We Are Golden (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Punishment by the Forest

"Please Professor, I promise I'll never do anything bad again. I'll wash the entire school's laundry, I'll eat all of my vegetables instead of slipping them to the owls when no one's looking, I'll do all of your laundry and eat all of your vegetables. But please please don't make me do this!" I was being dragged by McGonagall down to Hagrids hut, though I was digging my heels into the slush and flailing my arms like a mad woman.


"Ms. Carrow, none of that will be necessary" she said in a curt tone as she tightened her grip on my ear. I could see Hagrids outsized form waiting for me at the edge of the forest, shifting nervously from foot to foot, a crossbow in one hand and a sack of.... Wait, what the hell did he need a crossbow for?!


"I'd rather be eaten by a million Kappa's than work with that git" I mumbled under my breath, so quiet that I could barely hear myself. McGonagall stopped and raised an eyebrow at me before tugging on my ear yet again.


"Is the punishment we have given to you and Mr. Black not working? We could always resort to more drastic measures, as Professor Dumbledore mentioned before. And unless you are planning on traveling to Japan any time soon, it would be very unlikely for that to happen." There was that dry-humour that I loved. Damn woman, making me love her when I was trying to be angsty and rebellious.


I rolled my eyes and she let go of my ear. We had finally reached the spot where Hagrid was waiting anxiously for us, while Sirius was sprawled out on the ground in the slush. He shook the mire from his hair and looked up joyfully at McGonagall. "Hello Minny, lovely to see you here."


Hagrid tapped him on the top of the head with his crossbow and cleared his throat. "'Ello Professor, Elle" he nodded his head to me, before letting his crossbow drop when he noticed the panicked look that it caused me to make.


"You'll be serving your detention with Hagrid tonight, trying to rid the outskirts of the forbidden forest of the gnomes that have been stealing from the greenhouses" she took joy in the look the Sirius was currently shooting her, one that was full of loathing and dread.


"Then why does he have a crossbow?" Sirius asked hesitantly.


"Well it's obvious that this is all a big lie. They're just going to rid the school of us trouble makers by having a bit of target practise" my voice was filled with sarcasm.

Sirius stood up with a huff and crossed his arms in a childlike manner. Hagrid let out a booming laugh, slapping his knees as he doubled over. Even McGonagall let out a tiny snigger before giving us all an urgent stare before marching away from us in an attempt to keep her presence authoritative.


"Now list'n yeh two, no funny business, no' on my watch" Hagrid said in a gruff voice. Maybe it was naturally gruff, or perhaps just disrupted by the abundance of beard that covered most of his face. He picked up his crossbow and tucked it into his large moleskin overcoat. I looked at him up and down, silently asking myself why some of the kids were so afraid of this over-grown teddy bear.


Sure, maybe he was twice as tall as an average man; therefore, double me and then some, as well as being at least five times as wide as I. It was hard to make out the look on his face, concealed by wiry beard and a long mass of hair, but I could still see his beady eyes. They aren't cold and resembled something of a beetle, but you could faintly see bits of laugh-lines beside them that weren't completely covered by his eyebrows. His hands, large as shields, fiddled with buttons on his custom-made jacket and he dug a massive boot into the malleable early spring earth.


"Yea do know how to ge'rida gnomes, yea'?" his glittery eyes darted between the two of us, disbelievingly when Sirius shook his head. "Do yea' Elle?"


I couldn't help but smile. There was something about this guy that made me want to give him a hug, though I'm not sure if he would smell very good. "Yup, grab them, twirl them around until they get dizzy, and toss them as far as you can...right?"


"Good girl" Hagrid sounded impressed as he picked Sirius up off the ground by the scruff of his jacket. "The first burrow I found is over there by those thickets, try luring one out with this" he tossed me a turnip and pushed Sirius towards me.


"And the rest will follow" I said, earning yet another praise. Though I despised most of my classes, Care of Magical Creatures had to be one of my favourites. I could hear Hagrids obscenely loud footsteps as he clambered behind us, probably making sure that we didn't kill one another. "It's odd though that we'd have gnomes. Aren't there Jarveys in this forest?"


I slowed my steps, and then quickened them again so I could walk at the same rate as Hagrid. Sirius walked ahead of us, diving head first into the thistle bush with a cry of "Let's get this over with." Within a few seconds he jumped back out of the bush, clutching a rather large furry animal to his face.


"Yep" Hagrid said with a laugh as Sirius toppled over to the ground, screaming.


"You smell like wet dog" the Jarvey cried as it bit the end of Sirius' nose. "Stay away from my gnomes you pimply pubescent wanker!" Sirius ripped the animal off his nose, accompanied by a shriek on his part as it took out yet another chunk. He tossed the Jarvey none too gently into the forest before standing up and brushing off his jacket.


"Didn't you two think to help me?" he said in an infuriated pitch. "Honestly, that thing could have ripped my face off."


"And what a shame that would be" I quipped, walking over to him and pointing to his wounded snout. "You're bleeding."


"Thanks tips" he wiped his nose with the back of his hand, streaking blood up and across his face. "I wouldn't be if you didn't just stand there like an idiot and laugh while IT attacked me."


With a sigh I pulled out my wand from the inside of my jacket and pointed it at his face. Hagrid stiffened behind me, pulling out an umbrella and pointing it at us. "Calm down Hagrid. Episkey." Sirius winced as the skin grew back at a fascinating rate, stopping the blood from dripping down his face and onto his expensive looking coat. "See, I didn't kill him."


"I didn't need your help" Sirius grumbled and stomped back to the bush, this time more careful and poking through the leaves with his wand. I turned back to Hagrid, who was most certainly smiling under the forest on his face.


Suddenly, a thunderous sound came from my stomach, even causing Sirius to stop what he was doing and turn to scoff at me. Well, this detention was cutting into my much needed dinner time after all. Hagrids eyes brightened and he cleared his throat, pointing over to his hut over his shoulder.


"Hungry?" I nodded. "I jus' madea batch ov tea cakes; new recipe an'all. Do yea' want some?"


"Yes please" and he took off towards his hut before he could hear Sirius' chorus' of "Me too!" I turned towards the largest bush I could find and hesitantly poked my wand through the brush. There in the dark was a gnome burrow, hidden under a pile of leaves. The turnip that was dangling in my hand was abruptly being tugged from my hands by what a muggle would probably mistake for a walking potato. The gnome grunted and tugged at the radish again, digging his tiny claws into the skin of the vegetable.


By habit I tugged the turnip back, taking the gnome with it. It squealed as I swung it over my head in a circle, cowboy lasso style, and chucked in as far as I could into the depths of the forest. Sirius was doing the same, though not as gracefully as his gnome was quite intelligent (for gnome standards) and let go of his radish before he could throw him anywhere.


I laughed silently as the gnome stumbled around the grass and slush, claws outstretch and swiping at Sirius's ankles. Sirius swung back a foot and kicked the gnome like a football, sending him in the same direction that mine had gone. This stopped my laughter.


"You probably hurt it" I said rather loudly as I stormed over to him, leaving my gathering crowd of gnomes to follow.


"It was bloody biting me!" he defended, picked up another gnome and sending it flying.


"It's like kicking a puppy, it doesn't know what it was doing!" he rolled his eyes. I dove for a gnome, skidding into a pile of mud and missing by about an inch.


"Well neither do you!" he retorted. We were now standing back to back, battle style, and diving for the gnomes that now knew what we were doing. They dodged and ran about the grass on awkwardly shape feet, giggling and hissing at us.


"Really Sirius? I thought you had given up on that" my voice took a furious turn, though I didn't both to look at the boy. I knew what he was talking about, which wasn't gnomes, it was about Regulus. "Remember? Don't come crying to me?" I mocked his deep tone and arrogant voice with a puffed out chest and raised chin.


"Well that type of thing is hard to forget about! He's evil." Wouldn't this boy ever give up? I finally turned to him to see something out of the creature of the black lagoon. His perfect hair was matted and sticking out in every direction, every inch of him covered in mud.


"You're just angry that you were wrong" I glared at him and pushed a gnome out of the way with my foot. If I was going to toss anything now, it was going to be this git in front of me.


"I'm never wrong.... what am I wrong about?" I couldn't make out his facial expression due to all of the mud, though I'm sure it would be a confused one.


"About me being butch and unattractive" I said, my fingers resting on the end of my wand in my back pocket. "Well now I'm dating an awesome guy who is better than you are and he thinks I'm beautiful."


I expected for him to say something about Regulus' poor choice about most things, bringing up the You-know-who card yet again. Instead he wiped the mud from his face and sent it splattering onto a dizzy little gnome. "Is that what all of this is about? You trying to show me you're desirable?"


Zoom, another gnome went flying. Bollocks, how did he even figure that out? Lily didn't, Remus didn't, and those two were probably a lot smarter than Sirius would ever be. What he was saying had been true a while ago but was it true now? I actually really liked Regulus. I think.


"Of course not. If I was just using Reg than why would I be visiting your parents over the spring holidays?" at my words he froze, halfway through throwing a gnome which dangled at the end of his fingers.


"You... you... paren.." he sputtered much like I had when Reg first told me that he wanted me to meet them. Sirius shook his head as if he was shaking out the confusion before he could speak again. "You will most certainly not go visit them!" he roared. "You can't" his voice dropped to a whisper before it rose again. "I FORBID YOU FROM VISITING THEM!"


"You're not in charge of me Sirius! If I want to visit your parents then I will!" Sure maybe I didn't want to visit them but I didn't expect much of a reaction from Sirius. He could care less about his parents, or me.


"Elle you can't! They know about your father! They'll kick you out of the house, they'll.... it will be bad Elle. Just don't do it, for me!" he stomped closer to me and pointed a muddy finger in my face. "Don't do it."


"Why should I do anything for you?" I screamed at him. "For four years I was in your house and you didn't say anything to me! Then when you do, you make me feel like complete shit and tell me that I'm an unattractive loser! You are in no position to be asking anything of me." My fist was clenched so tight that I could feel my pulse in my fingers. Holding back the urge to punch him in the newly-healed nose, I shoved my hand into my pocket and grabbed my wand.


His face softened a tiny bit at the words I said, though his eyes still held the intensity of ten men. "I made you feel like complete shit?" he whispered and I guffawed so hard that I was left gasping for air.


"Well it tends to have that affect when you call somebody "not exactly bang tidy, but it's okay because some guys fall for the butch look."How about "you're just a jealous little nobody"? Take your pick Sirius, I have a list." My breaths came out rapidly as I clutched my wand in my back pocket, waiting for him to curse me or something.


He took another step towards me, too close for comfort, so close that I could smell what he had had before lunch. "You shouldn't take anything I say seriously. I'm just a supercilious, covetous prat, git, berk, and etcetera. It should be expected. You also shouldn't be surprised when I do this either" and with those final word he closed the gap between us, crushing his lips down on mine before I had a chance to take a breath.


He wrapped his hands around my waist and crushed me to his body, though my fists were beating violently again his chest for him to let me go. What the hell was he doing! I attempted to close my lips and keep them still but his tongue wormed its way into my mouth, leaving a bitter sweet taste wherever it touched.


He pulled from me, smiling like an idiot. "See, I wasn't repulsed. You could date a better guy than my brother" he said smugly, dipped down and threw a gnome into the forest. Two clattering sounds happened simultaneously and I turned around to face Hagrid, who dropped his plate of cakes and Regulus behind him who had dropped a plate of food. Hagrid picked up the cakes bashfully and Reg took off running back to the castle.


I hauled back and slapped him across the face. "Come near me again and I will kill you" I warned before turning on my heal and chasing after Regulus.


What had just happened? Did Sirius just snog me? I spat as I ran, disgusted by the taste that was poisoning my mouth. I caught a glimpse of Regulus as he stopped in the entrance hall and doubled over, gasping for breath.


"Reg?" I asked, stepping into the entrance hall and wiping sweat from my brow. "Please, it's not what you think!"


He turned to me, his face full of rage. "Really? What I think is I just caught you and my brother snogging each other silly!" he shook his headl. "I should have known! You two were far too hostile to one another!"


"No Reg, he attacked me!" I defended but it was no use. He stepped towards the dungeon staircase, staring daggers into my head.


"Likely story. Just stay away from me... you dirty little half blood" he said and disappeared from my sight. I brought my shaking hands up to my face, pushing the hair that was plastered to my forehead in their proper position. I couldn't help but notice everything wrong, the chilling feeling of the entrance hall as the door opened and shut with the wind, the excessive amount of dirt under my nails, the fact that Sirius was standing right behind me, silent but obviously there.


"I'm sorry Elle... it had to be done" he whispered, his voice still hinting at the arrogance that he always carried.


I rounded on him, my fists clenched at my side before I finally pulled out my wand. "No. No it didn't. " I felt the gob of emotion get caught in my throat, causing me to struggle for every word. "You just couldn't stand to be wrong, that someone wanted me when you made it so very clear that no one would."


"I corrected myself..." he said intensely, starring into my eyes (which by the way were filled to the brim with tears that burst at that very moment.)


"Yeah, you weren't repulsed. You only kissed me because you could see Reg over my shoulder and wanted to fuck everything up!" He pushed my wand down to my side with gentle hands, trying to sedate me with silence instead. "No, Sirius this was the last straw."


"What do you mean by that?" he said, his voice dripping with false anger. "We're already at 'war'."


"Being at war means that your getting attention from someone who still cares about you in some way. The last straw means that this will be the last time I will ever talk to you, look at you, or even think about you."


"Being a bit rash, aren't we Annabelle?"


"No Sirius, I'm done with you. I hate you" I turned on my heels and walked away from him, halfway up the first flight of stairs before turning around. "Actually, I don't hate you." His face brightened a bit as I spoke, something he was seriously mistaken about. "Hate requires have feelings towards you at all."


I waited until I was halfway up the third floor staircase before I let out a sob that felt like it would rip me apart at the seams. I looked down into the entrance hall, where Sirius was standing and looking lost.

Shaking my head, I began up the stairs to the the common room. I didn't want another thing to do with Sirius Black. I wanted him to just dissapear.

"Ms. Carrow?" McGonagall ran down the steps to me, clutching her chest with one hand, the other fluttering at her side. "I was just coming to get you from detention..." Her voice was excited, a single tear running down her cheek and her tight hair in disarray.


"What's wrong Professor?" I quickly stuffed the bracelet into my pocket.


"Nothing Elle" she laughed in a hysterical sort of way before grabbing my wrist. "It's Kat, she's awake."