Beta: Cloudy
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
November's cold weather moved our running group into the Room of Requirement. When there was frost on the ground every morning that meant it was time to stop sprinting around a lake.
That chilly month also meant Harry's first match as Gryffindor's Seeker since he won the position fair and square at tryouts. Which meant I better put a damper on Voldemort's day to make sure he wouldn't interfere with the match.
How, one might ask?
Why, by setting up several dozen traps outside his office and room with the help of two mischievous twins the night before, of course! Sadly, our friendship wasn't solid enough to get their help for free. I had to let them borrow my cloak of invisibility the following weekend.
By the time Voldemort was freed of the traps the match would be over.
I only wished I could see the look on his face as he realized how much of a bumbling moron he had possessed. Not so much that I would miss my brother's first match, but enough to make me picture it and laugh quietly to myself.
The Quidditch match went off without a hitch. Even without his personal broom Harry was beyond reproach. I would argue he was even better than canon because he had already been training with Sirius for several years by that point.
Unfortunately that meant that even with the Slytherin advantage of better brooms Harry still outclassed them. Fred and George being on top-tier brooms certainly didn't help the matter.
I had little hope in Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup.
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
Christmas break was approaching. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.
It made me tempted to set up a bounty for any student who could rip Quirrell's turban off. The only thing stopping me from doing so was if they succeeded they would have likely died by the pissed off Voldemort underneath.
Still oh so tempting...
But then it was time!
Time for an adventure.
On the night where most of the students had gone home, I had snuck out of the dungeons and made my way to the third corridor. Iris poked her head out from under my collar and hissed, "Norrisss up ahead."
With her guidance, I avoided the fluffy kitty cat and successfully made it to the third corridor without getting caught. I was quite pleased to find both twins already at the door.
George greeted me first with a jaunty wave. "Ready to go?"
"Adventure buddy," Fred joked. He nudged me with his elbow when I got close enough.
"Yes indeedy. You both better be ready for what's up ahead. Follow my instructions without hesitation, or you might very well get yourselves killed," I warned them.
They mockingly bowed. "Yes, your majesty."
I pushed open the door to find Fluffy already growling at us.
"Hey you cutie," I cooed while I pulled out a small wooden flute from my extendable black messenger bag. I blew out a little tune which caused an instant reaction. Fluffy's eyes dropped and the longer I played the more he swayed. Eventually he toppled to the ground, soft snores escaping him.
I continued to play as I approached the trap door near his feet. While I played, I nodded to the door to signal for one of the twins to open it.
Fred proved to be brave enough. He carefully opened it, then after I nodded again he and George dropped. I followed behind them.
"Say hello to Devil's Snare. It's meant to catch our fall," I explained as I landed on the soft vines. "Just relax. Once I start a light we'll fall through."
"Talk about rare plants," George muttered to himself as he stilled his movements. With a quick flick of my wand and a quiet spell, white fire danced out of the tip of my wand. The vines reared back and relaxed. Eventually we each fell through.
"This way," I said, pointing down a stone passageway, which was the only way forward. All we could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward as we moved on to the next trial.
We reached the end of the passageway and saw before us a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright keys, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.
"Now we're looking for a big old-fashioned key. It'll be silver like the door handle and," I trailed off as I tried to remember. "I think it'll have a crumpled feather on one side. We gotta grab that one."
"A good thing you brought along us, then," Fred said, moving to the opposite end of the room where there were brooms stacked up.
"No one faster," George added with a cheeky grin.
I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from snorting. "Mm-hmm... I, uh, I'm definitely not fast on a broom. Never had to run away from anyone or anything in my life."
It still took them a solid fifteen minutes before they could find and catch the key.
Once that was taken care of, we opened the door and walked into darkness. As we stepped into the next room, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight. We stood on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen which were all taller than we were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing the black pieces, way across the chamber, were the white pieces.
"Take up your positions and play like your life depends on it," I said.
"Know what's beyond this part?" Fred asked me.
"Yeah. A mountain troll—"
"A what?"
I shrugged. "You two can leave any time you want."
"And miss out on fighting a mountain roll?" George sardonically replied.
"No, never," Fred dryly added. "Right, then, George, let's show the snake how to dominate at Wizarding Chess."
They had it defeated in under thirty minutes.
I applauded them.
Next room was the mountain troll, but I already had prepped my draught of slumber. As soon as I spotted the stupid thing, I lugged the potion right at its head and blew it up. Enough of it got into its mouth that it fell over comatose.
"That wasn't very exciting," George commented.
"Want me to wake it up?" I offered. "I have a sword packed away here if you want to fight it traditionally."
"Maybe next time," Fred suggested.
Onto the next room which was designed by Professor Snape. In the stone room was a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.
After all of us had stepped inside the room a purple fire sprang up behind us in the doorway.
"That—"
"—looks nasty."
"Yes," I agreed, grabbing the roll of paper that was laid out next to the bottles. "This room was designed by the prince of melodrama himself, Professor Snape."
I cleared my throat before I read the letter out loud to them:
"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."
George and Fred stared intently at the laid out bottles.
George asked, "Got an answer?"
"Yes. And a back up plan in case Professor Snape chooses to be logical instead of indulging in Professor Dumbledore's fantasy puzzle whims."
"Huh?" they asked me.
"Dumbledore asked some teachers to set up these puzzles to get to the prize," I explained. "They had to be dangerous enough to protect the prize, but not so lethal that no one could get through in case of an emergency. If I was Snape I wouldn't let there be an answer. Everything would be poisonous."
Fred and George warily eyed the bottles.
"Don't worry," I reassured them, pulling out a bezoar. "I brought along several antidotes and bezoars for just such an occasion. Still... would either of you like to take a crack at solving the puzzle?"
"You said it's logic, right?" Fred asked.
"Yep. You two are brilliant young wizards. I'm confident you can solve this one," I said encouragingly.
The tips of their ears reddened as they both turned away from me to look at the bottles. I wondered how often the duo were praised for their genius. They were brilliant. Molly was absolutely right: if they applied themselves they could do anything they wanted.
A pity that not many could see exactly how dazzling they were right away.
Maybe this time will be different.
I handed them the paper, and they talked quietly between themselves for many minutes. They went back and forth, until Fred hesitantly pointed at the smallest bottle. "This will get us through, right?"
"Yes. I'll take the first sip," I said, handing Fred the bezoar as a precaution. I half-hoped Professor Snape was purely logical and poisoned it just for the shits and giggles.
I was wrong, it was perfectly fine.
Like any good mentor would do, I turned to the twins and warmly praised them for their efforts, "Very well done you two."
The tiniest bottle barely had enough between the three of us. I took only what was needed, wincing at how it felt like ice was flooding through my body. Then I hopped through the fire forward, and waited for the twins.
I can't believe Snape didn't poison it. What a silly bean.
They joined me shortly and—
"Ta-da!" I said with a grand gesture to the stone chamber. At its center was the Mirror of Erised in its glistening golden glory.
"A mirror?" they were aghast.
"It's a special mirror. Careful not stare at it too long because it'll drive you insane," I said, skipping over to it.
In it, I saw my reflection, smiling with sparkling eyes and a mischievous grin. Joining me was—
Lily and James. They were alive, happy, and hugging a brilliantly smiling Harry. We were all together, a proper family. Paddy was there, and so was Remus. Oh! And my beautiful worgen army was cheering fur—for—us in the background. And—
No, no, no.
I've no intention of inflating the market, nor do I want to live forever. Let me protect the stone from the one who covets it.
The me in the reflection giggled, and patted at her pockets.
I felt a weight appear, and out I pulled the glistening red stone. Neither Fred nor George saw it, which was very important. They had no defense against Snape's mind reading so it would be best if he only ever saw that we reached the mirror.
"It's our joke shop," George whispered in awe as he stared at it.
Fred asked, "Does this show the future?"
"Nope. Only what you deeply desire," I said. "Come on, we better get back before it gets too late."
"Wha—all this just for a mirror?"
"They might add more stuff to it later," I lied. "Not all the teachers have added traps. Maybe they're setting it up as an obstacle course for later years!"
"I guess," Fred said after a moment with a shrug. "It wasn't difficult to get through. First years could probably manage."
"Very likely," I wholeheartedly agreed.
Getting back took half the time. Once we were back out and out the corridor it was time to head our separate ways.
"Oh, and, word of advice," I cheerfully said as I pulled out my invisibility cloak. "Professor Snape regularly uses legilimency on students. Especially you two. If you don't want him to read your mind, don't look him in the eye until you've been trained in occlumency."
"What?!" they demanded.
"No wonder—"
"—we could never get him!"
"That snake!"
"That sneak!"
"Unfair!" they concluded.
"Until you learn occlumency if you have to look him in the eye, start thinking of the most outlandish and embarrassing stuff. Or just start screaming in your head a bunch of nasty insults to call him," I suggested. "He'll be too busy with your dominant thoughts to dig further."
"How can you learn occlumency?" Fred asked me.
"I already bought your books for Christmas," I said with a smile. "When you think you're ready let me know and I'll test you. Meanwhile, do your best not to let Snape know about this, yeah? Otherwise they might make it harder to sneak back in when they finish setting it up!"
Oh, wait—
"And thank you," I said, turning to each of them and giving them a friendly kiss on the cheek like I would with Harry. "It was lovely company, even if the adventure wasn't nearly as dangerous as fighting a dragon. Come with me on Christmas and I'll introduce you both to Padfoot and Moony."
Their grins were so bright and joyful they could have competed against sunflowers under a sunny day.
Cute kids.
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
Christmas Eve
Sneaking out of Hogwarts to Hogsmeade to use the floo channel to a designated spot where Kreacher would apparate me to Lunar's Orchid took longer than expected. Thankfully I set the time to meet Fenrir near midnight so I had plenty of time to get there.
And by that I meant I barely got there a few minutes prior to midnight, out of breath. I had thankfully dressed warmly in my dark cloak and heavy winter boots, but the winter air was so bitterly cold it hurt with every breath I sucked in.
We had agreed to meet in the forest outside Lunar's Orchid at a spot Fenrir liked to visit. It was on the outskirts of the forest so it was easy to track down. I followed Fenrir's footsteps in the deep snow the rest of the way. Kreacher insisted on being nearby, ready to assist me at any moment and that I kept the emergency portkey on me. He respected my desire for perfecting the lycanthrope curse, but he was stubbornly cautious against werewolves and thought them untrustworthy. Especially Fenrir.
"Hello," I said, stepping out of the trees to greet Fenrir Greyback with a smile and wave. "It's good to meet you properly."
Fenrir was a large, vicious-looking man with combed-back gray hair. But, being forced into society for a prolonged period of time had done wonders on his skin and hair. The books described him as dirty, matted, and unkept. The Fenrir before me had a roguish appearance, but not feral. Why, some might have even called him a silver fox now!
Surprise flickered over his face as he looked me up and down. "Kid?"
"Let's just say I'm very smart for my age," I chuckled, moving closer to him. "I had hoped to meet you a bit later on, but circumstances have changed. It's time to adjust."
"Yer—er—how—how ol' are yah?" Fenrir asked, golden eyes blinking rapidly. It was clear he was still stuck on the fact that I was physically a child. He sniffed, inhaling deeply, then muttered to himself, "Smell like the le'er. How ol' are yah?"
"Older than I look," I promised him. "Does it really matter, though? I hope that I have treated you well enough that you can judge me by my actions and not appearance."
My words struck a chord with him. He shook his head then bared his teeth at me in a feral grin. He held out a calloused hand to me. "Yes. Yah 'ave."
"My friends call me Rosie," I introduced myself. I grasped his hand, it was much larger than my own. In another life he would have made a cool grandpa, I bet. "But I would prefer if we stuck to Enáretos in public. I would like to refrain from revealing myself for a while."
There.
A gesture of trust.
I had given Fenrir a chance to betray that trust. He realized that because his grip tightened and he said, "Rosie in pri'ate ten."
I smiled warmly up at him. "Right you are. I'm sure you have questions, I'll do what I can to answer them. I can't stay too long since I did sneak out and whatnot."
"Curfew?" he joked.
"Yep," I laughed. "Go ahead. Ask me anything."
"Why me?" he asked. The speed of that question let me know he had been thinking about it for a while.
"Because I knew I could count on you," I said. "You're sincere in what you want, and I believe in that. I believe in you."
He cocked his head, reminiscent of a puzzled dog. He scratched the back of his head as he mulled over my words. "How'd yah know 'bout me? 'Bout that name, Fenris?"
"Same way I know the sun will come up tomorrow."
"Huh?"
"I just did," I said with a shrug. "I can't explain it."
"Yah—ehh—one of them—ehhh—seers?"
"Maybe. Never been tested," I answered honestly. I could have been seer. Who the heck knew for sure?
Those two questions must have been the most important ones because he was silent for several minutes as he chewed them over. He opened his mouth multiple times about to ask me another question, but closed it and shook his head. I patiently waited, taking the moment to look around and admire the pretty snowfall.
Fenrir's favorite spot had been a hill that overlooked Lunar Orchid. To our back was the forest planted to help protect Lunar Orchid from public view. The werewolf haven was sparkling with lights. Even at a distance I could see a gigantic Christmas tree they had put up in the center of it.
"Wha' do yah want?" he asked, following my gaze to the big tree.
"A better world," I answered. "And... I admit I want to study the werewolf curse. I would like to see if it's possible to control it without the use of wolfsbane."
"Control 'ow?" he warily asked.
"Control as in a painless transition, and the ability to transform without the use of a moon," I told him. His eyes widened as he sucked in a breath.
"Yer... not tryin' teh cure us?" he asked, his tone and expression revealing nothing.
"Heck no. Embrace the fluff." I grinned at him, he burst out into harsh laughter so hard his whole body shook.
"No' scared?" he mocked, golden eyes lit with a ferocity that would scare most men.
But death and lycanthrope did not scare me, and so Fenrir could never scare me.
"Nah. There are much scarier things than being a werewolf. For example, dying with regrets."
"I can agree teh that," he said, his grin large. He had moved to stand closer to me, his large frame towering over me. He placed a massive hand over my head. "So? How are yah goin' teh do that?"
"Magic, of course! I only need some time and probably some blood samples."
He grimaced as he retracted his hand. "Needles?"
"You don't have to give your blood. Just collect blood from residence," I dismissed. "Send them to my lab at the orchard. I'll handle the rest. I do my best work over summer, so if you can prepare as much as you can by summer that'd be ideal."
He scratched at his chin. "I can. I will. So, uh... are yeh at—ehh—Hogwarts?"
"Yep. Slytherin."
He nodded, a sly smile on his face. "I hear' it's fer evil witches."
"How rude! I'm not evil."
"Many woul' disagree considerin' the company yer keepin'."
"A shame. They're missing out," I said. "Oh... here."
I opened my expandable pouch and pulled out a giant colorfully wrapped box.
"Merry Christmas, friend."
He accepted it carefully, giving an odd little smile. It was much softer than any of the previous grins he had shown me that night. It was easy to see the smile on him as a child. A child, abandoned, beaten, and ignored for too many years to count.
"I never go' these 'til I met yeh," he told me.
"I hope you'll indulge me and continue to accept them."
He laughed. It was a warm laughter.
It was the kind of laugh a tired man had when he finally found a bit of joy in his life.
"Merry Christmas, Fenrir," I said softly.
"Merry Christmas, Rosie."
(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*
Christmas Day
I didn't really get a chance to sleep. Fenrir and I ended up talking for a few more hours. He had some questions, but in truth it felt like he enjoyed my company. It was easy to converse with him, we had a lot of similar opinions. When I eventually snuck back into Hogwarts it was already time to start getting ready to sneak back to Hogsmeade to meet Sirius, Remus, and Harry.
I freshened up as best I could before I met up with Fred and George at their favored secret entrance. The three of us trekked down the dark tunnel and hid under the invisibility cloak to sneak out of the candy shop before booking it over to the Three Broomsticks where Sirius and Remus had reserved a room for us to meet.
As soon as I made it into the room, I got out from the invisibility cloak and stared in disbelief at what was waiting for me.
Yes, Sirius, Remus, Harry, and a rushed Christmas tree was there. They had even decorated the room with our family ornaments. It was a sweet gesture, really.
But...
"What the hell is that?" I said, staring in disbelief at the giant unicorn stuffed toy that Sirius could barely hold in his arms.
"Merry Christmas, Rosie!" Sirius said with such great cheer.
"That thing is bigger than my bed!" I shrieked. "Take it back."
He tossed it to me. It fell on me. It was like having a mattress fall on top of me. "Oof."
"You can just use this as your bed now. It's enchanted to be extra comfy," Sirius explained.
"Getitoffme."
"Huh?"
"Get. It. Off. Me."
"Enchant it to stick to you? Gosh, if I knew you were going to love it that much I would have gotten you two more," laughed the marauder.
"PADDY!"
At my cry, Sirius kindly took it off me and tossed it in the back corner. He pulled me into a tight hug before giving a sharp look at Fred and George who were fish-faced and staring at him.
"Paddy—"
"—as in Padfoot?"
"Ahh. Fresh meat," Sirius chuckled as he extended a hand. "Harry and Rosie have told me a lot about you two. Treating the map well?"
"Yes, sir!" They said, hurriedly pulling it out to present it to him.
Remus approached the map, smiling fondly at it. "Good times. Ah... please come take a seat. We have presents for you."
"For us?"
"Of course. I invited you to join us on Christmas Day, did you expect we would just make you watch?" I asked, offended they thought so poorly of me.
They shook their heads.
"We didn't—"
"—prepare—"
"It's fine, it's fine," Sirius insisted, pulling both boys further into the room. He put an arm around each of their shoulders. "Rosie's too mean to take up the marauder mantle. Someone's got to, and as your senior it's my duty to look out for you."
"What do you mean I'm too mean?" I gasped. "I am so nice."
"How many snakes did you traumatize this year?" Harry dryly asked me. He had taken a seat on the giant stuffed unicorn. It was so big that his legs dangled off the back. "I distinctly remember seeing some of them cry when you glared at them."
I coughed. "O-Only a few—"
"At least a dozen during dinner—"
"Well! Um. I'm not that mean."
"Oh, Rosie," Remus sighed. Then he gave me the Look of Disappointment and I whimpered.
ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ
I think canonically Dumbledore put the mirror in after Christmas, buuuuuut I didn't like how it flowed so I changed it up a few days.
Rewatching / rereading the HP series as an adult has drastically changed my perspective. Everyone is adorable. So much love.
Answer: Most of the time I would choose fwoof but sometimes I like the history behind the leeches. Like Warhammer. :)
Question: Who would you take with you to steal the stone if it could be anyone?
Reviews are love!