The Half-Blood Princess

Emotions Flare

Harry arrived, which should have been a happier occasion than it was. Harley had been a broody teen, but never had she acted like such a prat as Harry was, accusing everyone of not caring about him, flying off the handle at the smallest thing. And, with the exception of Hermione, everyone was simply letting him act like a spoilt toddler. At least Hermione made an attempt to curb his attitude.

Finally, after the older members of the Order had refused to give any more information to the students about Voldemort, Harley had had enough of Harry's attitude.

"By Merlin, Potter, you are a disgrace," she snapped. "'Poor me', 'why me', 'pay attention to me'. Some bloody hero you are supposed to be. I for one do not feel right putting the entire world's fate in the hands of an overgrown toddler having a temper tantrum! Do you think any of us likes being out of the loop? Do you think we're all happy at having to sit on the sidelines? No, we are not, but you do not hear any of us whinging.

"And in the case of Dumbledore, I rather think that he has quite a bit more on his plate than to pop in here every time you need a blankie."

"Whoa, don't you dare talk to my godson that way!" Sirius said, standing up.

"Oh, what are you going to do, Black? Give me rabies? I have to live with him, we all do, and this attitude just will not do. And aside, I am his elder sister and I think it is my place to admonish him, since our mother is no longer with us," Harley said.

Harry had stood up as well, his face red. "Do you have any idea what I went through, Harley? I saw my friend get murdered in front of my eyes!"

Thinking of Severus being a reformed Death Eater, Harley replied, "Yes, you saw death. Needless, painful death. And yet, instead of doing what you can, preparing for the day you can do more, you sit here making us all wish we had earplugs. Stop being infantile and be the hero everyone thinks you are. Others have seen death, Potter, more death than you, and they did not let it stop them from being proactive: it spurred them on to do better."

Harry was going to respond before he just sighed and stalked away.

No one spoke, though Hermione looked a bit relieved. Finally, Remus said, "Harley, I know what you were trying to say, but your motivational speaking skills could use work. That was mean, unnecessarily so, but maybe it was just what he needed."

Things were quiet after that. Harry went to his trial and had one Hell of a time trying to get free, though he just managed to escape conviction. Harley kept at it with her potions, the new ones Snape had given her seeming to be working well, and she and Sirius avoided each other as much as possible.

Harley took on an extra project, helping Fred and George extract Doxy venom to use in their products. It was slightly dangerous, and that was why she liked doing it. More of her mother's Gryffindor influence, she supposed.

Nothing happened until one evening when Harley went upstairs to ask if Crookshanks, Hermione's fat cat, ever caught any rats. Hermione wasn't awake, but she hadn't seen any harm in asking Sirius such a benign question: big mistake.

"What the Hell do you need rats for?" Sirius asked her.

"Practice. Spells and such. Unless you would rather me try them on you."

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" He sneered.

"For your information, before I went to Hogwarts, I tried out spells on spiders and rats all the time. I actually know what I am doing. I was not out of practice for twelve years," she said.

"Low blow, kid," Sirius said. "I might have gone to prison for crimes I didn't commit, but your father never went, and he murdered more people than Pettigrew did."