"This is not how I would've liked to spend my last Halloween at Hogwarts." I said quietly to Ollie, as all of us Gryffindor's were sent to the Great Hall.
"Me neither." he said softly back.
Percy was back with Dumbledore, on official "important business."
Soon, we were joined by the rest of the Houses. The Professors arrived, and McGonagall and Flitwick closed all the doors. Dumbledore stood in front of us. "The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. Now I snorted slightly. "Send word with one of the ghosts." Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing..."
He flicked his wand and the floor was covered with hundreds of purple sleeping bags. The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindor's were telling the rest of the school what had just happened.
"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"
Ollie and I grabbed two sleeping bags and moved them into a corner. Seamus and Dean moved their sleeping bags closer to us.
"You alright Shay?" I asked him.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah."
We all climbed into our sleeping bags.
"What a night." Ollie said, yawning.
"Very eventful." I curled into my warm sleeping bag.
"The lights are going out now!" Percy shouted. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"
Ollie reached out and held my hand for comfort, before he fell asleep right away. I kept falling in and out of sleep. I'd always had a hard time sleeping, and was always a light sleeper, so having this anxiety that Black was in the castle wasn't helping me at all. Every hour, a professor would come in to make sure everything was alright. Percy kept walking through the sleeping bags, telling people off for talking. He stopped in front of me and looked at me. "Still awake?" he whispered, leaning down. "It's nearly two in the morning."
"You know how I am."
He nodded and stroked my hair lightly. "Just try not to think about it alright?"
I nodded, feeling grateful to have such friends like Percy and Ollie, who was still holding my hand.
"How come you're allowed to talk?" asked a third year Ravenclaw.
"Because I'm head boy." Percy replied, standing up. "Now go to sleep."
I smiled to myself. I had finally dozed off for about an hour or so, when I woke up again, now needing water. I didn't want to get up and irritate the professors though. They were already stressed as it was, they didn't need a student annoying them about wanting to drink water. I kept tossing and turning, punching my sleeping bag to try and be more comfortable.
"What has that sleeping bag ever done to you?" someone whispered.
I looked up, my cheeks flaring, to see Lupin standing over me. Why was it that every time I was doing something stupid, he had to be there to witness it?
"It's not comfortable, I'm anxious, and I'm thirsty." I whispered back.
"Wait here."
"I'm not allowed to leave anyway." I mumbled to myself.
Lupin returned with a glass of water and handed it to me. I chugged it gratefully, before he took the glass back.
"Thank you." I said.
He smiled. "Try to sleep, alright?"
This time, I was able to fall asleep.
The next morning, everyone was able to go back to their Common Rooms. I kept stretching and cracking my limbs.
"Oh, that was the worst sleep I'd ever had in me life." I yawned.
Percy looked exhausted, having not slept, because he was patrolling the whole night.
"You need sleep." Ollie told him. "You're even paler than usual."
"Someone might mistaken you for a Gryffindor ghost." I said. Percy hit my arm slightly.
We sat down on a couch, and Percy snuggled right next to me. I patted his head softly, and I leaned my head against the couch and closed my eyes.
"Why are you so tired Sara?" asked Ollie, who as very refreshed. He was able to sleep anywhere.
"I really only got about an hour of sleep." I said, without opening my eyes. "Now shut up."
"IF YOU DON'T STOP CHANGING PASSWORDS I WILL FIND A WAY TO CLIMB INTO YOUR PORTRAIT AND FUCKING KILL YOU!" I screamed, three days later.
"Sara calm down." Seamus told me, though he was trying not to laugh.
In place of the Fat Lady, we now had Sir Cadogan, who kept fighting people to duel to be let in, or he kept changing the passwords a hundred times a day. And they were all impossible passwords. I was at my wits end.
"That's such Vulgar language for a beautiful young lady like you!" Cadogan cried.
"BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY? VULGAR? I'LL SHOW YE VULGAR YE GOBSHITE PAINTING. YER SUCH A MINGER, YE FUCKING BINT-"
"Merlin!" Lupin came rushing up behind me, just as I lunged, and started dragging me away from nearly ripping the painting off the wall, as Seamus, Ollie, Ron, Harry, and Dean were dying of laughter, and Percy and Hermione stared at me with disapproving looks, with poor Neville looking terrified.
"What is going on?" he asked, letting go of me as I breathed heavily. "A student told me someone was screaming and I ran here!"
"This stupid painting keeps changing the passwords every five minutes! I've been trying to get into the Common Room for an hour!" I yelled.
"Alright, let's all calm down." Lupin said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Cadogan, let everyone in please. Miss. Finnigan, why don't you come to my office and have some tea. That might help cool you down."
I followed Lupin, still grumpy, and flopped into his chair.
"That was a lot to take when." he said, handing me a cup of tea. "I didn't even realize you were Irish."
"My accent only comes out when I'm angry, really." I said with a shrug.
"I see." he shook hi head. "I had never expected such language to come out of your mouth."
I flushed, now feeling embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I should've controlled my anger with the younger children there. Oh poor Neville looked so scared." I now started to feel terrible.
"Anger can get the best of us sometimes." he said. "It happens to all of us, and, I can see why you were angry. Even back in my day, Sir Cadogan was.... how should I put it.... an arse."
I spit into my tea as I laughed. Lupin smiled at me. "Don't tell Professor McGonagall I said that in front of you."
"I'm glad it was you who found me, and not Professor McGonagall." I shuddered. "She would've strangled me."
Lupin just chuckled.
"I feel like you do this on purpose." I said.
"Do what?" he looked confused.
"You always manage to find me when I'm doing something absolutely embarrassing. First quidditch, then I bumped into you, then you saw me fighting with my sleeping bag, and now I was screaming like a madman."
Lupin smiled. "You just have a lot of life in you Miss. Finnigan. A lot of energy to exert."
"I should've been a beater instead of a chaser maybe." I replied.
"Perhaps." he looked at his tea. "I miss having so much life in me."
I looked at him. He tired face, the bags under his eyes, his scabby clothes and skinny figure, his skin tone clashing with the thick scars on his face. I could see what he meant.
"You seem to get a lot of life from teaching." I offered.
"Do I now?"
I nodded. "Oh yes, you're always smiling, and bubbly and so happy when you teach us."
He smiled down at his tea, his cheeks now slightly pink. "That's very kind of you to say Miss. Finnigan."
"That's not me being kind sir, I'm just telling the truth." I said. "If you want honesty, just come to me I'll be truly and brutally honest."
He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes."
"Alright then." he leaned forward. "What's your honest thought on Professor Snape."
I gasped. "Oh juicy gossip I see." I leaned forward too, so that we were looking straight into each others eyes. I felt my cheeks warm at the eye contact. "He's a grumpy scrawny git who I don't like at all. He favors certain students, and dismisses other students, even if they are fantastic students. He needs to get his act together because I'm pretty sure one day students will band together and try to fight him. And not with magic. I mean physically fight him, muggle style. With fists."
Lupin started laughing. "Oh Merlin, you are one funny person."
I grinned. "Thank you. I am very prideful of my wit and humour. And sarcasm. But I wasn't joking about Snape." I added solemnly.
I put my empty tea cup down and looked at him. "Thank you very much for the tea Professor. I should probably go and see if Neville is alright. He looked like he had seen a ghost."
He smiled. "You enjoy your day Sara."
I left the office, and froze, realizing that instead of calling me Miss. Finnigan, he had called me Sara.