CHAPTER NINE
❛Disown me!❜
Hope Lupin and Cedric Diggory sat down by the Black Lake, looking at all the colored turtles by the bay. Cedric stared at the sun while Hope played with a red turtle.
"Colored turtles are the best kind of turtles." she said, holding the turtle in her arm.
Cedric laughed at her. "Have you seen any other kind?"
"Muggles only have green ones."
The Diggory boy looked at her in astonishment and picked up a pink one. "They don't have the pretty pink ones?"
"No, Ced." she laughed loudly. "No pretty pink ones."
"Who's that Milo Bishop kid?" he asked out of nowhere. "You know, that tall Ravenclaw kid."
Hope shrugged, putting down the turtle. "To be honest? I don't really know."
"He follows you around, like if I see you, I see him." he said, crossing his arms. "It's weird."
"His family are seers, maybe he knows something I don't?" she spoke as if it were a question.
Cedric nodded along. "Maybe you have some secret prophecy--"
As the teenage boy talked, Hope went to light a cigarette she had pulled from her pocket. Cedric looked at her in disgust and shock.
"What the hell are you doing?" he said, smacking it out of her hand.
She looked at him, upset by his action. "That was one of my last ones!"
"It's a cigarette." he spoke, still staring at it in disgust. "How long have you been smoking these?"
Hope only shrugged. "July?"
"Give me the pack."
"Excuse me?"
Cedric reached down and snatched the pack out of her jacket pocket. He then stood up, and went to walk away but Hope was quick as well.
She stood up and tried to reach for the package. "Cedric Amos Diggory, give me those back."
"No. I'm not watching one of my best friends kill herself." he snapped in return.
"They're mine."
Cedric smiled at her. "And now, they belong to the garbage."
"But--"
"If I even see you with them, I'll tell Alfie."
Hope stared at him in shock but only nodded in return. "Fine."
"Come on, let's go get dinner." said Cedric. "I'll even share my cookies."
Hope laid on George's bed, next to George himself. The two had decided not to go to Hogsmeade that weekend, as they would much rather stay in the castle.
"You're quite beautiful, you know." commented George, looking up from his book on Zonko's products.
Hope only smiled before saying. "Well aren't you sweet."
"Aren't you going to tell me that I am beautiful?" asked the Weasley boy, pretending to be offended.
"Yes, George, quite gorgeous." she said, not looking up from her Potions book.
George stood up and got into Fred's trunk, and pulled out a piece of parchment and put it in his pocket. "Okay, so you know how Fred and I know everything."
"Everything?"
"How we just pop up out of nowhere? Like how we never get caught by professors?" he questioned, emphasising everything he said.
Hope shrugged. "I guess so."
"Well we owe it to this beauty." he said, laying the blank piece of parchment in front of Hope.
Her blonde eyebrows furrowed, and she looked up at him while chuckling. "Parchment, George?"
"No." he said, pulling his wand out of his back pocket. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Suddenly, a map of Hogwarts began to appear. The map showed every detail of Hogwarts, from the house-elves in the Kitchen to Dumbledore in his office.
"Holy shit." she said, then squinting at the front. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?"
"Must've been some damn good pranksters." George laughed.
Hope just stared at the name Moony, that was Remus' nickname. And Prongs, that was her Uncle James' nickname. "Moony?"
"Yeah, he's the funniest."
"Really?" questioned the Lupin girl.
George nodded, opening the map open fully. "If you try to open the map without the proper words, it insults you, Moony's insults are always the best."
As the Weasley boy opened up the Map, by the kitchen the name 'Peter Pettigrew' floated. Hope stared intently, hoping, praying, she was reading that name wrong.
"Wait, George, what does that name say?" she questioned.
He took a look at it and furrowed his eyebrows. "Peter Pettigrew?"
"Love, this map is a fake." she said, standing up.
George grabbed her wrist gently. "The map doesn't lie, Hope."
"Peter Pettigrew is dead. Dad murdered him in 1981." she explained, but then took a second look at the map. "But if the map doesn't lie--"
"Then what is he doing in Hogwarts?"
Hope jumped up. "George, do you know what this means?"
"That Peter Pettigrew is alive, and likely was a killer?"
"No." she said as if it were obvious. "It means that my dad is innocent."
George smiled, admiring her happiness as she jumped up and down. "We have to go tell your other dad."
"Let's go!"
As the two dashed through the corridors, they got confused looks from fellow students and professors. It didn't take them long to get to Remus' office.
Hope stood outside of the door, banging her fist on it, just like Alfie did weeks prior.
"Papa! Papa--"
The door swung open to reveal an agitated Remus. "Hope James--"
"Hello, Papa."
He then looked behind his daughter to see the tall ginger-haired boy, who stood with his hands in his pocket. "Who are you?"
George held out his hand. "George Weasley, sir."
Harry poked his head from around Remus and waved his hand. "Hello."
"Harry?" questioned Hope. "What are you doing here?"
"Professor Lupin invited me in for tea, do you want to join us?"
Hope laughed. "Most definitely not."
Remus gave her a stern look and spoke softly. "Manners?"
"Oh, right." she smiled, even though it was a fake one. "No, thank you, Harry James Potter."
Harry laughed loudly. "Not a problem, Hope James Lupin."
"Right, what did you need Hope?"
Hope looked up at her father and then to Harry. "Papa, I have something very serious to talk to you about, outside."
"What?" Remus questioned, shutting the door off from Harry.
"Dad is innocent, he didn't murder Uncle Peter!" exclaimed Hope, but the look on Remus' face was unreadable. "Aren't you happy? Dad can come home--"
"Do you think that's funny?" he questioned in a low voice.
Hope shook her head quickly. "What? No--"
"Those kinds of jokes are not funny, Hope. You need to learn the fine line between funny and wrong--"
"But he is innocent." yelled the daughter.
Remus just stared at her. "Go."
"What?"
The father started to yell. "I don't want to look at you right now. You are too much like Sirius right now for me to handle."
"Too much like Dad? He's an innocent man, on the run for being imprisoned for murder, it doesn't seem like a bad thing--"
"It is a bad thing. Sirius is a murderer and you act just like him. It's disappointing to see the daughter I raised turning into him." he yelled
Hope just looked up at him, but George grabbed her shoulder. "Love, how about--"
"No." she shook off his hand. "Sorry for inconveniencing your life. If I'm too bad of a daughter, disown me!"
Remus looked down at her. "Hope, I didn't mean it in that way--"
"Disown me, I don't fucking care. If I am such a disappointment, don't have me around. You have your perfect little Alphard. Consider me Hope Black, it is my other name after all." the teenage girl turned to George with tears in her eyes. "Come on, George."
"Are you okay?" he wiped some of her tears.
She nodded. "Let's just go."
As the two walked away, Remus started to yell. "Hope James, you get back here now."
"See you in class, Professor."
Hours following Hope's dispute with her father, George hadn't left her side. As they went to go back to the Gryffindor Tower, there was a crowd of students around the entrance.
"What's with the crowd?" questioned George.
Suddenly, Percy came through trying to push through the crowd. "Let me through please, excuse me--"
"Let the Head Boy through!" yelled Hope, which made everyone move out of the way.
"Thank you, Hope." said Percy, finally being able to get through.
She smiled. "Not a problem."
Once Percy reached the portrait door, his jaw dropped and he turned around. "Somebody get Dumbeldore, quick."
Ginny arrived next to Hope. "What's going on."
Hope shrugged but once the three of them got closer, they saw the sight. "Holy--"
"Don't finish that sentence." snapped Hermione.
"Holy Butterbeer." said Hope, catching herself.
Hermione started to chuckle. "Nice save."
Soon, many professors and Dumbledore arrived. All staring at the torn up portrait of the Fat Lady terrified.
"We need to find her." said Dumbledore. "Professor McGonagall, please go get Mister Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
Peeves started to cackle from behind them. "You'll be lucky! Shaken up, she is."
"Did she say who did it, Peeves?"
The Poltergeist smirked. "Grey eyes like a devil, and he's here in the castle. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."
Hope paled, and started to feel the feeling of wanting to throw up once again. "George, I'm going to go."
"Love, wait--"
Alfie looked over to his sister, but already saw George running after her. Cormac let out a chuckle as he patted Alfie's shoulder.
"You used to be her number one dude, her big brother."
"I still am." snapped Alfie, his arms crossing.
Harry turned around. "Is she okay, Alfie?"
"What do you mean? Of course she's okay." he snapped, but then took a look at his godbrother. "Why?"
"Well, earlier she kind of disowned herself, Professor Lupin came into his office upset. Like he swore." said Harry, looking directly at Alfie. "I heard Hope yelling, I've never heard her so mad."
The Lupin boy put his face in his hands, but Neville just shrugged. "Hope hasn't been okay for months. She almost slept in a park before school started."
"What?"
"Yeah, she was crying. You all are stupid if you can't see that she isn't okay." Neville shook his head. "Alfie, you're supposed to be her brother."
Cormac let out a chuckle. "She's got plenty of those. Lee, Fred, Harry, Ron, Cedric, Oliver, you--"
Neville whipped his head around. "He lives with her. He should see that she's killing--"
"Killing?"
"You know what." he let out a dark laugh. "If you cared about her and opened your eyes, you would know."