— ˗ ˋ ⚯͛ ˊ˗ —
{Harry}
"Is there no chance of fixing it?" Professor
Lupin asked me as we walked across the
castle grounds.
"No," I responded sadly. My broom had been destroyed and since I couldn't go to Hogsmede, I'd have to wait until next school year to get a new one.
He nodded in understanding and we fell into silence. I decided to finally ask the question that's
been tearing me up for weeks. "Professor, why do the dementors affect me so much? I mean more than anyone else."
"The dementors are amongst the foulest of
creatures to walk this earth. They feed off of every good feeling, every happy memory until a person is left with absolutely nothing but fear, sadness, and anger."
He must have seen my confused expression because he then continued.
"You are not weak Harry, The dementors affect you most of all because there are great horrors in your past. Not many of your classmates can even imagine what you've been through"
"I'm scared, Professor"
"Well, you'd be a fool if you weren't." He chuckled.
I stopped walking and he turned to look at me
"I need to know how to fight them, you could teach me since you fought the dementor on the train." He looked doubtful and thought for a moment.
"I don't pretend to be an expert, Harry," He sighed "but as the dementors have
seem to develop a particular interest in you
perhaps I should teach you."
"So we'll start after the Holidays then?" I asked a little more cheerful than when we walked out here.
"Yes, for now, I need to rest."
𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊
-ʚĭɞ -
{Alice}
The Holidays arrived quickly at Hogwarts. All the leaves melted off the trees as the weather grew colder. Everyone always had on their heavy winter coats and scarves. I didn't mind. I've always loved the cold.
I stood in the clock tower with Harry looking out at the winter wonderland our school had become due to the thick layers of snow.
"I can't believe it's almost Christmas," I said "It feels like only yesterday when we were on the train on our way here."
"What are you doing for Christmas this year?" he asked.
"I don't want to go home, Fred and George always come up with a plan to frighten me and Ginny past midnight. I remember every Christmas we used to sit around the tree and sing muggle Christmas songs" I lightly smiled remembering the happy memories we used to share.
"That sounds wonderful Alice." He said
"And how's Christmas at the Dursleys?"
"Well, I just lay down on my bed at night and stare at my parent's picture until I fall asleep," he said looking down. A tear slipped from his eye, I don't think he even noticed that he was crying.
I lifted Harry's chin to face me and wiped his tears.
"There's no reason to go with the Dursleys, you have Ron, Hermione, and I now. You can come with us to the Burrow." I said trying my best to cheer him up.
"Do you think your parents would be ok with that?" He asked
"Are you kidding? They seen you as their son," I said as I turned back to the window.
𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊
-ʚĭɞ -
{Harry}
It was another Hogsmede trip, the last one
before the break. I was still upset I never got my permission slip signed but I did have an idea of how I could get there.
I walked with Hermione, Ron, and Alice down to the exit of the castle grounds. They all gave me sympathy hugs and were off. I quickly ran up to my dorm and grabbed the invisibility cloak. I threw it over myself and started to walk to the courtyard. Fred and George were there building a snowman. I quietly walked past them hoping they didn't notice my footprints.
Sadly, they did.
"Guys let me go!" I said as they grabbed me by the arms.
"Clever Harry-" "-But not clever enough."
"Besides, we've got a better way," they said as they grinned at each other.
"Guys come on, I'm trying to get to
Hogsmede." I pleaded.
"We know," they said at the same time before alternating sentences again "Don't worry,"-We'll get you there-" "-We'll show you a quicker way-
"-If you pipe down." They said as they
dragged me into an empty staircase. "Now Harry, come and join the big boys" They pulled off my cloak and handed me a piece of parchment looking proud of what they had just handed me as if it was an achievement.
I looked down at the marauders map in
front of me, the same one Lupin took away from me then back up at them.
That there is the secret to your success."It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me," George started. "-But we've decided your needs are greater than ours. We gotta get you to your little girlfriend." Fred smirked
"She's not my girlfriend" I responded as I
rolled my eyes.
"Ah, you say that yet you knew exactly who
we were talking about"
"We see the way you look at our sister Alice, you're not very good at hiding it, Harry."
"I'm not?" I asked. If they knew I had the
slighest crush, well maybe not the slightest crush, on Alice who else did?
"Nope," George said popping the P.
"You asking that only confirms our suspicions," Fred said.
I mentally facepalmed.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." George said as he pointed his wand at the parchment.
Words began to form on the page.
"Brilliant" I beamed "Where'd you find it?"
"Nicked it from Lupin's office of course"
George answered.
"Now don't lose it again" Fred said. "Now listen" Fred continued "There are 7 secret passageways out of the castle. We'd recommend-" This One"
they said at the same time as they pointed at the map.
"The one-eyed witch passageway, It'll lead
you straight under Honey Duke's cellar," Fred explained.
"Now you best hurry, looks like Filch is
headed this way."
"Oh and don't forget when you're done just
give it a tap and say-"
"-Mischief managed" I finished. "Thanks, guys!" I said as I ran off.
When I got to the end of the passage I recited "Mischief managed." and put the map in my pocket.
I opened the cellar door above me, and
sure enough, I was in Honeydukes. I threw
back on the invisibility cloak and headed up
the stairs and out of the store to go find my
friends.
𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊
-ʚĭɞ -
{Alice}
I went to The 3 Broomsticks with Ron and
Hermione then split up from them to meet up with Draco and Ivanna. It had been a while since we hung out.
We walked to Dervish and Bange's and looked around at all the magical equipment. Draco put on a bulky woman's wand holder and posed Ivanna grabbed a fake moustache and placed it on her upper lip. I laughed as I took a picture of both of them. I showed them the picture and we burst out laughing. The store manager shushed us as we exited the store.
"If you ever show that to anyone, I won't
hesitate to try out the killing curse on you." he joked.
"It's not that bad Draco" Ivanna teased.
"Yes, it is, it will ruin my reputation love," Draco replied to Ivanna As he placed a kiss on her forehead.
I rolled my eyes sarcastically. Draco was a good friend and he was really funny. I'm pretty sure me and Ivanna are his only real friends.
He talked to us about how Crabbe and Goyle just feed off his power and how he only kept Pansy around when he wanted to snog.
I hit him in the arm "You shouldn't do that to her, plus I'm pretty sure Pansy still likes you."
"Alice, she doesn't like me, she's obsessed with me." He said emphasizing obsessed.
"Is that so?" Ivana said behind us.
"No." Draco said nervously "I used to keep her around to snog until you came love." Draco says trying to fix the misunderstanding.
"Mhm," Ivana replied with a smirk. "I'm joking I know you don't do that anymore." She says facing him. "And if you do the killing curse will hit you before you even try to Avada kedavra Alice." She said clearing out her words.
Suddenly Something must have caught Draco's eye because he smirked and pulled us along.
"Where are we going?" I asked,
"You may hate me for this but I can't pass up the opportunity."
I then spotted Ron and Hermione at the shrieking shack in front of us.
"Draco, don't you dare," Ivana warned.
It was too late.
"Well, well" he started
"You two shopping for your new dream home?" he asked them.
Okay, this might not be too bad.
"Bit grand for you isn't it Weaselbee? Doesn't your family sleep in uh one room?"
Nevermind.
Draco quickly whispered in my ear "Sorry."
"Shut your mouth Malfoy," Ron said not
making eye contact with him.
"Ooh, not very friendly. Guys, I think it's time we teach Weaselbee how to respect his superior." He smirked.
Ivana hit him in the arm. "Draco, stop." She said sternly.
"Hope you don't mean yourself." Hermione retorted.
"How dare you talk to me! Filthy little mud
blood!" He said to her.
I gasped at what he just said and went to stand by Ron and Hermione.
Ivana also got mad and slapped Draco across the face. "What is your problem Draco Lucius Malfoy," Ivana said breathing heavily. She eventually stormed off leaving Draco to look like a fool.
He was about to say something else when a
snowball hit him from the side. I looked to
see who threw it but there was no one there.
"Who's there!?" He demanded
Snowballs continued to be thrown at him.
Hermione and I laughed at the sight of him
lying in the snow, whining like a baby.
"What's up Malfoy? Lost your skis?" Ron
yelled.
Draco got up and ran.
We stood there laughing at the sight of him running scared. Suddenly something pulled at the strings on Ron's hat and pulled at Hermione's hair lightly. I felt two arms wrap around my stomach from behind me and lift me as I squealed.
"Harry!" Hermione beamed
He put me down and tore off his invisibility
cloak.
"Bloody hell! You gave me a good scare for a second there." Ron laughed
"How did you get here?" I asked
"There's a secret tunnel under Honeydukes." He grinned
"Are you gonna be able to start coming to
Hogsmede now?" Hermione asked excitedly.
He nodded and we all walked back up to the town while he told us about the Marauders map.
"Wait," Me and Hermione said at the same time.
"Isn't this the map we used the other night looking for Peter Pettigrew?" Hermione continued.
"Well yes but it got taken away so the twins found it and gave it back to me."
"Did you tell them you have used it before?"
"No, they seemed too proud of themselves to ruin their moment. So I decided to go with the flow."
"You Weasels never told me about any
Marauders map." Ron pouted.
"They gave it to me because they said I
needed to get to my-" he glanced at me before finishing "-my friends"
"Well, he's not going to keep it." Hermione
spoke up."He's going to turn it over to
Professor Lupin. Aren't you Harry?"
"Yeah, we don't want the same thing that happened the other time to happen again." I continued.
"Oh, Sure," Harry said not that convincing.
"Oh look it's Madam Rosmerta." Hermione
said as she wiggled her eyebrows. "Ron fancies her."
"That's not true!" Ron retorted.
I looked towards Ron and he gave me a confused expression "You're so dumb Ronald" I said rolling my eyes.
"Professor McGonagall, Cornelius!" Madam
Rosmerta beamed.
"Ah, Rosmerta! I hope business is good" Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of the Magic greeted.
"It'd be a lot better if you weren't sending
dementors into my pub every other night!"
she said while waving her finger in his face.
"We have a killer on the loose!" He reasoned
"Oh Sirius Black in Hogsmede? What would bring him here?" she asked.
He whispered something in her ear. Her eyes went wide. "Harry Potter!?" she said in shock. He shushed her and pushed her inside the bar with McGonagall trailing behind.
I turned to Harry but he was gone. I saw
footsteps leading inside the pub and I realized he had slipped under the invisibility cloak.
"Harry wait!" I yelled after him.
The door to the pub opened and his footsteps stopped. We all ran after him but a bobblehead stopped us at the door. "No underage wizards allowed today! Now shut the damn door!'
"So rude" Hermione muttered as we walked Out.
"Did she just call us rude!?" the bobble
head said to another.
"bobblehead" I muttered.
"What do we do now?" Ron asked.
"We wait" I sighed as I leaned against the
Wall.
𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊
-ʚĭɞ -
{Harry}
"Nobodys going to come to a pub where
they're going to get scared out of their wits."
"Why?" I heard Madam Rosmerta's voice say. I followed the voice into a room where she, Cornelius Fudge, and Professor McGonagall were all standing.
"Professor Dumbledore does not want
dementors around the place, I can assure
You"
"Now then tell me what this is all about."
Rosmerta demanded.
"Well, now years ago, when Harry Potter's
parents realized they were marked for death, do you remember?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Rosmerta nodded.
"They went into hiding. Few knew where they were, One who did was Sirius Black, and he told You Know Who!" McGonagall continued.
"Not only did Black lead You to know who to the Potters that night, but he also killed one of their friends, Peter Pettigrew!" Fudge said.
Rosmerta gasped "Peter Pettigrew?"
"Yes, little lump of a boy," McGonagall
confirmed. "always trailing after Sirius Black."
"Ah, I remember him never let James and Sirius out of his sight, but what happened?"
"Well Peter Pettigrew tried to warn the
Potters, and might have managed to, had he not run into Sirius Black."
"Black was vicious!" Fudge cut in "He didn't kill Pettigrew, he destroyed him! A finger is all that was left of Pettigrew."
"I don't believe it," Rosmerta said shaking her head.
"Oh but that's not all, Black was, and to this
day remains to be Harry's godfather.'
I couldn't listen anymore. I ran out of the pub and pushed through a group of carolors. I didn't know where I was going, I just needed to get away from there. I walked into the woods behind Honeydukes and sat on a rock. I was feeling so many emotions sadness, confusion, but mostly anger. Anger towards Sirius Black for what he did to my parents, for what he did to me. All I wanted to do was scream.
"Harry?" I heard a soft voice ask. I looked up and Alice was slowly walking towards me, following the footprints, I had left in the snow.
She kneeled in front of me.
She slowly pulled the cloak off and lightly gasped at my tear-streaked face.
"Harry, what happened?"
"He was their friend...and he betrayed them. He was their friend!" I yelled.
She looked a little taken aback at my tone.
"I hope he finds me because when he does I'm going to kill him."
"Oh Harry," she said quietly as she reached
her hand up to wipe my tears. I'm glad it was Alice who came, I couldn't take Hermione's
immediate questions or Ron's uncomforting silence. I needed her.
She cupped my face in her hand and I looked up at her. She wrapped her arms around me and rubbed my back. I cried into her shoulder as she stroked my hair. After a few moments, I regained myself.
"I'm sorry about that." I apologized
"Don't be. you've helped me like that multiple times. I'm happy to return the favour."
We sat on the rock in comfortable silence
for a while. She rested her head on my
shoulder and I moved my hand to her knee.
"Harry?"
"Hm?'
"Just know, I'll always be here for you. I won't leave even if things get rough." She said
She was right, things were going to get rough. I smiled knowing no matter what, I'd have my best friend by my side.
𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊