Here we go! Chapter 18. Nothing new here…again.
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"So I'm thinking we should work on Patronuses next," Neville was saying, flipping through a book for Defense Against the Dark Arts he had found tucked into the bowels of the library. It was one of the only ones, if not THE only one, remaining that referred to teaching defensive spells. Most of them had been replaced with books specific to learning about the Dark Arts themselves. "Lavender? Laaaaavender?" He poked her, making her jump in her seat.
"Huh-what?" she asked, her jaw slacked as she turned to look at Neville, who was seated in the armchair next to her. "I'm sorry, Neville. What were you saying?"
He gave her a funny look before responding. "Patronuses. For the DA. Next meeting."
"Oh! Oh yeah-erm- that sounds great. I think they're advancing swimmingly. Seems like they're ready for a challenge."
Truth be told, Lavender wasn't remotely concerned with how the next DA meeting went. She hadn't thought about Hogwarts once since the family news broke. She had been consumed with other things though- as in, who was she? How did she fit in a world that doesn't know she exists? How does she go about figuring out everything she needs to know?
She tapped her quill against the side of the table, her mind flitting again before Neville shook her shoulder, snapping her out of it one more time.
"You seem elsewhere," he said, worry laced through his tone, "are you- are you thinking of backing out of the DA?" He dropped his voice, glancing around the common room. Lavender thought it was a silly gesture. Everyone in Gryffindor over the age of 13 was in the DA. "I know it's gotten quite dangerous. With Luna being gone now and-"
Lavender shook her head, leaning forward as she clasped her hand around his forearm. "Neville! No!" she stammered, "don't think that at all. I just…I just…it was an odd holiday break." She had an idea, something she knew Remus would be against, but she could trust Neville immensely. "I have something for you."
She let go of his arm, reaching into the book bag that lay at her feet, pulling out the old, leather cased photo album that she had perpetually carried around with her. She handed it to Neville, swallowing hard. "I-erm-I found out my parents aren't quite who I thought they were," she whispered, Neville having to lean forward in order to hear her. "I thought you would be interested in what has been keeping me so scatterbrained these last few weeks."
Neville took the photo album with a furrowed brow, setting it carefully in his lap. He opened it, his eyes widening as he recognized the people in the pictures. "That's-that's my mum!" he cried out, a smile breaking on his face as he turned the pages, "and my dad. I recognize Harry's parents too." He paused, squinting slightly as he focused on the others. "Is that- is that Sirius Black?"
Lavender merely nodded, waiting for him to put the pieces together.
"I'm not quite sure who that woman is…" he trailed off, looking at her with wide eyes.
"Her name was Haley Brams," Lavender answered slowly, as Neville continued to turn the pages, getting into the wedding photos from Lily and James. "She was my mother."
Neville stopped, his hand hovering over the corner of a page. "Your mother?" he asked slowly, turning to look at her once more. "Your mother? She looks nothing like your…" He paused, his mind turning over. "This is your REAL mother? Like the woman who birthed you?"
"Yes."
He looked at the pictures again, catching his gaze on one particular picture with Sirius's arms wrapped tightly around Haley's waist, her blonde curls pinned delicately on the back of her head. They were smiling widely at the camera. Every so often, she would turn to look over her shoulder and give him a kiss on the cheek. "So…that does that mean you're the daughter of Sirius Black?" he asked in a hushed voice, his jaw going slack.
She nodded again, her own eyes wide. She had been needing to do that lately- widen them to dry out the tears every time she thought about Sirius and Haley.
"H-how is that even possible?" he said, shutting the photo album when he got to the end, "I didn't even know he HAD-"
"Hardly anyone knew," she interjected, taking the book from his outstretched hands and tucking it back in her book bag. "Legally, I'm supposed to be dead. My mother, Haley, she had Dumbledore place me in a wizarding home for protection. No one ever found out." She grabbed onto a stack of photos she had been shuffling around the bag for.
Pulling them out, she handed them over to Neville with shaking hands. "I pulled these ones out," she began again, "they're for you. They're of your mother and father after they graduated from school. Pictures with you too." She paused to sigh. "Remus, Professor Lupin, he told me what happened to your parents. I think, if it were up to everyone, we would have been great childhood friends." She leaned forward to clasp her hand around Neville's forearm again. "They didn't suffer for nothing. We'll get through this. Together."
Neville took the photos from her, blinking back the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes. "I think," he said sadly, a tear dripping onto his cheek, "this will be my best Christmas present yet."
….
The swing of school was back in full force, many of the professors assigning homework by the load, merely to keep students like Seamus and Neville out of trouble. They managed to pass on their DA responsibilities to Ginny, Terry Boot, and other sixth year students, who had a ball running the halls at night and setting off fireworks in various places along the grounds.
They were much better at being subtle than Seamus, so it had been comical to see the Carrows rustling around the castle in an attempt to find the perpetrators. It hadn't gone as planned. Lavender had caught Ginny sneaking back into the common room in the wee hours of the night, a grin on her freckled face and her hands stained with a charcoal black substance.
Dark Arts had become the worst subject to attend, with Amycus teaching nothing but the unforgiveable curses to the seventh years. If she was hoping to turn the class into a mini You-Know-Who army, she was sorely mistaken.
Most students were heavy participants in the DA, spending much of their time during Amycus's rants on muggleborns and unjust laws regarding magical creatures with their wands under their desks, practicing the wand movements for the different charms and jinxes. Amycus, who was very invested in the Slytherin students, was none the wiser.
Before one particular class toward the end of January, Lavender was relaxing against the wall in the corridor, chatting with Parvati and Padma. The door flung open, the wood cracking loudly against the stone, per usual. Just as Lavender was getting ready to heave herself toward the threshold of the classroom, Amycus burst out, her wand in the air.
"With me," she said shortly, pointing her wand toward the end of the corridor. She marched on, not looking back to see if the class was following her. Lavender and Parvati looked at each other, shrugging, as they hitched their bags higher onto their shoulders and followed the Slytherins.
She led them down a few flights of stairs and to the bottom of the staircase that donned the landing of the castle before she stopped to speak to them. "We're going to have some fun today," she said with a nasty smile as she pulled open the thick front door, a burst of cold, winter air rushed in.
Lavender's stomach dropped to her feet for a couple of reasons. First, if she had known she was going to be outside, she would have grabbed her cloak. Second, anything that made Amycus smile like that couldn't have been good news. The Slytherins chatted excitedly amongst themselves as they trampled into the thick snow.
Padma pulled out her wand, sending Parvati and Lavender looks of tense trepidation, before melting the snow into a path with a successful warming charm. The ground was still frozen beneath their feet, but at least they weren't fighting the foot-thick snow that had fallen during the holidays.
Amycus turned toward the path that led to Hagrid's hut, the rest of the class following her slowly, afraid of slipping into the lake at the base of the hill. She stopped just short of the paddock at the edge of the forest, where Lavender saw the above-ground burrow filled with the Mooncalves they had been studying in Care for Magical Creatures.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lavender saw Padma and Parvati glance at each other.
Amycus spun around, a malicious glint in her eyes. "Today, we're going to having a more…practical lesson." She hurdled over the paddock fence, reaching into the burrow and grabbed a Mooncalf around the neck. Lavender heard its terrified squeals as she pulled it out, throwing it on the ground at her feet. It was barely tall enough to clear the snow drift.
She pulled out her wand, pointing it quickly at the Mooncalf and yelled "AVADA KEDAVRA!" A brilliant flash of green light emitted from her wand, then the Mooncalf lay dead in the snow.
Cries rose up from the crowd of seventh years as Crabbe and Goyle laughed, high fiving each other as they peered over the fence toward the dead creature. Amycus kicked it aside and it landed at the base of the burrow with a sickening thud.
Lavender felt a lump swell in her throat as she looked at the professor with a hateful gaze. Amycus reached into the burrow once again, grasping hold of a second Mooncalf. It tried to grip the sides of the tunnels as she pulled it out, its squeals louder than the one before it. Lavender had a nasty feeling it somehow knew what was coming.
"OY!" a voice yelled over the creaking of the trees from the Forbidden Forest. "WHAT ARE YE DOIN?'" Hagrid had thrown open his cabin door, drawn to the racket the mooncalf squeals were making.
"Oh, good," Amycus greeted him with a snarled smile. She tossed the small Mooncalf over to Goyle, who threw it on the ground at his feet. "You're here to see the show!" Hagrid watched in horror as Goyle took out his wand and attempted to perform the killing curse. The mooncalf let out a squeal of pain as the curse hit it.
"STOP!" Hagrid roared, taking a few menacing steps toward Amycus, who drew out her wand and pointed at the Care of Magical Creatures professor.
"Not another step, you disgusting half-breed," she sneered, gesturing for Goyle to try again. He laughed with glee as he pointed his wand at the Mooncalf once again. It looked up at him with sad eyes, the failed curse having drained it of its energy.
As he opened his mouth to repeat the curse, his wand shot out of his hand. Much to Lavender's surprise, her own wand was held at chest height and was pointed directly at Goyle. "No," she said shortly, not quite realizing how she had gotten there. "this is outrageous." She hurried forward, scooping the creature up into her arms, cradling it toward her chest. It cooed gratefully at her.
"You stupid girl," Amycus growled, turning her wand toward Lavender, who ducked her head in an effort to protect herself. There was a crunch of snow and a shift of shadows as she picked up her head to peek out of squinted eyes. Seamus, Parvati, and Neville were standing in front of her, their wands raised at Amycus and the Slytherins. "You stupid, ungrateful-" She had slashed her wand through the air, aiming at all four students at once, but Hagrid had leaped in front of them, taking the curse in its entirety.
His thick, half-giant skin repelled it easily as he took a step toward Amycus, grabbing her by the front of her robes and lifting her off the ground. She had half a mind to appear frightened, struggling to lift her wand hand to point it at him once again. He threw her easily out of the paddock and she landed with a hard thud in the path Padma had cleared of snow.
"Get away from me creatures," he growled, taking another step toward her. She scooted backward, mud dragging along her robes. "And don't ye ever point yer wand at the students again."
"You'll pay for this, giant," she hissed, scrambling toward her feet and shoving her wand into the pockets of her now dirty robes. She stomped away, her shoes squelching in the mud as she made her way back toward the castle, the Slytherin students in tow.