. I think Prongs wants to do that as well."
"I see."
"But I suspect you have a follow up question."
"Not exactly a question." She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm pondering on the question myself. Have been for a while, actually. It's not going to be easy out there. Being muggle born."
Sirius didn't say anything, choosing to look at her as she put her thoughts into words. Deep down, he had also felt all the fears that Dany was expressing. And he knew James shared his concerns - especially since Lily was such a bright witch. Not just that, Remus was a part of the minority as well. It would be hell for him to try and secure a good job once Hogwarts was over. And if blood purity wasn't enough, one of their friends was of mixed heritage - Mary's mother was Indian and had passed on her olive skin to her daughter.
It did feel strange to have his thoughts reflected like this. Even with James, they had an unspoken understanding. They never truly needed to speak about the more serious issues in life. But Dany seemed to be hitting all the right points - in her own, unassuming way. She wasn't exactly confident, but she had an air of quiet conviction about her, as if she could be blown away by the wind but never actually be changed by it.
"It'll be alright though," he said, once she had stopped for breath. He moved towards her and looked into her dark eyes. "Because we're in this together."
"To...gether?" she breathed, not sure what he meant.
"Yeah. Together." The strand she had tucked back had come astray again. This time, Sirius was the one who ghosted his fingers over forehead and behind her ear, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin.
"Sirius, I-"
"Dany! Are you done with the potions? Dorcas and I thought we'd help." Dany went rigid at the sound of Lily's voice. Fortunately for her, there was a reasonable distance between her and Sirius.
"Excellent timing, Evans. We have a couple of potions left for you and Meadows." Sirius smirked at them, although Dany wasn't sure whether his tone held any sarcasm in it.
"In the meantime, Dany and I will head down to the kitchens for a quick snack before ol' Sluggy begins his torture. Cheers!" With that, he grabbed Dany's hand and pulled her out of the dungeons.
It wasn't too far to the kitchens but Dany felt like he had been holding her hand for eternity. That weird softly calloused palm that made her shiver (in a good way). It made her flashback to the moments they had shared before. Although it scared her somewhat, she knew that things would be alright as long as she knew what she was doing. And this was the last time she had been strung about by someone else. If she was going to enjoy her time with friends (including Sirius) she was going to do it her way.
So as they headed towards the painting of the fruit bowl, she laced her fingers with his a little more firmly, their arms touching as he tickled the pear.
"Tonight's Dueling Club is an activity the Headmaster wishes you to attempt." McGonagall's clipped tones echoed through the Great Hall. "Given the current circumstances out there, I can't say that I disagree. Professor Flitwick and I will be overseeing today's session, and after today, we will put you into groups depending on your experience and skill. Each group will meet on separate days to try and improve their duelling and advance to the next stage. Do I make myself clear?"
"And do we get to decide who we'll be duelling?"
"No, Mr. Black," McGonagall replied, dryly. "Fortunately, there are people more qualified than yourselves who will determine who you attempt to maim. Which, I might add, will succeed in earning you detention and a loss of 50 House Points. I hope I've made myself clear."
"Crystal," muttered Sirius.
"Now," said Flitwick, coming forward quickly. "If you would direct your eyes to his wall, you'll find out who your duelling partner is. This wall is charmed so everytime someone successfully ends a duel, they will be assigned a new partner."
"Let's see who we've got then," whispered Lily, linking her arm through Dany's.
Sirius Black - Caradoc Dearborn
Lily Evans - Benjamin Fenwick
Remus Lupin - Alexander Montague
Marlene McKinnon - Mary McDonald
Peter Pettigrew - Chloe Posen
James Potter - Evan Rosier
Daniella Wilson - Severus Snape
"Bollocks! Dany got Snivellus!" exclaimed James. "I wanted a go at that slimy bastard.
"Yeah, no kidding." Sirius didn't look too happy at the way Snape was glaring at Dany.
"She'll be alright, mate," assured James, patting his friend's shoulder. "Snivellus is not gonna do anything to her."
"He better not." A low growl escaped Sirius as he and Caradoc bowed to each other.
Across the room, Dany was preparing herself for the worst. Not that she hated duelling. She just hated Snape. And if the filthy stare he was giving her was anything to go by, this wasn't going to be easy.
"Levicorpus!" He shouted, even before she had finished bowing. Dany was barely able to put up a shield before the hex hit her. Soon she was under siege, Snape throwing curses she had barely ever heard of at a pace that would make anyone dizzy.
Fortunately, this was also how he was revealing his duelling style to her and soon she was able to predict what he would hit her with next. Not that she was hitting back yet. No. She was still putting up shields and studying his movements carefully. That's when she caught it - the lazy little finger on Snape's wand arm. He was slowly loosening his grip on the wand, complacency taking over. She just manage to dodge a rather nasty Stinging Jinx and sent a non-verbal Disarming Charm his way.
With a small flick, Snape's wand lay a few metres away from him, the shock paralysing him for a second. And that second was all that Dany needed.
"Stupefy!" The red jet of light hit him square in the chest, knocking him back with a tremendous force.
"Well done, Ms. Wilson!" Flitwick ran over to her, beaming. "Did you see that, Minerva?"
"I most certainly did, Filius," said McGonagall, a hint of a smile curving her lips. "That was very impressive use of strategy on your part, Ms. Wilson. You were battling your opponent, and not the spells. You have quite an interesting talent."
"Oh, er…" Dany flushed, not sure why they were praising her. "I don't think-"
"Nonsense! 10 points to Gryffindor, my dear!" squealed Flitwick.
"It is now time to divide you into groups," announced McGonagall. "Gather around please."
There were 4 groups. The first comprised mainly of second, third and fourth years. The second was fifth years and a few bright ones from the years below. The third group was sixth and seventh years. And the fourth group comprised only 5 students.
"Sirius Black, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Daniella Wilson - you five have proven yourselves the best in the school. Your task will be to personally tutor one promising student assigned to you. Ms. Wilson, you will work with Mr. Westwick." The fourth year from Hufflepuff nodded his head shyly. "Mr. Potter, you will work with Mr. Black." There were a few gasps as James nodded his head stiffly, trying not to look at Regulus. "Mr. Lupin, you will work with Mr. Snape." The gasps were more audible this time, including one from James. "Ms. Evans, you will work with Ms. McKinnon." Lily smiled at Marlene, even though the air was pretty tense. "And finally, Mr. Black, you will work with Mr. Wilson." Dany's eyes widened in horror as her brother waved at Sirius.
"This can't be right."
Lily gave her friend an understanding look. Dany was quite flustered by the fact that her brother, a second year student, had been paired with Sirius for advanced duelling practice.
"He's a second year, Lils! How is this allowed?"she exclaimed, munching on a Chocolate Frog.
"Maybe he's just really good," shrugged Lily.
"How good can he be?!"
"I agree with you, Dany," said Remus, stretching out his legs. "But McGonagall and Flitwick made this decision. We can trust them."
"And its Sirius! He's one of us! You've nothing to be worried about!" Mary added, helpfully.
"I suppose…" Dany replied uncertainly. "But I still think-"
"I AM GOING TO MURDER THAT BASTARD!"
Everyone started slightly at Sirius' angry voice coming through the portrait hole. He was still in his Quidditch gear, although most of the mud stains were dry, which meant practice hadn't just ended.
"Padfoot," asked Remus, standing up. "What happened?"
"Bertram Aubrey's what happened!" snarled Sirius. "That bastard's too smug to play this sport. I've told James that from the start. And now look what he's gone and done! Knocked out Marlene during today's practice! Who knows how long she'll be out! She could be seriously injured!"
"Sirius, calm down," said Lily, making room for him on the sofa. "Where's James?"
"Still at the Hospital Wing. Said he'd wait until she regained consciousness,"
"That could take forever!" exclaimed Peter. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound selfish."
"'S alright, Pete." James walked through the portrait hole looking worn out and exhausted. "She's up."
"Really?" Sirius got up and embraced James. "Thank Merlin! I was afraid-"
"But she can't play in Saturday's game."
"What?" Everyone in the room was silent. The game was in a week. And Marlene was their Keeper. Without her…
"We can't play without a Keeper, Prongs-"
"Don't you think I fucking know that, Pads?" James snapped at his friend. "Excuse me, I need a shower."
"Prongs-"
"Let him be for a bit, Padfoot," said Remus, holding his friend's shoulder.
"Whatever." Sirius shrugged off Remus' hand and stomped out of the common room, while Lily, Dany and Dorcas exchanged worried looks.
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