✯ CHAPTER FOUR ✯
❝You knew Harry's Dad?❞
September 11th, 1991.
OUT ON THE grounds of Hogwarts castle, Estella stood with Harry and Ron in their first ever flying lesson. They were unfortunate enough to be spending that lesson with the Slytherins -- although Estella thought that if she just ignored their existence then it wouldn't go that badly.
"I love flying," she said to the two boys as they waited for the Professor, Madam Hooch, to arrive at the class, "of course, my Dad is really strict about it and hardly ever let's me have a go on his broom...but on the rare times I am allowed on, it is absolutely amazing."
Harry looked really nervous about what was coming. "Is it difficult?"
"I guess it can be...it all depends on if you have the gift of flying or not. Some people are really good at it while others are really bad."
"I'll probably be one of the really bad ones," said Harry, sighing deeply. Estella supposed that he hadn't meant for her to hear him say this, so instead of saying anything she just gave him a reassuring smile. Madam Hooch was walking towards the class by this point anyway.
She was a relatively tall woman, and her hair was short and grey while her eyes were bright yellow and made her look a bit like a hawk. As soon as she arrived, she immediately started barking at the whole class.
"Well, what are you all waiting for? Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
The brooms had been laid down in rows in front of them all. Estella glanced down at hers. It was old and the twigs stuck out at different angles -- this didn't bother her much though, it wasn't like Remus' had been any different.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called out Madam Hooch from the front, "and say, 'UP!'"
"UP!" everyone shouted.
Only two people managed to catch their broomsticks first try, and those two people were Harry and Estella. The rest of the class seemed to really be struggling, Hermione's broomstick had simply rolled over on the ground, Neville's hadn't moved at all, and Ron had somehow managed to smack himself in the face with his.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows, correcting their grips.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch, eventually. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle -- three -- two --"
But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville just kept shooting up into the air. Soon enough, there was a loud thud and he hit the ground, his body lying on the grass in a heap.
Madam Hooch, white faced and nervous looking, went rushing straight over to the young boy and leaned down next to him.
"Broken wrist," she muttered. "Come on, boy -- it's all right, up you get."
She turned to the rest of the class.
"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where you are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear."
Wrapping her arm around Neville, Madam Hooch set off. No sooner were the two of them out of earshot than Draco Malfoy burst into laughter.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?"
The rest of the Slytherins joined in.
"Shut up, Malfoy," said Parvati Patil, a Gryffindor girl who Estella shared her dorm with.
"Oooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" asked stupid pug face Parkinson, and just at the sound of her voice Estella felt a very strong need to punch her again. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies, Parvati."
"Oh, shut up, you idiot," Estella snarled, totally angry that people were being so cruel. "Do you really think I won't punch you again, Pugface? I'm not scared."
"You definitely are," spat Parkinson. "Don't think I didn't see your stupid little face when McGonagall asked what happened to me -- you were terrified that that giant beast Hagrid or whatever his name is was going to tell her what you'd done. Lucky he didn't, right?"
At this, Estella had had enough. How dare Pansy accuse her of being scared? She walked closer to her, picked up her fist, and punched her straight in the nose once again, causing thick layers of blood to come gushing out of it.
Parkinson looked at a loss for words as Estella turned around feeling extremely proud of herself. It seemed not many people had noticed the confrontation though, as Draco Malfoy was now in the air, waving a present that Neville had received from his grandmother around.
"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy didn't seem to care.
"Come and get it, Potter!"
Harry grabbed his broom. Almost instinctively, Estella did the same. She needed to help Harry.
"No!" shouted Hermione. "Madam Hooch told us not to move -- you'll get us all into trouble."
They both ignored her. Harry mounted his broom and kicked hard off the ground, Estella copied, and they both went soaring up and up high into the air until they were level with Malfoy, who looked stunned.
"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"
"Oh, yeah?" asked Malfoy. It was clear to Estella that he was trying to look threatening, but really he just looked terrified.
It was so easy to chase him -- Estella didn't even understand how. Loads of Gryffindors clapped as her and Harry went flying towards Malfoy, almost managing to knock him off before he got away in time.
"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Estella called. She knew that he was thinking the same thing.
"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw Neville's glass ball into the air and streaked back towards the ground.
Estella saw the ball rise up in the air and start to fall. She leant forward on her broom and started to fly, quickly, towards it, the air hitting harshly off her face. She stretched out her hand, grabbed the ball, and threw it in Harry's direction -- hoping that he would perhaps have a better grip.
He caught it, Estella could have screamed out of happiness. Together they both flew safely to the ground and hopped off their brooms, Neville's gift -- which was something called a remembrall -- clutched unharmed in Harry's fist.
"ESTELLA LUPIN! HARRY POTTER!"
Estella felt her heart sink so deep into her stomach that she thought it might explode. Professor McGonagall was running towards them. She had seen everything.
"Never -- in all my time at Hogwarts --"
Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "-- how dare you both -- might have broken your necks --"
"It wasn't their fault, Professor --"
"Be quiet, Miss Patil --"
"But Malfoy --"
"That's enough, Mr Weasley. Potter, Lupin, follow me. Now."
Just as Harry and Estella started following their Professor towards the castle, McGonagall stopped short, staring at Parkinson's bloody nose.
She pulled down her glasses to get a better look. "Miss Parkinson, what happened to you now?"
"Lupin. That's what happened," Pugface spat, making the Gryffindor Head of House eye Estella suspiciously. "She punched me in the nose for absolutely no reason."
"I had a perfect reason and you know it!"
"Be quiet, Miss Lupin," Professor McGonagall said sternly. "Parkinson, go to the hospital wing and get cleaned up. If you see Madam Hooch tell her I have excused Lupin and Potter from this lesson. Come on, you two."
Her body trembling, Estella followed McGonagall and Harry across the grounds and back into the castle.
She was sure to be done for. Not only had she been caught flying high in the air on a broomstick despite being told not to, but now her Head of House also knew that she had also punched Parkinson. It was awful. Truly awful.
Profesor McGonagall didn't say a word to either of the students until they were stood outside of a random classroom. She opened the door to this classroom and poked her head inside.
"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"
Just seconds later, a burly fifth year boy emerged from the room, looking extremely confused. Professor McGonagall told the three of them to follow her and they all marched along the corridor, each as confused as the other.
"In here," said McGonagall finally, pointing them into a classroom that was empty apart from Peeves, who was writing rude words on the blackboard.
"Out, Peeves!" the Professor barked.
The poltergeist threw the chalk into a bin, causing a loud clang sound, and then swooped out of the room cursing. McGonagall slammed the door behind him, before turning to face the three students.
"Potter, Lupin, this is Oliver Wood. Wood -- this is your new Chaser and Seeker."
Wood suddenly stopped looking confused and instead looked delighted. Estella gasped in shock. She hadn't been expecting that, but it was brilliant.
"Are you serious, Professor?"
"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "They're both naturals. I've never seen anything like it. Was that both of your first times on a broomstick?"
Harry nodded silently, while Estella shook her head. "I've been on my Dad's broom a few times before, but I've never really done anything big on it. This was my first time properly flying."
Wood smiled at her eagerly.
McGonagall continued talking. "Miss Lupin caught that thing in her hand without any issues, and then she threw it to Harry who was about fifty feet away from her, and he also caught it without any issues. They aren't even injured. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done this."
"Have either of you ever seen a game of Quidditch?" Wood asked excitedly. He looked as though he'd just heard the best news of his life.
"Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.
"They're both the perfect builds for their positions, too," said Wood, now walking around the two first years and staring at them. "Light -- speedy -- we'll have to get a decent broom for them, Professor -- a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."
"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can bend the first year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..."
Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Estella and Harry.
"I want to hear that you're both training hard, or I may change my mind about punishing you...However, I do need a word with you, Lupin, so if you could stay behind for a few minutes....Wood, Potter...You're both free to go."
Estella sighed deeply as she watched the two boys leave the room, although she supposed that she couldn't get away with everything. She knew that Professor McGonagall was making her stay behind because of the punch. It was so obvious.
"Right, Miss Lupin," said McGonagall, when Harry and Oliver out of earshot, "what happened between you and Miss Parkinson?"
"I can explain." Estella said quickly. "She was being truly horrible about Neville."
"What did she say?"
"Well -- Malfoy laughed at Neville because he took off on his own and broke his wrist, so some of us Gryffindors went to defend him, and Parkinson called him a fat little cry baby because of it. I'm sorry, Professor, but it just really bugged me."
"And while I understand that, Lupin," said McGonagall sternly, "fighting is not tolerated at this school. There is other ways to handle things. I'm going to have to give you a detention."
"Yes, Professor. I understand. Can I go now?"
"No, not yet," McGonagall said, and Estella had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "I'm going to owl Remus and ask him to stop by. I need parental consent for you to be on the Quidditch team."
"But Professor," Estella whined -- she suddenly felt the need to cry, she didn't think Remus would ever want her playing Quidditch, let alone in first year, "you didn't get parental permission for Harry."
"Harry was raised by his Aunt and Uncle, who are Muggles. I very much doubt they know what Quidditch is, and if I was to explain it to them, I don't think they'd understand or care. Remus, on the other hand, is a wizard who attended Hogwarts. He would want to know if you were joining the team at such an early stage."
Estella nodded, sighing in defeat. She suspected that this was true. McGonagall then asked her to wait as she headed off to owl Remus and ask him to come to the school.
⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝
It was around an hour later that Remus Lupin arrived at the school, and when he did he entered the classroom looking extremely confused.
When he saw Estella sitting there, however, his face seemed to harden a little as he gave her a stern look.
"Estella Lily, what have you done?"
"Wow, Dad, you have so much faith in me," the young girl chuckled. "You're called into the school for me and you automatically think it's for a negative reason."
"Well, I don't see why they would have me in for something positive. They'd just owl me. Please don't tell me you're expelled already."
"She's not expelled, Remus, don't worry," said Professor McGonagall, walking in behind him, "and this meeting isn't entirely for a negative reason either. Take a seat."
Remus eyed Estella suspiciously still, but sat down. McGonagall sat infront of them both and started talking.
"Okay, first thing to talk about...We'd like for Estella to join the Quidditch team and we need your permission. I saw her fly earlier. She's an absolute natural."
Remus' eyebrows suddenly shot up, and he looked over at the girl he saw as his daughter in concern. "In first year? Minerva, are you serious? That's so dangerous."
"Well, as I said, she's good," said McGonagall, nodding. "But, of course...if you don't want her on the team then we can find someone else. I just think she'd do amazing."
There was silence for a while. It seemed Remus was thinking long and hard about his answer, and Estella sat silently praying that he'd say yes for the whole time. Eventually, he sighed deeply, looking around the room.
"I don't know about this..." he said, shaking his head. "Quidditch can be very dangerous, and Estella's still very young....I don't want her getting hurt...It would kill me if she ever got hurt."
"Please, Dad!" Estella began to beg him. "I'll be safe, I promise! And you can come to all my games --"
Remus interrupted her. "You really want to do this, sweetheart?"
"Yes," she nodded. "You know how much interest I've always shown in it. I'd love to be on the team, and Chaser just seems like a great position to have."
Remus sighed, but after a couple of seconds also nodded, turning to speak to McGonagall again.
"If she wants to be on the team, then I suppose my answer is yes. But I'll be at every single game and if she ever gets injured, she's off the team until her third year at least."
Estella smiled, standing up to crush her Father in a hug and thank him. After a few minutes, McGonagall cleared her throat and she sat back down again.
"That is not all I wanted to talk about," she stated plainly. Estella tensed up knowing where this was going.
"Estella has already found herself in quite a bit of trouble. She punched someone today, and I also spoke to Professor Snape earlier in the week. Apparently she's been giving him alot of cheek in his class."
Remus turned to look at the young girl, raising his eyebrows. "You punched someone? Is that how I raised you?"
"No, Dad -- although you raised me to always stand up for people," Estella muttered guiltily, looking down at her feet. "That's all I was doing."
"I did, but not with your fists. I don't ever want to hear of you doing anything like that again. And what about Snape's class?"
"He hates me, Dad," Estella raised her hands in defence. "I don't know why, but he does. And my friend Harry too. He was picking on us for everything."
Remus went quiet, a face of realisation suddenly washing over him -- he said nothing about it, though.
"You still can't talk back to your Professor's, although I'm sure Professor McGonagall will keep an eye on him if he's picking on you -- right, Minerva?"
"Of course," McGonagall confirmed, she seemed to give Remus a bit of a knowing look.
"So, is that all?"
Just as Professor McGonagall was about to nod her head, Estella spoke up. She wasn't going to let her Father get away that easy, not when she had been waiting for a reply to his letter for so long...
"No. Dad, I wrote to you..." she said, folding her arms across her chest. "You promised me in the summer that if I wrote to you'd always reply back, so why haven't you?"
"I've been busy, Stell. I haven't had the chance yet," Remus stated, clearly lying. "I was going to, don't worry."
"I don't believe you. Can you just tell me the answers to my questions now?"
"Estella, look -- you're too young --"
"I'm almost twelve, Dad, and everyone else seems to know. I know you're only doing it to protect me, but please, I deserve to know."
"What is she taking about, Remus?" asked McGonagall, watching the argument curiously.
"She's heard stuff about the war, I think, and her family...I've been waiting until she's older to actually speak to her about it...but, well, I think she might be right. I think she's at that age now. Would you mind giving us five minutes alone?"
"That's fine," said the Professor, walking towards the door. "I'll just be in my office if you need me. I'm sure you remember where that is, Remus."
"I do, thank you. Goodbye, Minerva."
Professor McGonagall left the room. Estella turned to look at her Father.
"So, can you answer my questions now?"
"Yes, Estella, wait a second," he replied, getting slightly impatient. "What one do you want me to answer first?"
"The war," she stated. "When was the war?"
Remus stayed silent for a few seconds, before taking a deep sigh and beginning to explain.
"The war technically started when I was a young boy, although it didn't turn to anything bad until my later years of school, and it continued on until you were one and a half. I fought in the war, along with your Dad and Harry's Dad."
"You knew Harry's Dad?" asked Estella, curious now.
"Oh yes, sweetheart," Remus continued, and he suddenly looked visibly upset, "and his Mum, they were my best friends. Your Dad was too."
"And...and what happened to them? Harry said some guy called You-Know-Who kill them, but I don't know who."
"You-Know-Who, or --" Remus lowered his voice into a whisper, "Voldemort, if you were to call him by his actual name, is the whole reason that there was even a war in the first place. He believed that only pureblood witches and wizards should be able to walk through the wizarding world doing magic, and therefore set out on a mission to gather followers who would help him murder all these muggles, muggleborns and halfbloods."
Estella kept quiet as her Father explained everything, listening very carefully to every word that came from his mouth.
"Now, I can't go into full detail of what happened here, because even I don't know the whole story, but what I can say is that eventually Harry's parents had to go into hiding," he took a deep breath, "they chose for your father to be their secret keeper."
"What's a secret keeper?" asked Estella.
"A secret keeper is someone who is designated to keeping a certain location a secret from everyone," Remus explained. "They use something called a fidelius charm for this. That way no one will be able to find the location unless the secret keeper tells them about it."
Estella could already see where this was going. "But Voldemort managed to find Harry's parents, even when they had a secret keeper?"
Remus nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry to say that your Father betrayed them, on Halloween in 1981. You were actually with Harry and his parents, Lily and James, that night. I'll forever be grateful that you don't remember it."
His voice shook as he spoke.
"Your Father told Voldemort their location, which resulted in him murdering them in the comfort of their own home."
"And what happened next?" Estella asked, she was almost in tears. She didn't know that her Father had truly been that evil. "Did he go to Azkaban?"
"Eventually he did, yes. But not just for that. After Lily and James had died, your Father set out to kill one of our other friends, Peter Pettigrew -- but not only did he kill him. He also killed thirteen innocent muggles while at it."
Estella couldn't help it, she burst into tears. It hurt her alot to know that anyone would betray their friends like that, and this was her own biological Dad they were talking about. She just didn't understand why he would do such a thing.
"Why--why did he do it, Dad?" she asked through her tears, as Remus pulled her on to his lap to give her a hug. "Didn't he care about anyone? About me? About his friends?"
"If I could answer that question, Stell, I would, but I don't know," Remus sighed. "He definitely loved you alot though, or anyway it always seemed like he did. He once told me that you were the best thing to ever happen to him. I don't know what changed."
Estella stayed silent. She didn't tell him but Remus' words only seemed to hurt her even more, if her Father had loved her so much then what made him do it? Why did he betray everyone?
"Estella..." Remus whispered after a few minutes, as she cried into his chest. "Estella...I need you to promise me something."
She looked up at him. "What, Dad?"
"You can't tell Harry about any of this. He doesn't know, and that is for his own safety." He made eye contact with his goddaughter. "Promise me you won't say anything?"
"I promise, Dad."
"Good," said Remus, before quickly looking down at his watch. "Now, Stella, I'm going to need to go, but just know that you can write to me whenever you need to and I'll see you at your first Quidditch match." He kissed the top of her forehead. "I love you so much, sweetheart."
"I love you too, Dad. See you soon -- Oh, and I promise not to get into anymore fights or talk back to Profosser Snape."