And WELCOME BACK to The Laughing Slytherin! The posting break was a success for writing. I've now surpassed 400,000 words and 1,000 pages, and have started the chapter where the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students arrive at Hogwarts. All in all, a comfortable cushion between where I am and the rest of you are in this story.
For these summer chapters, I'll give you guys a breakdown as a reprieve of anticipation. 94 is mainly a Harry POV; 95, 96, & 101 take place in Azkaban; 97-100 are for other characters doing their own thing; and 102-105 is the rest of Mel's summer.
As for the question I posted last chapter, I've taken everyone's suggestions and have decided to not make Melissa a champion. Good thing, too. The ideas I've stumbled onto instead have fun implications that I look forward to exploring. Just need time to figure out exactly HOW that magic will work.
Speaking of time, this chapter has SUCH an obvious timestamp of being written in 2021, but I couldn't resist! I hope you enjoy it!
Saturday June 19th, 1993
Summer break couldn't come fast enough. Even now, with the Hogwarts Express speeding from the Scottish highlands to London, it dragged too slow for Harry.
"If you're going to keep pouting like that" said Kevin, "you ought to pace down the train. Blow off some steam."
Harry scowled at the idea. "If I do that I'll have to deal with yet another gossiper or grouchy Slytherin bothering me about everything."
Justin grimaced. "He's got a point. Though, they have been better lately."
"Nah, that's just for you, mate," Wayne teased. "That said, I should head off to find the others. Want me to check if the coast is clear, Harry?"
Harry waved off the offer. "No thanks. I appreciate the offer, though."
With nods all around, Wayne slipped out of the compartment to who knows where. There came some shuffling about the room, with Justin and Kevin opting for a game of exploding snap, while Harry continued to mull over his thoughts.
Silently, Harry pulled out the letter he received that morning from Uncle John. Seems that Hootini was, yet again, bringing no news from Azkaban despite her family sending several letters. Sirius tried to comfort her parents by saying that that was normal, but his words were ill-received, understandably, from the distraught parents. Harry wasn't surprised, things went about that badly when Sirius had told them of her fate the day after the arrest. But who could blame them? How can anyone assure them that she's fine? They know what Azkaban is like. Sirius certainly held nothing back in the past of his horror stories of the place; about the dementors, the screams, the nightmares, the-
The letter crumpled in his hand. He can't bear to think about it anymore. Uncle Sirius- he'll talk to his godfather later about how to approach them in a reply. For now… maybe a round of exploding snap will distract him from imagining whatever horrors Melly is dealing with.
*Thump*
*Thump*
*Thump*
*Thump*
"There once was a ship that put to sea
The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea
The winds blew up, her bow dipped down
Oh blow, my bully boys, blow -SING!"
"SOON MAY THE WELLERMAN COME
TO BRING US SUGAR AND TEA AND RUM
ONE DAY, WHEN THE TONGUING IS DONE
WE'LL TAKE OUR LEAVE AND GO!"
"Beautiful!" She grinned at the unseen chorus of the corridor.
"YOU PEOPLE ARE INSANE!" Cried the lone dissenter of the corridor. Ignoring the man, she moved to the next verse.
"She'd not been two weeks from shore
When down on her a right whale bore
The captain called all hands and swore
He'd take that whale in tow. huh!"
"SOON MAY THE WELLERMAN COME
TO BRING US SUgar and tea, and… "
The world fell dark and cold. White breath misted her eyes as the dark shadows loomed. Pain and laughter and falling filled her senses. Shivering, her mind prayed for inspiration in the dark unhappiness. Artists cling to misery, don't they? Find something. Something! Anything!
The shadows left. The temperature rose from frigid to chilly. Collective sighs of relief came from around the corridor. Taking deep breaths, Melissa pulled herself out of the fog of desperation. She pulled at the music in her mind, its energy echoed and faded from the interruption.
"Let's take five!" She shouted in faux cheer through the bars. A grumble of noises answered back. Picking herself off the ground, Melissa took a step, spun, and let her body rest on the moldy cot. More deep breaths. Slow, soothing, things. A lovely way to breathe gentle life into her spirit. "One day, when the tonguing is done, we'll take our leave and go."
*Knock Knock*
The compartment door slipped open to reveal Draco. "Finch-Fletchley," He nodded in greeting, "Entwhistle," came a shallower nod, "Harry." When the boys responded, Draco looked to Harry directly. "May I join you?"
The Puffs gauged the room. They found themselves reluctantly amenable, so the cards were put aside as Draco stepped in and closed the door behind him. That said, Draco didn't take a seat straight away. He eyed the empty spot beside Kevin, then across to where Justin sat. Whatever was going through his mind, he eventually sat down stiffly into the empty seat, eyes shifting and unsure, with his hands clasped on his lap.
Seconds of silence passed between them, with only the roll of wheels on train tracks filling the void.
"...So…" Justin clicked his tongue. "Do you have plans for the holidays, Malfoy?"
Harry and Draco visibly flinched.
"...Not quite, I'm afraid," Draco said politely, yet strained. "My father has several important engagements this summer, so we don't have time for travelling."
Which was a polite way of saying Preparing to stand trial for Death Eater activity and accessory to murder. Plus bribes. Lots and lots of bribes.
"Ah, that's a shame."
Draco fixed a smile on his face. "No matter. I have ways to entertain myself. Harry, I trust you'll be coming to the family dinner at Lord Black's on Thursday?"
"I'll be there." Whether Sirius will join him or not remains to be seen.
Draco wilted in relief at the news. "That's good. Mother says Lord Black is looking forward to spending time with the family. …And what about yourselves? Plans for the summer?"
Draco departed after an hour of inane conversation. Though it was only a brief respite before there was another knock on the compartment door. It slipped open and a pop of red peaked in. "Hey, Harry," said Ron. "Mind if you come out for a bit?"
"Sure," Harry answered, though his mind screamed against it. He stepped out of the room, but didn't stray from the door. "What's up?"
Ron scratched the back of his head bashfully. "My family's having a goodbye party for Fred and George in a couple days. They'd like you to come."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I was surprised, to be honest," Ron added with a touch of shame. "I think George is the one pushing it. Though… it'd be nice if you can come."
The idea warred in Harry's mind. "Well… with you, George and your sister around; I probably won't be too out-numbered, right?"
Ron smiled. "I think we can manage."
"Alright. I'll have to check with Sirius first, but I'll let you know." A good escape clause as any.
"Brill! I'll see you then, Harry!"
Maybe. "Bye, Ron." Maybe Not.
Alas, Sirius thought the party was a great idea. So, to Harry's despair, the two arrived at Ottery St. Catchpole, beholding a towering stack of a home that is the Weasley's Burrow. Harry spent much of the event outdoors, mainly among familiar faces like Ron, Cedric, and Corin. He did try to speak with Ginny and Percy at one point; but the girl squeaked and ran off before he could say much.
"Don't worry about her," Ron muttered between bites. "She got in loads of trouble when we got home. Mum must've been holding that rave in since the trial."
"It wasn't her fault, though," Harry said. "If Malfoy hadn't given her the diary none of that would have happened."
"Still," Percy joined in, "she should have at least said something after the fact. She was free in November, wasn't she?"
Harry shook his head. "That's not her fault either. It was Dumbledore's idea to pretend we weren't involved. He didn't want to tip Malfoy off that she wasn't possessed anymore."
"Dumbledore?!" The exclamation came from two places. Percy's, and an approaching Arthur Weasley. Percy continued, uncomfortably. "Well, I'm sure he thought it was the right decision…"
Fighting the urge to snort his disagreement, Harry greeted Mister Weasley as he joined the group. "Speaking of Malfoy, has there been any word about the trial preparation?"
"Other than the little Malfoy being a surly git about it," Ron commented.
Harry made no reply to that. Instead he focused on Arthur, who gave a loud sigh. "Unfortunately it's a rough road on that end. Bad enough he's pushed the trial to August; but from what Amelia says, Lucius is claiming he has no recollection of that day. Half the Ministry in-the-know fancies that the diary made him do it. Sounds like right tosh, if you ask me." To that, Harry agreed. Arthur blinked, as if realizing who he was talking to. "But don't you kids worry about it. I'm sure the DMLE will get things straightened out. I'm just glad everyone's alright now."
Everyone. Right.
He excused himself from the group of Weasleys and sought out the other teens he had been with earlier. He spotted Corin and Cedric standing with Lee Jordan, the Twins, Eloise, and a pair of Gryffindor chasers, all talking animatedly about something. Seeing the mix, Harry weighed his options, deciding it was as good a time as any to be around the Twins. He joined the circle just as one of the chasers shouted "You're pulling our leg!"
"No! We're completely serious," George answered with a grin.
"About what?" Asked Harry.
The question made the others notice his arrival, though he didn't catch most of their reactions to it as Eloise answered "Well apparently these two are working with the DMLE to patent their light-swords."
"Lightsabers," Corin corrected her. "Which I think we can all agree is a bad idea."
"It's a great idea!" Fred argued. "The DMLE says they'll pay us for them, and anything else we make that they can use. We can make a mint off of them!"
Cedric nodded along. "I'm sure other departments could use it, too. Maybe it'd even work against dark, magically-resistant creatures?"
"OR" Corin shouted loudly, gesturing to George. "We end up with more Luke Skywalkers on our hands!"
The group cringed at the comment. Most were unable to look at George or find their tongues to argue against Corin. Harry though, in an odd compulsion to lighten the mood, decided to give it a try. "No, George is the only real Luke Skywalker here. I mean, he is a twin, after all."
Awkward silence followed. All were confused, and most were still reeling against Corin's statement. Breaking eye contact from the group, Fred and George looked at each other instead. Frowning, Fred mouthed something, and George smiled, batting his lashes. In a cross between a cringe and a smile, Fred shoved him. "Oy! Shut it!"
One of the chasers spoke. "Sorry, what's going on?"
George replied. "Well, if I'm the Luke Skywalker twin…"
It took half a beat, but those who have seen the movies snorted with laughter. To his credit, Fred clasped his hands together and played along in a girly voice. "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!" The group burst into laughs. The twins hammed it up, making up lines as Luke and Leia for the group's amusement. Some of the lines weren't quite Star Wars. Harry was pretty sure that a Mog is from that other movie. Still, it was great fun as the two played up their Skywalker roles.
As the acting quieted down, Corin commented. "You know, they filmed the Tatooine scenes in Tunisia. That's pretty close to Morocco. You should visit if you get the chance."
"I'm sure we can pull that off," Fred said. "The brochure says that the magical community isn't super strict on muggle borders. There's a few countries you can easily visit, I think Tunisia's one of them."
"The Maghreb," George added with a nod. "Amazigh wizards decided to stick together since the muggles there still believe in magic. Did you know they put other muggles on witch trials for pretending to use magic?!" Seeing the group's surprised faces, George shrugged. "What? If I'm going to live there I need to know about what it's like."
"It's a lot," Fred nodded. "On top of everything else, it turns out everyone there speaks three languages, at least!"
"We have to study a lot before we get there," George added. "They say there'll be a translator for us, but still…"
Eloise took over the trail of thought. "It's good that you're preparing for the trip. How long will you be there for?"
"All summer, practically," Fred answered. "We'll be back the week before school starts."
"Though I might have to cut it close," George added. "I'm sure there's a lot to learn."
The thought of a translator confused Harry. "Isn't Mister Salvatore coming with you?"
"He is," George answered, "but just for a couple weeks while we get settled in. I'm surprised you didn't know. Doesn't he work for your godfather?"
"I'm… not sure?" Harry winced. "I don't think they've talked much since the… Wormtail thing came out."
"Ah!" The boys said in unison.
"Besides, we're not staying long either. Sirius thinks a holiday will do us good. He's planned a whole Thing for the summer." To keep me distracted went unsaid.
"Oh, really? Where are you off to?"
Harry gave the long list of countries and cities Sirius has in mind for them. Each destination branching off into strands of conversation, keeping him well occupied as the party drifted into the night.