This is my attempt at a rather cliché part of the plot in most Sirius/OC stories: I hope this is an original take of it. And GREAT NEWS! I have prewritten two other chapters, and hope to write more, so you will have an update for the next two Mondays. And before you ask why I can't post them all at once, it's because I am entering my last year of school in a week, and I don't think I'll have any time at all to write, judging on last year, so if I spread them out hopefully there won't be such a long time between updates. And it gives you something to look forward to!
Hatred ever kills, love never dies. Such is the vast difference between the two. What is obtained by love is retained for all time. What is obtained by hatred proves a burden in reality for it increases hatred. – Mahatma Ghandi
After an eventful evening/night, we all fell into bed, only to be awoken early on the Sunday morning by a cry which reverberated throughout the Gryffindor Tower long after its utterance.
"WHAT THE HECK?"
Lily, in the bed next to me, sat up and blinked, before breaking into a wide grin.
"I see they found our little "surprise" then?"
Megs, Katie and Alice were all beginning to stir, and after exchanging glances with everyone else, we all burst into spontaneous laughter, prostrate under its prevailing influence. The laughter went on for quite some time; every time we managed to halt for a moment, one of us would break out and the rest could do nothing but follow.
Finally, about half an hour and extremely sore sides later, we were down to only emitting the occasional giggle as we began to shower and dress for the day. There was no sign of the Marauders on the way down to or in breakfast, but the rumours, as they are wont to do, arrived ahead of them, rippling along the students in the Great Hall like wind in a cornfield.
"Did you hear..."
"Floor covered in grass..."
"... with an actual fountain..."
"Window open-"
"Could have been pixies..."
"... Slytherins... Snape... revenge... getting along with Evans..."
"House elves payback... I'll be keeping my room tidy from now on..."
And so it went on. We heard various snatches of conversation discussing different theories for the appearance of the grass, flowers and fountain with fish in the Marauders' dormitory. The five of us were extremely hard-pressed not to begin laughing again with every hyperbolic theory that we heard.
Soon enough, the Marauders entered the Great Hall as whisperings and nudgings broke out in their presence. The boys themselves merely walked to their places at the table, with a quick glance towards the Slytherin table, before grabbing pieces of toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and some pumpkin juice. Deprived of any drama, the rest of the Hall soon went back to munching on their own breakfasts, the first excitement of the prank all but forgotten.
I heard later that it took Professor McGonagall three hours to remove the garden, and whilst I was sorry to have caused her trouble (although strict, she was nothing but fair), but seeing as she thought it was a prank by the boys, my penitence was lessened considerably in light of the joke.
The prank had caused a welcome distraction from the pressure of exams and revision, but soon enough it was time to buckle down and start working. On the eve of my last exam, the DADA practical, I needed a break from the claustrophobic pressure of the common room.
Lily was muttering at the speed of light to herself by the fire, Megs and Alice were firing off rapid questions at one another and Katie was rocking back and forth, her lips moving slightly as she committed spells to memory.
Around the common room, the some fifth formers were discussing in terror the OWL exam that they had sat that day, and various students from other years were revising for their exams. James, Remus and Peter sat in a corner, studying for once, although there was no sign of Black.
Standing up, I made my way as quietly over to the portrait hole, fearful of incurring the wrath of some reviser by making some small noise (such as footsteps) which "disturbed their train of thought".
On my way I had to step over some poor third year who was reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood whilst pressed to the carpet. I think it was some new revising technique. Or a nervous breakdown.
In any case, stepping out of the portrait hole felt like coming out of jail after a life sentence. Stepping out of the front doors of the castle felt like going outside for the first time in my life. The oppressive shroud of work and exams was lifted, and all there was left was the calm beauty of a summer's evening.
I walked about the Lake for a while, contemplating the reflection of the castle and the aquamarine of the sky. I felt my mind slowly unwind from patronuses, counter spells and ways to defend yourself from dark curses, the taut muscles in my neck and back slowly loosen, as the tranquillity of the soft air and balmy evening invade me.
I wasn't ready to return to the castle after one turn around the Lake, but my legs were aching slightly, so I went to sit under the beech tree, contented in my solitude to watch the sun set and distance myself from all thoughts of my upcoming exam.
I heard a rustle from the bushes bordering the forest behind me, and turned to look into them to find out what it was, but I saw nothing. A few minutes later, the rustle came again and I softly called out
"Hello?" If it was an animal of any sort, it would most likely dart off at the sound of my voice. If it was a person, they would declare themselves, or if it was a Slytherin, they would skulk in the bushes preparing to hex me.
There was more rustling, and then there emerged from the book an animal out of my nightmares. A huge, shaggy black dog. I have no qualms in telling you that I am absolutely petrified of dogs. Unlike most people, my fear doesn't stem from any horrendous encounter from my younger years, nor from any encounter at all. As a young child, I was quite happy to play with the beautiful springer spaniel that my neighbours owned.
I liked dogs that I knew. Any dog I had been introduced to, I was fine to play with and take for walks, but when out in the park or walking down a street and a dog comes towards me, I am absolutely terrified. So much for Gryffindor courage.
I gripped my wand in my pocket, judging the distance from the doors, but I knew I wouldn't reach them in time. The dog would be snapping at my heels, sinking its teeth into my leg, jumping up with a fierce growl to fasten its jaws around my throat before I had even covered half the distance...
The dog advanced slowly out of the bushes, its eyes upon me, and I felt my heart thud as I shrank up against the tree away from it. I wouldn't even be able to make it onto the first branch before the dog attacked.
It could sense my fear I knew. Expecting at any moment when it would suddenly spring into the air, leap forward to attack me, I was surprised at its slow advance. It walked slowly, its eyes fixed upon mine, until it was a scant two metres away, and then it did something I wasn't expecting. It sat down on the floor and wagged its tail, emitting a small whine.
It was such a surprising noise for a huge dog to make that I was frozen for a few more seconds, staring at it. In response, it cocked its head on one side and whined again. I looked around me for the object of its attention, but there was only myself and the tree. No bone, no other dog, no squirrel.
I continued to look at it, unsure of what it wanted, my heart still hammering in my chest. When I did not move, it very slowly began to move forward again, padding silently towards me, its glossy fur not disguising the powerful muscles underneath.
My muscles clenched again as it approached, my skin stretching painfully across my knuckles. It was now only three feet away, now only two, now only one...
It gently placed its front paw against my leg and whined pitifully again, staring at me with its great amber eyes. It was, I realised through my haze of confusion and slowly ebbing panic, giving me what was often termed the "puppy-dog look".
It then bent its head and licked my hand. This was finally enough to assure me that it was harmless, and I started to laugh at the gesture.
"Bit of a softie are me, Mr Dog?"
It barked in response, and I shrank back, but it bent its head and licked me again as if to apologise for startling me.
"Or are we a Mrs Dog?" I asked.
It shook its head at this, and growled softly, whilst wagging its tail to let me know it wasn't angry.
"Alright, Mr Dog then. Although that does sound rather childish... How about... Rover?"
The dog shook his head in opposition.
"Um... Lassie?"
This was greeted by a derisive snort.
"How about Gnasher?"
Again, he shook his head.
"Maybe... no... Dash? My favourite dog in the world was named Dash. (This was the aforementioned neighbours' dog, in fact the sweetest dog I have ever met, who I loved to pieces before he sadly died of old age seven years before."
Again, this name was rejected.
"A bit too common for you? How about something really unusual...Cabal? He was King Arthur's dog in mythology."
This suggestion received a tilt of the head, which indicated he was at least thinking about it before rejecting it with another shake of his head.
"OK then... maybe... Asterion? After the star?"
This got another head tilt, before a tag wag and a nod of the head, indicating that he liked it.
"Did you know that Asterion is the dog of Bootes, the constellation which pictures the ploughman Bootes driving the oxen in the Ursa Major, who were tied to the polar axis, in order to keep the heavens rotating. So he, and the other hunting dog Chara in the constellation of the Canis Venatici, keep the heavens rotating. An important job hey?"
It was at this point that I realised that not only was I talking astrology to a dog; I was actually holding a conversation with him. Mind you, with all the radiated magic from Hogwarts, perhaps animals did absorb it, and it increased their intelligence or something.
"Anyway, Asterion, I'd better be getting back to the Tower to get a good night's sleep for my exam tomorrow. Defence Against the Dark Arts, you know. Practical as well. I'm going to need all the help I can get. And I'll still fail."
He whined a bit as I stood up and brushed off the grass that clung to my skirt and tights. I stroked the soft skin on him back as he rubbed his head against my leg, and then I scratched behind his ears. He liked that, emitting what I might have called a purr had he not been such a large creature.
With one last pat, I walked off, and when I looked back, he had gone, darted back into the forest. I walked slowly back to the castle, musing on magical radiation, and before I knew it I was climbing the stairs that led back to the Gryffindor Tower.
Just as I was approaching the head of the stairs, I heard a voice say the password, (Ticklygrass) just in front of me.
Sirius Black very gallantly held open the portrait hole and motioned for me to enter.
I smiled at him as I went past, and in response he said:
"Good luck with the practical tomorrow, Loganberry. Not that you need it – you're one of the best in the class."
I thanked him for the compliment, and it was only when I was halfway across the common room that I began to wonder how he knew that I was nervous about the exam. Then again, he had it too, and most people were nervous about exams, so he probably just guessed that I was too.
In any case, I felt buoyed by his compliment, a little of the worry over the exam the next day diminishing. My jaunt outside and the meeting of the intelligent dog had relaxed me. And it was possible that my fear of dogs was less acute than it had been before. I had Asterion to thank for that.
Original? Or not? I would love to know your thoughts. And yes, Asterion is the Animagus of a certain Marauder. I'm not going to insult your intelligence by stating which Marauder. Lol EllieBaby xxx