The Great Hall was a buzz at lunch, following the revelation that Professor Dalkwin had not been seen for four days. The news broke when a student had gone to his office and found it strewn apart, as though a struggle had taken place. Owls and patronuses were sent out, but as of the afternoon, the last known sighting had been at supper during the beginning of the week. A huge crowd was formed around the Hufflepuff table, Lily, Gizelle and the Marauders, minus Remus were mixed within it. The student who had been the one to discover his disappearance was going on about what he had seen. “But it’s the curse, you know?” he explained, “No Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher lasts for more than a year. It’s been that way for forever.”
“Rubbish!” Another objected, “A position can’t be cursed! That doesn’t even make sense!”
“No, but think about it. When was the last time we’ve had a professor for more than a year?”
“You’re an idiot, you know that?”
Gizelle didn’t want to join the conversation. She didn’t want to believe that Professor Dalkwin was gone. He had only been their professor for the school year, but he was beloved by all. He was tough, but his sternness was the result of his desire to see his students succeed and was the reason that many students were pursuing Defense Against the Dark Arts at a N.E.W.T level next year.
What bothered her most, though, was that she had the sinking feeling that this had something to do with Voldemort. And if Voldemort was powerful enough to get reach within Hogwarts, then there wasn’t much that he couldn’t touch. Professor Dalkwin had reminded her of her own father. Short, easily tempered, bushy mustache. This served as a constant reminder to her blood heritage and the danger of being a muggleborn. And because of this, Gizelle was constantly battling with herself as to whether or not she should explain to her parents the dangers of the magical world.
She didn’t know if they would even comprehend the extent to which the wizarding community was divided on the subject of blood and worse she was worried they might not let her come back to Hogwarts if they did.
She left the Great Hall, wandering through the mostly empty corridors. It was a nice feeling to be done with finals. It was like the weight of the world was lifted off of her shoulders. With the exception of her Transfiguration final, she had done as expected on her exams and she was well prepared to enter her final year of Hogwarts with the intention of studying ancient magic.
Far ahead in the hallway, she heard a strange noise. Heavy breathing and knocking coming from a broom cupboard down the way. Her heart fluttered. Allowing herself a moment to believe the impossible, she raced down the hallway and flung the door open.
“Ah!”
“AH!”
“Gizelle!”
“Remus!”
“GIZELLE!”
“EVA?!”
Gizelle backed away from the cupboard, her arms shielding her eyes and crashed into one of the suits of armor.
“What are you doing?!” Eva yelled, stepping out of the closet and trying to straighten her skirt, which had twisted itself around her waist.
“I heard a struggle!” Gizelle cried from the floor.
Remus raised his eyebrows, his cheeks flushed crimson. “You heard a struggle, from a broom cupboard?” he asked, “And you thought, what? A house elf might be stuck in there?”
Gizelle sighed, “I dunno, I thought-I thought it might be Professor Dalkwin.” She leaned back against the fallen armor.
Remus couldn’t help himself. He doubled over laughing, “You thought he’d be in a cupboard? Blimey Giz, they’ve looked all over the school for him!” Seemingly remembering that Professor Dalkwin was actually missing and could be in danger, or worse, he sobered up immediately. He gripped the back of his neck and looked at Eva. She smiled softly at him and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. Her lips lingered there for a moment and then she rested her forehead against his jaw. Remus wrapped his arms around her. It was a strange time at Hogwarts.
~.:#:.~
The end of school feast was set to begin. The girls were in their dormitories packing the final loose bits into their trunks. Hannah sat on top of Gizelle’s trunk so that she could close it. A crunching sound followed the clicking of the latch. “Woops,” Gizelle said, wiping her brow with the back of her hand, “There go my vials.”
"I cannot believe how fast this year has gone," Gizelle said as they made their way down to the common room. She was beside herself; she never liked the end of the year.
"It's all right, Giz, we'll all get together over the summer, yeah?" Peter gave her a quick one-armed hug.
"Yeah, but just not my house, unless you like giant arses roaming freely. I'd probably make their summer hell. Though, on second thought, maybe we should pay old Walburga a visit...I need to collect some of my things at any rate..." Sirius rubbed his chin and then stretched out his arms and waved his hands back and forth for Gizelle to give him a hug.
She obliged, letting his warm body envelop her. “You shouldn’t speak of your family that way Sirius,” she said.
“You should meet my family first,” he retorted.
"My house is off, mum and dad would never go for it," James sighed to himself, he was NOT a pervert!
"Relax guys," Hannah slung her arms over the boys' shoulders, "My Parents are gone for the summer, Ireland, ye' know." She sighed, "They'd just be happy I'll have human contact over the break."
"Oh, my friend," Gizelle embraced her. Hannah's parents weren't exactly there for her. She usually spent her summer days alone with her little sister or with the nanny when she was younger. Her parents were always on vacation or business trips that did not allow children.
"No, don't be. I don't care anymore. They have their life, I have mine. We stay out of each other's way and we stay happy, although, I must say, if they weren't going to love their children, they might as well not have had any. You know, save them a lot of money…"
"Hannah," Gizelle cooed, "Your parents love you, they just don't know how to express it."
"Yeah," She tucked her hands in the pockets of her robes and they made their way down to the Great Hall for the final dinner of the year.
~.:#:.~
The headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, stood from his seat to begin his end of the year speech. "Another year gone! Another fine set of students we leaving Hogwarts and entering the wizarding world. But before we enjoy this wonderful feast," he motioned to the empty golden dishes, "I must bore you with my end of the year speech. And what a year it has been! Before the feast begins, we must remember to award the house cup to this year's winners," He waved his wand, "Slytherin!" The room was full of green and silver banners as a collective groan filled the hall. Gizelle wondered if the Slytherins actually took offense to the amount of hate they received from the other houses.
“It is also with a heavy heart that I remind you all of our dear Professor Dalkwin. Though he graced us with his knowledge for only one year, I’m sure we will find it in our hearts to wish for his safe return, wherever he may be.” Dumbledore continued on with the speech and by the end the floor shown slick with the salivation produced from the hungry students.
Gizelle slowly made her way to poke both of Lily's sides; who was deep in conversation with Peter, but was caught by Remus, "Not another move," He whispered with a would be angry look in his eyes, if he could hold back his smile. She raised her eyebrow at him and mouthed 'what?’ while shrugging her shoulders. "I've got my eye on you..." he pointed his middle and pointer finger from his eyes to hers. She faced forward again and began to take food from the meal that had appeared before them.
For Gizelle, dinner went alarmingly fast and the next thing she knew, it was morning and they were all ready to board the Hogwarts Express. She stared at the Scarlet steam engine; her mind drifting back to the first time she had seen it. It had seem so scary back then, now it was a comforting sight; something that reminded her of the many happy days spent travelling back and forth between what had become her second home. It was almost weird for her to be with her family and away from Hogwarts. A lump filled her throat as she thought of next year’s final feast. So many things still had to be learned.
They all boarded and chose a compartment near the back where they might find some peace. Eva and Lily were off in another compartment with some Hufflepuffs and when Remus was called away for prefects' duties the remaining Gryffindors settled in for the long ride. They sat in almost complete silence: Hannah and Peter dozing in and out of sleep, Gizelle staring out the window watching the twisted woods and streams flash quickly before her eyes, and Sirius and James mumbling about pranks for the next year. Everyone was exhausted from the finals days of their sixth year. Exams, packing, saying their goodbyes.
A rather quiet train ride later, and they were at Kings Cross station. They gathered up their luggage and each stepped lightly off the Hogwarts Express, many families were already gathered on the platform, each craning their necks to find their respective child.
"Well..." Hannah wrapped each of them in a hug, "I'll see you all soon enough then?" She walked a few feet away, faced them, and then with a faint pop, she was gone.
One by one they left, leaving only Gizelle, Sirius and James on the platform.
The boys walked with her out of the barrier between platforms nine and ten and greeted her mother and father who were sat on a bench waiting. Upon seeing Gizelle, they stood up, her mother running ahead to wrap her daughter up in a long overdue hug. James and Sirius waited patiently behind. Gizelle’s father noticed them after a moment and grunted under a scruffy goatee in their direction. “Who’re you?” Their eyebrows lifted up at this acknowledgement of their existence.
“Er...” Sirius began, “I’m Sirius, Sirius Black and this is James Potter. It’s good to finally meet you.” He held out his hand for Gizelle’s father to shake. Her father raised his eyebrow at it and puffed out his chest. He was at least half a foot shorter than both boys, but they still managed to cower like sad puppies under his gaze.
“I’m Gizelle’s very protective father,” he said, not taking his eyes off of Sirius, “You can call me sir, but I’d prefer if you’d call me nothing and stayed away from my daughter. My one and only daughter.”
James and Sirius straightened up, “Yes, sir,” they said in unison. Her father gave them one last look over and grabbed his wife softly by the arm, leading her away from the two boys.
Gizelle smiled sheepishly at them, “My dad.”
“Yeah,” Sirius grinned, rubbing his neck. “Right, see you soon.” He made to give her a hug, but stopped when he caught Gizelle’s father’s eye. He settled for an awkward pat on the shoulder instead. She smiled once more and waved goodbye, running to catch up with her parents, her mother holding out her arm to her.
As she reached her family, the boys heard her muted voice drifting back to them a final time, “Dad,” she groaned and then they were gone.
And we finally meet Gizelle’s parents!
So I heard a thing… and that thing is that there’s going to be a Marauder’s prequel? I heard it through the grapevine via a user on Wattpad and while I haven’t seen any concrete proof that it’s actually going to happen, it did get me thinking. Do you guys want a Marauders story? I’m not sure that I do, for a couple of reasons. I think that it would probably not work out as an exciting story, because nothing as epic as what happened in Harry Potter happened when James and co were at school. I guess that after they left Hogwarts it would be an amazing read, but we already know so much about what happened in term of plot that I don’t see her writing a whole book or more about it (even though that’s sort of what I’m doing *rolls eyes*) But I think that I sort of like not knowing every detail about their life. It leaves us to create exactly what happened in our own minds and I like the idea that we only know as much about James and Lily as Harry did. It’s sort of fitting, as we took the journey with him. What do you all think?
Cheers!