©Sunrisepainter: Because of Snape
Marauders Map
The next few days were the best days Hope ever underwent in Hogwarts. She won a new friend in Hermione. Alicia and Angelina also noticed their classmates change.
That is how it came that Hope and Alicia talked thungs out, a few mornings later. Hope was just leaving the bathroom when she saw Alicia, sitting on the bed and examining her own feet dreamily.
"Now or never! I have to apologize." Hope thought before she loudly cleared her throat.
Alicia looked at her as if she was just waking up from a deep daydream. Hope smiled at her:
"Good morning!"
"Mornin'!" Alicia mumbled and Hope could see the bewilderment in her roommate's eyes.
"I need to talk to you." Hope sighed and she placed herself at the edge of her own bed. Now, the girls faced each other directly.
"After all you've done, you want to talk?" Alicia scoffed sourly and all her insecurity was gone within the blink of an eye. "Or do you just need someone to vent your spleen on?
Hope bit her bottom lip.
"This is getting harder than I thought." It flashed trough her mind.
"Listen, Alicia. I'm very sorry about last time and I didn't mean it at all. It was nice of you to worry about me so much, but I just snapped back then. Do you know the feeling of something inside of you just wanting to break free? All your worries and your problems bursting out?" Hope looked at her desperately. She tried to find other words to explain her feelings, but there were none, so she slouched her shoulders and eyed the ground in despondence.
"Of course, I do know." Alicia said quietly. "I indeed know it very well."
"Really, you do?" Hope looked at her hopefully. Alicia nodded her head and a small smile flashed over her face.
"Everything I needed from you was an apology, but that wasn't the main thing. The main point was that I am not the one who made you cry."
"Nonsense, it wasn't your fault at all!"
"Phew! I'm glad! I was afraid you would hate me and be angry at me forever!"
"Merlin's Beard, no! I've never been angry with you. Neither with Angelina, nor with you. I don't hate anyone else but a certain Cormac McLaggen and I don't want to talk about him at all! And maybe, I also hate Fred and George a bit, by the way. However, I always liked the two of you but I wasn't brave enough to show it."
"Why not? Why are you so withdrawn? Why don't you talk to us unless you have to? Why do you only know how to read and how to study all by yourself, having no friends at all? No leisure time. No fun. What's that all about, Hope?
Hope sighed deeply.
Now, their conversation came to a point where it gained more in depth than ever before. She never talked with anyone about her deepest fears, feelings and thoughts. Not even with Hermione. Nonetheless, she knew Alicia and Angelina for six years now and she was sure that they were no gossipers. They could be trusted.
"I'm scared." She eventually answered slowly as if she was still thinking about it. "Yeah, that seemed to be the truth. I'm scared."
"Of what?" Alicia looked at her confused. Hope laughed lifelessly:
"I'm scared that you're friendship might just be fake. I'm scared to get tricked by you. I'm scared to lose someone or something important to me. I don't want to experience the same thing my mother did."
"Your mother?"
"Yes, she'd suffered so much in her life and she also lost a lot of her most cherished people. You know, my grand- parents were pure- bloods and they prided themselves upon their lineage quite a lot. They also shared you- know- who's attitude towards non- magic people. Just awful!
My mother was raised that way, too. However, after she joined Gryffindor, she started to change her opinion. She told me that there was someone in her class who was in the same situation as her. The only difference between them was that my mother was more hesistant to associate with pupils having muggle parents in the beginning. However, she became friends with Lily Evans, who was Harry Potter's mum, and Scarlet McCorvin, a Ravenclaw. Both of them we muggle- born. The ideals given by her family were demolished. Everything she believed in so far got insignificant. When her parents eventually took part in death eater's gatherings, my mother's school holidays were agony to her. One day in the summer between her 6th and 7th school year, her best friend Scarlet came to her assistance by spending the holiday together at my grand- parents house.
That was a big mistake! I don't know exactly what happened as my mother doesn't like to talk about it, but I guess Scarlet was tortured by my mother's parents which lead to Scarlet's death in the end. My mother witnessed everything and after that she wasn't the same again. She knew that she had to leaver her home and start all over.
First, the death of Scarlet was staged as an accident and my mother was send back to Hogwarts as if nothing happened. The wings of my mum were finally broken.
However, that wasn't the end of the story. My grandparents wanted their only daughter to marry a rich and mean Slytherin after graduation who also worshipped you-know-who. My mother was pretty desperate, but then a boy came into her life. They fell in love with each other and he promised her to protect her from her family and her evil fiancé.
Soon, their romantic affair was discovered as that Slytherin guy felt obliged to follow my mother where ever she went. He was jealous and so he made their life a living hell. The young couple was forced to drop out of school and to escape to France. They became engaged and hoped to start their life all over. They did it. My mother got pregnant and her husband, my father by the way, looked for a job. All went well and I wished I could say that they lived happily ever after, but...
You see, when I was around eight years old, my father eloped with another woman. He broke my mother's heart and yet she would've done everything for him. I still don't understand how she could've been so gulible!
At that time, my mother was at the end of her rope. She had no job and a child. Moreover, she didn't know anyone in France. As you- know- who had been defeated and her parents were fortunately send to Azkaban as it happened to many other death eaters at that time, she thought it was time to go back to England. There, she accepted a job as healer at the St. Mungo's Hospital. Finally at peace, she thought!
That is when the papers started to report about my father. They said that he was a death eater now and that the M.o.M. was after him. Even thought he let her down, my mum didn't believe in these news. She never let others tell her what to believe in! She always used her own head and heart to judge people. That's what I admire about her, thought. When I got my Hogwarts letter, she was really proud of me and I had to promise to never make the same mistake she did. She wanted me to graduate before everything else. She always told me to believe only in myself and not to let myself get swayed by others. So, I vowed to her!"
It was silent in the room. In the meantime, Angelina had also awoken from her sleep. She sat next to Alicia on the bed now.
Hope clenched her fists as tears filled her eyes. It was awful to visualise her mothers terrible fate once again. Alicia looked at her with a touched expression on her face:
"You're mother really didn't lead an easy life at all. I think it's great that you want to stick to her, but I don't think she wanted you to be like that. I guess she still wanted you to have friends and all. In fact, she just suggested to be careful WHO you befriend."
Hope nodded her head:
"Yeah, that's what I've comprehended only a few days ago."
"But-" Angelina was interrupted by Hope.
"I'm not done yet! There are still some answers I owe you. For example, why I've told you all of this just now. There's a simple reason for that. After shouting at Alicia the other day, I felt really bad, so I locked myself in the girl's bath to cry to my heart's content. You might think of me as a Moaning Myrtle now and you might be right, but I'm not ashamed of it at all. There are situations when you can't hold back any more. Hermione Granger eventually found my like that. She tried to cheer me up and she really did a good job with that. She truly has a big heart. Her words made me reflect my own behaviour. In the end, I realized that I need to change myself. The first step was to tell you all of this to make you trust me and to let you know that I kind of like you."
"Wow, where was this awareness three days ago?." Angelina mocked.
"Watch it! I might change my opinion after all." Hope laughed. She felt a little lighter now after having said all that.
"I reckon your honesty and that you told us everything what's on your mind." Alicia said in a serious tone. The three girls smiled at each other and that smile seemed to mark the beginning of a whole new era.
"Stupid idiot!" Hope hissed angrily.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Shycates?" Professor Flittwick who heard her words eyed her reproachfully.
"I'm very sorry, Professor."
It was Friday morning and the Gryffindors were at Charms class together with Ravenclaw. However, Hope could not follow the lesson at all. The reason for it was 5"10 tall, blond and bombarded her with charmed messages since the lesson started..
"How I hate this bloody McLaggen! He should already admit that he was the one screwed up!" Hope ranted as she was on her way to lunch, accomponied by Angelina and Alicia.
"Should we teach him a lesson?" Angelina's eyes gleamed.
"Don't bother, if there's a need for revenge, I'll do it myself." The blond huffed.
"Perhaps, you should ask Fred and George. They might be dreadful school students, but they are geniuses when it comes to pranks and revenges!"
"Absolutely not! I would rather bite off my tongue than asking them for help!" Hope rejected the idea while Alicia just rolled her eyes.
"I ask you, Madame! I'll act as if it wasn't an insult just now!" A well- known voice piped up behind them. The girls turned their heads.
"Since when did you follow us?"
"Well, actually since..." Fred started.
"...you left the classroom." George finished the sentence of his twin.
"Well, that's just great!" Hope mumbled and hastened her steps without minding the others.
"Hey, wait for second there!" Fred hurried after her.
For the first time in her life, Hope ask herself why the heck she was even able to distinguish between the twins! Annoyed, she turned towards him:
"What do you want?"
Fred nervously looked over his shoulder. The other three were already preoccupied in a conversation. George told the girls with vivid gestures about their last prank on Filch. The girls laughed about it.
"Not here, let's go somewhere private." He gripped her wrist and pulled the astonished Hope into an empty classroom.
There was only Peeves, the poltergeist, who was just in the act of embellishing some remaining portraits of Gilderoy Lockard with beards (of course, the painted Lockhards groused and protested).
"The itsy-bitsy Lockhard,
His face was dull and old,
Then came Peeves,
And brushed above his mouth.
His face looked ugly,
And now he has a beard.
But the itsy-bitsy Lockhard,
Will never come back again.*« Peeves sang cheerfully.
If Hope had not been so bewildered by Fred's behaviour, she would have probably laughed about it. She had never liked Lockhart.
"Hey Peeves." Fred interrupted the poltergeist's chanting. Peeves lowered his brush and he stared at Fred with his pop eyes.
"Umbridge is currently eating lunch. Wouldn't that be the perfect opportunity to play a dirty trick on her?" Fred smirked.
"Um" Peeves let his eyes wander between the portraits and Fred as if he was estimating which was the more entertaining choice.
"Today, they'll serve tomato sauce. Leaves behind nasty stains on garments." The twin winked at the ghost.
"For sure!" Peeves rejoiced and then he hovered trough the next wall.
"That's how pros do it!" Fred smugly placed himself on the teacher's chair.
"And what do you want from me now?" Hope asked and she did not sound less irritated than she did before.
"First of all, I want you to take a seat." He pointed towards the chair across his own. While huffing, she sat down on the desk instead.
"It's about our potion. You know that we have to finish it within two and a half month and you also know that we still don't have the ingredients. The first thing we need is the Cytrillkraut which we can only pluck under dangerous circumstances. Since tomorrow will be full moon, let's go into the Forbidden Forest. You remember, right?"
"I almost pushed it to the back of my mind!" She snorted sarcastically.
"I suggest, we'll meet at midnight in the common room. Don't forget your wand and it would be clever to ask Harry for something which might come in handy." He mused.
"And what should that certain "something" be?" She raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"Oh, it's nothing special." He put it off and smiled innocently.
"Aright, if that's all you wanted from me, I may go now. Actually, I'm pretty hungry!" She jumped down the desk and wanted to leave, but he held her back.
"Stop, wait a second!"
"What now?!"
"You can't tell anyone about our conversation."
"Why not?"
"Think about it! If someone else knows, the whole school including teachers will know about our plan soon, too. We would get into a lot of trouble. It's not like I mistrust our friends, but what if one of them accidentally spills the beans...?"
It made sense to her, but she did not like the thought about heading into the forest, having only Fred Weasley by her side, while no one else knew where she was.
"I bet you've already told your friends to show them how brave you are! You probably even made a bet how long me and you are going to last before we freak out!" She said snootily.
"In case you're hinting at the bet with McLaggen, I have to say that it had been the worst idea of my life and that I'm really sorry about it. And moreover, I didn't even talk to George about our secret plan." He said quietly.
"What was that bet with McLaggen about, anyway?" She wanted to know. Her voice was quite forgiving now. Fred lowered his head in shame:
"Cormac said that you look quite pretty (Hope blushed) and so he claimed he would definitely make you fall for him. George responded that he could never do that and...well...so it all just happened like that. Cormac had to make you kiss him within a month. If he'd accomplished it, we would've done his homework until graduation. If not, he would've been the test subject for our joke items."
"In the end, you're lucky that I backed down the last minute." She told him dryly.
"I'm sorry." Fred repeated and he looked directly into her eyes. Hope could read his feelings like in an open book: honesty and remorse. Chills went down her spine as she remembered the day at the lake.
"Okay, I'll forgive you. At least, you and George! Firstly, because it wasn't your idea and secondly, I want to clear up things for good." She said.
He sighed in relief. Guilt pangs were something nasty.
"Nonetheless, you have to promise me to never make such bets which might hurt others again."
"Of course!" He made the V sign to show he accepted the promise. "Cross my heart!"
Hope nodded. She was admittedly sure that would break their promise at the earliest opportunity, but at least she had a feeling he would not involve herself any more.
"Aright, let's go to the Great Hall or lunch time will be over soon." So, they departed together.
Still half an hour. Still ten minutes. Still nine minutes. Eight minutes. Seven minutes. Six minutes left now.
Hope sighed.
She laid awake in her bed and did not get a wink of sleep. Her eyes were glued to her alarm clock for two hours. It was just before midnight now and her mind was filled with all kind of thoughts. She was scared. She could not tell Fred earlier about her fears, though. She would have liked it better if one of the teachers would have joined them. Like Flittwick, for example.
Only two minutes left to midnight. She rose from her bed quietly and out some warm clothes on. Muggle clothes, in fact. Her school cloak was just too bulky to wear to such an occasion. Jeans, a woollen jumper and an anorak did their job well enough. She thrust her wand in her back pocket and slipped into her pumps.
As gently as she could, she sneaked towards the door to make sure she would not wake her roommates. Her whole body was tensed and she also could not stop herself from nervously chewing on her nails. She had to hold on firmly to the handrail to not fall down the steps leading to the common room.
"You have to get a hold of yourself, Hope!" She scolded herself. "You can't let him see your weaknesses! Not him! Whatever he can do, you can do it better!"
Fred was already in an armchair near the fireplace. He also wore some muggle clothes. When Hope entered the room, he got up. The glow of the crackling flames bathed their faces into a warm light and the girl would have liked it best to stay near the fireplace, snuggling up into a blanket, instead of trudging trough the dark and cold forest...
"You all right?" He asked.
She nodded her head.
"Before we go, you have to promise me something, though!" He said solemnly.
Hope eyed him suspiciously. What was going on, again? When he saw her worried expression, it made him laugh:
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. It's just..." He pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and he nearly shoved it into her face as he showed it to her.
"It's just that nobody, besides Harry, Hermione, Ron, George, Lee and me, know about this. Actually, we wanted to keep it that way, but the circumstances require your inclusion. It belonged to George and me befor but now it gives good service to our little friend Harry. I had to make up some good excuses for him to hand it over to me for this night only."
"What's this?" She eyed the parchment curiously, but could not find anything extraordinary about it.
"First, you have to make a vow." He said.
"A vow about what exactly?"
"To never ever tell anyone a single word about this hollow piece of parchment!"
"I can't even talk with Hermione about it?"
"No, with no one!"
"Aright, I swear!"
"Make the V sign like me earlier and don't even dare to cross the fingers of your other hand behind your back!"
She rolled her eyes in irritation, but she did as he told her in the end. Her curiosity overpowered her pride again.
"You seeee..." He started, trying to make it as thrilling as possible. "This is the Marauder's Map. It's some kind of room layout of the whole castle. You can see all places, rooms and yards in Hogwarts and around Hogwarts. However, the notable thing is that it also shows all people and creatures who are currently staying at Hogwarts. Wait, I show you!" He whipped his wand out and pressed its tip against the parchment.
"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."
He gave her the parchment and she watched mesmerized how words written by ink started to take shape:
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present the Marauder's Map.
Fred did not understate anything. The map showed every corner of Hogwarts. For a moment, Hope watched one of the small ink dots which was marked as "Severus Snape" move up and down a corridor.
"Fascinating!" She mumbled.
"And very convenient, but you'll see it soon enough." He added grinning and leaned over to get a better look at the map. His eyes wandered across the Forbidden Forest and he pointed towards a specific spot:
"That's the place we need to go. It's just a little vexing that the map doesn't show animals!"
Hope gulped. She still felt uneasy about their whole plan. Fred otherwise did not seem to mind the risk at all. He took the Marauder's Map from her hands and opened the portrait hole.
"Let's go. There's no one out there right now and we need to hurry!"
Hope thought for a second about the option to go back to her dorm, slipping under the warm blanket and never getting up again.
No! She had to go. Else, Fred would always tease her about it!
Determined, she followed him out into the darkness of the corridor.
"Lumos." Both of them mumbled simultaneously and the tips of their wands started to glow. Behind them, the Fat Lady nagged.
"Sneaking out in the middle of night! If only you're poor parents knew about this!"
Fred ignored her and went ahead while observing the map, so that nobody unexpectedly got in their way. Hope followed him, still a little uneasy. She clutched her wand firmly and wince at every slight sound.
They actually accomplished to leave the castle without anything unexpected happening. Hope breathed a sigh of relief as the cool night air filled her lungs. Winter was already approaching, so the grass was frost- covered. Leaves rustled ominously beneath her feet. Somewhere, an eagle owl sung her spooky song and the trees of the Forbidden Forest creaked as the wind moved trough their branches. Like a black sombre maze, it spread in front of them, the forest. The dim light which was yielded by their wands did only illuminate the narrow path up to no more than two metres. She quivered. She could not even tell if it was because of the coldness or because of her fear.
"You're okay?" Fred heard her teeth shattering and looked at her worriedly.
"Y-yes..." She tried to get a hold of herself. After she inhaled and exhaled a few times, she felt her pulse slowing down a little.
"What are we waiting for?" Determined, he was the first one to set a foot on the mouldy forest track.
* I was really struggling with this part. In the original I've used a German children's song which I couldn't be used for the English version. I have to admit that this song is really nonsense and I wanted to leave it out completely at first, but then I though: "Hey, Peeves is all nonsense and gibberish, so why not?" and so I used it anyway. If you're interested, the German nusery rhyme is called "Wer will fleißige Handwerker sehn" (literally: "Who wants to see craftsmen at work") :).
End of Chapter Twelve.