Flight of the Fat Lady
(not edited)
[Theodore barges into Primrose's room with a look of panic on his face.]
James scrunches his nose, "Why is he in my daughter's bedroom."
"James I swear if you comment about your daughter being close to boys one more time I will tell lily abo—"
Mary was cut off by James' hand that he quickly slap over her mouth, eyes wide with panic.
Primrose immediately jumps up from her bed.
"What's wrong? Do you need help hiding a body? Do I need to punch someone?"
Theo quickly shakes his head, tears start to well up in his eyes making her panic even more.
Andromeda frowns, "What happened now?"
"Was it Draco? Even with a broken arm, I'll gladly punch him." She starts to look for her shoes.
Regulus and a few others snort.
He clears his throat before blurting out, "Ithinkilikeblasie."
"Huh?"
Primrose stops what she's doing and turns to look at him, "What?"
Theodore takes a deep breath, "I think I like Blaise."
Marlene, Evan, and Sirius all jump out of their seats, screaming with joy.
"I knew it!"
Lucius's face scrunches into a look of disgust, "What a disgrace."
Sirius glares at him, "Shut up you blonde idiot."
Primrose just stares at him, before a huge smile breaks free. She jumps on him hugging him closely, "I KNEW IT!!"
Theodore looks shocked, "You're not mad, disgusted?"
Primrose smacks him on the back of the head with her free arm, "No you idiot! I already had a feeling anyways."
"Really?"
She nods her head. "How'd you know?"
Theodore scratches the back of his neck, cheeks red. "Um— well you see we were sitting on the couch in the common room and our hands brushed and I swear my heart felt like it was gonna burst out of my chest." Theodore Quickly looks to the floor, "But I'm not sure he feels the same way."
"Awe that's adorable, And I'm pretty sure Blaise feels the same way I can feel it in my gut, and you know my gut feelings are never wrong."
Theodore chuckles, "Like Mattheo being obsessed with you?"
James and Sirius both crossed their arms and glared at the screen, "No."
This time it was Primrose who went bright red, "Shut up!"
Alice giggles, "That was adorable."
Lily nods her head in agreement
[The screen changes to show the buzzing queue of Students Third Years and older each clutching a permission form passing by a glowering Filch.]
"HOGSMEADE!" James screams as he jumps up and down like a toddler who had too much candy.
Euphemia and Fleamount shake their head at their son.
"Now remember, these visits to Hogsmeade Village are a privilege. Should your behavior reflect poorly on the school in any way, that privilege shall not be extended again."
Harry approaches her, but before he can utter a syllable,
"No permission form. No visiting the Village. That's the rule, Potter."
James and Sirius groan, "Come on Minnie."
McGonagall gives them a stern look.
"Yes professor, but I thought if you said I could go—"
She shakes her head, "But I don't say so. A parent or guardian must sign, and since I am neither, it would be inappropriate."
A flicker of pity passes through her face as she stares at the defeated look on his face, "I'm sorry, Potter. But that's my final word,"
Ron, Hermione, and Primrose who were watching Harry expectantly from across the way see him turn, and shake his head. Their faces fall.
Harry walks back towards them, as Ron pushes Primrose forward,
"You're her favorite. You should go ask her."
"That carrot head!"
She shakes her head, "It's not gonna work."
Primrose walks up to McGonagall with a grin on her face, "Good afternoon Minnie, you look amazing. New hairdo?"
McGonagall sighs, "What do you want potter? I already told you're brother that there was nothing I could do."
She lets out an offended gasp and clutches her chest with her left hand, "I don't want anything, can't I just come to compliment my favorite teacher?"
McGonagall looks back and forth at the screen and James, thinking how crazy it is how His daughter is an exact copy of him.
McGonagall stares at Primrose with a knowing look, "You're father had the same look and grin when he tried to get something or when he was doing something he wasn't supposed to."
Primrose face drops.
Regulus winces, Knowing what that must of felt like.
"I'm sorry Ms.Potter but there's nothing I can do." And with that, she walks away.
Primrose turns to shake her head at the trio, and once again their faces fall. Both harry and Primrose raise their hand in farewell and watches them go.
"So No Hogsmeade, eh?"
The twins turn around to See Mr. Lupin.
[The screen fades out to show the twins and Lupin walking along on the bridge.]
"Well, don't feel too bad. I was roundly disappointed the first time I went."
James and Sirius raise their eyebrows at Remus, what a liar.
"Really?" The twins ask.
"No. I was just trying to make you feel better. Honeydukes' sweets are the best in the world. Their Pepper Imps are so strong you smoke at the ears. And Zonko's Joke Shop may be dangerous, but you can't beat their Stink Pellets,"
The twins nod glumly,
Barty rolls his eyes, "Nice going, lupin."
"Not to mention The Shrieking Shack, which, according to Hermione, is the most severely haunted building in Britain."
"Yes, that too..."
The marauders look anywhere but the screen.
Primrose slightly narrows her eyes at the professor.
"You don't think she knows, do you?" Peter whispers.
"Professor, can I ask you something?"
"You'd like to know why I stopped you from facing the Boggart." Said Professor lupin causing Harry's eyebrows to raise in surprise.
"I should think it'd be obvious. I assumed the Boggart would take the shape of Lord Voldemort."
"Well, it didn't."
Rodolphus blinks at his brother, "No shit."
Harry frowns as Lupin studies him curiously.
"But clearly... I was wrong."
"I did think of Voldemort first. But then, I remembered that night on the train... and the Dementors." Harry said honestly,
"Well, well. I'm impressed. That suggests that what you fear most of all is... fear. Very wise."
"Before I fainted, I heard something. A woman. Screaming."
"Dementors force us to relive the worst memories of our lives. Our pain becomes their power."
"I think it was my mother. The night she was murdered."
Primrose stares at her brother, wide-eyed as he looks up to find Lupin studying him.
"The first time I saw you, Harry, I recognized you immediately. Not by your scar. By your eyes. They're your mother Lily's." He turns to primrose, "And you look exactly like you're father, James."
James smiles, "She does, does she."
He nods at their shocked faces, "Yes. I knew them. Your mother, She was there
for me at a time when no one else was. We used to talk for hours." He pauses to take a deep breath before continuing.
"She was not only a singularly gifted witch but an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in whoever she met, even and perhaps most especially when that person couldn't see it in themselves..."
Lupin's eyes glaze in memory, then he blinks, and smiles at them.
Lily was crying as she hugged Remus tightly.
"Which perhaps explains her affection for your father. James had, shall we say, a certain talent for trouble." He pauses and gives primrose a knowing smile, "much like you Primrose, A gift, rumor has it, he passed on to you."
Primrose noticed that his voice cracked as he talked about their father. Like he was having trouble still accepting he was gone.
Lupin turns, and eyes the twins affectionately. The twins smile.
"I could tell you stories—and there are many about your parents Harry and primrose— but know this." He eyes them intensely.
"They lived. Every moment of every day. You should know that. That's how they'd want to be remembered,"
"Is it hard for you to be here? With all the memories knowing they are gone?" Primrose asks him.
Lupin's eyes get glassy, as he nods.
Primrose eyes the professor, there's more to the story.
Sirius shallows harshly, tears forming in his eyes as looks down at his lap, playing with his fingers. He hopes that it was all a misunderstanding.
[The Hall buzzes with tales of Hogsmeade, as students swap stories, sample sweets, and send soap bubbles of all shapes, sizes, and colors into the air.]
"And the post office! It's about 200 owls, all sitting on color-coded shelves, depending on how fast you want your letter to go!"
"And Honeyduke's is brilliant! Sugar Quills, Flaming Whizbees, and blood-flavored lollipops for Halloween!" Ron adds
Harry nods, picking quietly through the spray of brilliantly colored sweets on the table. Hermione notices.
"But, I mean, after a while, it got a bit boring. Don't you think, Ron?"
Ron looks up confused, "Huh? Oh. Yeah. Dead depressing. Hang on. I almost forgot. I got you something wicked at Dervish and Bange's. It's a Pocket Sneakoscope."
Ron places a small glass spinning top on the table.
"If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's meant to light up and spin. Mind you, Fred and George say it's rubbish, sold for wizard tourists, but I thought, you know, it can't hurt, given that."
Harry gives Ron a look, "Sirius Black's trying to kill me."
Sirius winces.
"I'm glad you had a good time. Really, And thanks for this." Harry says as he eyes the Sneakoscope.
"Rubbish or not, you're right. It can't hurt."
With that, Harry pops a pepper Imp into his mouth,
Ron's eyes widened, "Oh, careful of those, they'll make your..."
On cue, smoke curls from Harry's ears and nose.
Evan grins, "Hey Reg remember when we put those into Malfoys soup?"
Ron shakes his head, "Never mind."
[the screen once again changes to show Harry, Ron, and Hermione climbing the stairs, stopping as they find a crowd gathering on the Seventh Floor landing.]
"What's the hold-up? Only Neville
ever forgets the password."
Harry peered over the heads in front of him. The portrait seemed to be closed.
Remus frowns, "That's not right."
"Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password -- excuse me, I'm Head Boy --"
Bellatrix rolls her eyes, "Nobody cares that your head boy."
And then a silence fell over the crowd, from the front first, a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a sudden sharp voice, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."
Marlene groans, "What now!"
People's heads turned; those at the back were standing on tiptoe.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchange dark glances, when Ginny emerges from the crowd, her face ashen.
"The Fat Lady... she's gone."
"What!?"
"That's a joke!"
Ron snorts, "Probably stuffing her face with the apples in that still lives on the second floor again."
Ginny shakes her head, "No. You don't understand."
Hermione Gasps and Grabs Harry's arm. The Fat Lady's portrait had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely.
"That's poor painting."
Just then dumbledore appears.
"Mr. Filch. Round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
Just then, there is a scream. The students dash to the landing, where all the paintings whisper fearfully.
Filch's rheumy eyes peer up, searching the upper shadows, then narrow.
"There'll be no need for ghosts, Professor." Filch extends a crooked finger. High up, near the ceiling, the Fat Lady cowers in a portrait not her own, trembling.
"Dear lady. Who did this to you?" dumbledore asks
The fat lady looked like she was in a trance,
"Eyes like the devil he's got. And a soul as dark as his name. It was him, Headmaster. The one they talk about. He's here. Somewhere in the castle. Sirius Black."
The great hall was silent as people eyed Sirius weary.
Finally, Snape broke the silence, "Well, at least black grew out of being the family disappointment."
Sirius jumped up, wand pointed at Snape "Keep talking Snape!"
"Secure the castle, Mr. Filch. The rest of you... to the Great Hall."
[The camera Drifts through the silent room, over an ocean of Sleeping Bags, stopping at a wide awake primrose cuddled up between a sleeping Mattheo and Theodore. The camera continues to stop at Harry also lying awake, staring at the net of stars glimmering beyond the highest window.]
A gentle creek is heard and Harry and Primrose's eyes shift over to see Snape pass through the great doors, and converge with Dumbledore.
"I've done the dungeons, Headmaster. No sign of Black. Nor anywhere else in the castle."
Dumbledore nods, "I didn't really expect him to linger."
"Remarkable feat, don't you think? To enter Hogwarts castle on one's own, completely undetected."
James' lip curls up, "He better not be suggesting what I think he is."
Peter scratches his head, "I am so confused."
Dumbledore gazes at the students, refusing to take the bait.
"You may recall, prior to the start of term, I did express my concerns when you appointed Professor—"
"You still haven't grown out of the childish school feud I see Snape."
"Shut it, Crouch."
Primrose's brows furrowed.
"I do not believe a single professor inside this castle would have helped Sirius Black enter it, Severus."
As Snape's eyes glitter darkly, Dumbledore gazes out over the slumbering students.
"No... I feel quite confident the castle is safe. And I'm more than willing to let the students return to their Houses. But tomorrow. For now, let them sleep."
Dumbledore tilts his head at his future self.
As Dumbledore's gaze finds Harry, he shuts his eyes and feigns sleep.
"It's astonishing what the body can endure when the mind allows itself to rest,"
[Primrose was in lupin class talking to Mattheo when Snape barge in]
James frowns, "where's moony?"
"Turn to page 394"
As the students eye Snape with guarded curiosity, Malfoy finishes scrawling something on a bit of parchment and
balls it up in his hands. When he opens them, a moth flutters from his palms.
"Malfoy your evil spawn is at it again."
"Excuse me, sir, but... where's Professor Lupin?" Harry asks
Sirius and James gag, "Ew don't ever call him sir again."
"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter? Suffice it to say, your Professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Page 394" Snape said with a twisted smile.
Snape waves the moth away and blows out a candle as the slideshow begins. An ancient woodcut of a horrific beast flickers at the front of the room.
Ron frowns down at his book. "Werewolves?"
Remus's spine snaps straight.
"But, sir, we've only just begun learning about Red Caps and Hinkypunks. We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks" says Hermione quickly.
"Quiet!"
Primrose glares at Snape, slowly shaking her head.
Ron slowly turns to Harry "When did she come in? Did you see her come in?"
"Now. Which of you can tell me the
difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?"
The Marauders share a look before glaring at Snape.
As the class stares mutely at a slide of an attacking werewolf, Hermione waiting desperately for someone to respond to Snape's question, the moth flutters by Harry.
He quickly raises his hand to pin it to his desk. A tiny cloud of moth dust mushrooms into the air and Harry lifts his palm Malfoy's Parchment has reappeared.
Snape slowly shakes his head, "No one? How disappointing."
"Can't he see that Granger girl is raising her hand?"
Primrose scoffs, "Do you need to get your eyes checked professor? Hermione clearly has her hand up."
"Detention Potter!"
"Please, sir, an Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice in the matter Furthermore, the werewolf actively hunts humans and
responds only to the call of its own kind" Hermione blurts out, hand still in the air.
Draco lets out a low howl, causing primrose to kick him underneath the table.
"Ouch!" Draco lets out a yelp, rubbing his shin.
"Quiet, Malfoy! Though one must admit to feeling your pain. That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger. Tell me. Are you incapable of restraining yourself? Or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"
Hermione's eyes start to water and Ron snaps, "You asked us a question and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?"
Primrose stares at Ron in shock, knowing that he calls Hermione a know-it-all at least every so often.
However Snape wasn't having it he advanced toward Ron slowly, and everyone in the room held their breath.
"You can join potter in Detention, Weasley," Snape said silkily, his face very close to Ron's. "And if I ever hear you criticize the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed."
As Snape makes his way back towards Lupin's desk Harry stares at the parchment.
Malfoy has drawn a crude caricature of him in his Quidditch robes being Struck By Lightning over and over again.
"As an antidote to your ignorance, I prescribe two rolls of parchment on the werewolf by Monday morning, with particular emphasis placed on recognizing it."
Primrose's eyes widened and she jumps out of her seat, "That's ridiculous!"
Mattheo try's to pull her back down but she refuses.
"Out of my class potter!"
Primrose huffs as she packs up her belongings, "Fine I don't even want to be here anyways!" And with that, she storms out of the class slamming the door shut behind her.
Mattheo lets out a sigh, rubbing his forehead before following primrose.
Harry who was so focused on his sister storming out that he didn't notice that Snape was back at his desk until he snatches the drawing from under his nose, "Passing notes, Potter?"
Snape eyes the drawing, "Not exactly Picasso, are you? I hope you demonstrate more talent on the Quidditch pitch this weekend than you do as an artist."
Ron glares at Snape.
"If not, fear you'll perish, given the weather forecast. Until that time, however, you'll forgive me if I don't let you off homework. Should you die, assure you..you need not hand it in."
As Snape turns away, Malfoy sniggers with his two goons. Harry glances down at the drawing once more as the screen fades out.
_________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: surprise