Priorities
Chapter Six: Priorities
October 8, 1993
"Help me," Liana moaned. "I don't know the incantation for the Levitation Charm."
"Isn't it 'Levitatum'?" asked Kylie.
"Isn't it 'Leviroa'?" asked Candice.
"I've tried both, and neither work," Liana told them.
"Huh. Can we ask Draco?" asked Kylie.
Candice and Liana exchanged a look.
"I'll take that as a yes," chirped Kylie, and she bounded over to the other side of the common room, where Draco was sitting with Vincent and Gregory.
"Draco?" she tittered.
The third-year looked up at her, amusement flickering across his face. "Yeah?"
"Er, we just wanted to know the incantation for the Levitation Charm."
"Oh. Wingardium Leviosa, I think." He ran a hand through his sleek, blonde hair.
"Thank you!" gushed Kylie, and she sauntered back over to where Liana and Candice were trying very hard not to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Kylie asked, confused.
"Nothing," Candice managed. "Okay. Windardium Leviosa, huh? Let me try this. Windardium Leviosa."
"Windardium Leviosa," attempted Liana. "Dang it, why isn't this working?"
"I told you it was Levitatum," grumbled Kylie.
After several more minutes of Windardium Leviosas, they were about to give up when Liana heard a voice say, "It's Wingardium."
It was Valentina, an irritated expression on her face. She was sitting across from the three of them in her own armchair. "Wingardium, not Windardium. Wingardium Leviosa."
"Nobody asked," snapped Liana.
"Thank you," said Candice, performing the proper incantation and watching her feather hover in the air.
Liana sulked for a minute, but after Kylie got her feather to fly, she grudgingly accepted Valentina's correction and found that it worked.
"No need to thank me," said Valentina moodily, standing up and walking towards her dormitory.
"She's so weird," muttered Candice, shaking her head.
"I hope she gets murdered by Sirius Black," muttered Liana.
Both Candice and Kylie turned to her.
"Sirius Black?" asked Kylie in a hushed voice.
"That's right. You know who Sirius Black is, don't you?"
"Of course," said Candice impatiently. "But don't you know him? Like, personally?"
"My parents were friends with him at Hogwarts," said Liana, shrugging. "I don't know what happened, though. Like, why'd he go to Azkaban in the first place? My parents won't tell me."
"How did you know that he was friends with your parents?" asked Kylie in a hushed voice.
"Dad and Professor Snape had an argument about it once. I wasn't supposed to know," explained Liana. "Harry doesn't know either. Just me."
"But you still don't know why he went to Azkaban?" asked Candice.
Liana shook her head. "My parents are so protective. It's annoying."
"That's crazy," muttered Candice.
"I heard from Draco that Harry's trying to go looking for Sirius Black," added Kylie.
"It would be kinda cool, don't you think?" asked Liana, sighing. "Looking for a notorious mass murderer. Maybe we could figure out what his motive was to escape in the first place. People say he's after Harry."
"Do you think we could find him?" asked Candice. "Sirius Black, I mean. The Ministry would love us."
"And it wouldn't be all about Harry all the time," realized Liana. "That would be so cool."
"If only we had a lead as to where Sirius could be," sighed Kylie wistfully. "Then we could go off of that."
"How would we get out of the castle, though?" asked Candice, frowning.
"The one good thing about my dad," Liana said, "is that you know all the tricks of the trade."
Lily was in her office, grading papers, when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," she called.
To her surprise, Harry slumped in, looking nervous.
"Harry? What's wrong, dear?" She immediately rushed over to her son and felt his forehead. "Is everything okay?"
"It's about Liana."
Lily closed her eyes. Of course. Harry and Liana were both going through a lot. She didn't know that they were in an argument, though.
"Are the two of you in some sort of fight?" she asked her son.
"More like a war," muttered Harry dully. "She's gone and become friends with Malfoy. Malfoy's dad was a supporter of Voldemort, wasn't he?"
Lily nodded. "Yes. But that doesn't mean Draco is. Not every child is his or her parent. You aren't James, and Liana isn't me."
"I know," Harry sighed. "I don't want Liana to think that I'm bothered by it, but I am. I am bothered by the fact that she's in Slytherin, and that she's friends with Malfoy."
"It's going to take some time," Lily said kindly, placing her hand on his shoulder. "But you'll have to eventually learn that it's not her fault. She's doing her best to fit into the mold she's been given."
"But that doesn't mean she has to become friends with Malfoy!" he cried unhappily.
"We're going to have to solve this problem," mumbled Lily. "Harry, the four of us need to talk about this together. You, me, Liana, and James. I'll discuss with your father when he can next pop by, and we'll have a discussion. Okay?"
"Okay," murmured Harry. "I also told Professor Lupin. He said it's her decision who to be friends with, but that they shouldn't be allowed to pick on me."
"I'll speak with Liana about the ink," Lily promised. "I haven't seen her in so long, though."
"She's avoiding you."
"I know."
There was a moment of silence.
"I'll go, then," Harry mumbled. "Bye."
"Bye," whispered Lily, and in that moment, she felt like she was the worst mother in the world.
Cedric Diggory walked by a group of giggling fourth-year girls, shaking his head. He had just gotten an A on his Transfiguration essay, which was barely a passing mark. He was trying to figure out how he could improve his already-struggling Transfiguration average. Maybe he should go to Professor McGonagall and ask for some extra practice. But then people would talk.
"Cedric?" asked a voice.
He whipped around and saw the Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang, holding a book up to him. "You dropped this."
"Oh," he said, taking it with a smile. "Thank you."
She smiled.
"Hermione…"
"No. You have to do that essay by yourself, Ron."
"Oh, come on, Hermione. You always do my essays!"
"Exactly. It's high time you start doing them yourself."
"Why? Did I do something?"
"No, of course you didn't. But I just think you should learn how to do your essays on your own."
"But… But I don't even know how it's going to work! Please?"
"I'll help you draft it, but you'll be doing the actual writing!"
"Thank you, thank you, th…"
"Ronald, start working."
But her cheeks were pink as she watched him write.
Back at the Auror Office, James marched over to where Tonks was scribbling at a report. "We need to talk."
She looked up at him. "Good morning to you, too. About what?"
He sat down across from her, grabbing a Bertie Botts Bean from the bowl on the table and inspecting it thoroughly before taking a nibble. Grass, it seemed. "Remus was talking about you."
Excitement swelled inside her, though she did her best to mask a casual expression. "He did?" she asked, her heart racing. "What did he say?"
"That's not what matters. The important thing is what you said to him. What did you say to him?"
She tilted her head to the side, confused. "Do you want me to recite our entire conversation, or something?"
"No," he said impatiently. "Stop acting like you don't know."
She stared at him.
He sighed. "Fine. I'll get to the point. What kind of person do you think you are, insulting him about something like that?"
"Something like what? Insulting him? What the heck?" she protested. "Where did you get that idea?"
"Don't play dumb, Tonks."
"Did… Did Remus actually tell you I said something mean to him?"
"No, but you have no idea how nervous he seemed when he talked to me. Why did you have to bring that up, huh? Do you even know what he's gone through?"
She wanted to tell James that she would never insult someone as nice as Remus - she didn't even know what this "thing" was that she had "brought "up" - but something inside her also felt really content at the fact that Remus had brought her up in a conversation, no matter what James thought.
"But… James, I really didn't say anything."
"I don't believe you."
"Fine. I'm sorry. Happy?"
He shook his head. "I still can't believe you'd say something like that. I thought you were better than that. Now get that paperwork done."
Something like what? "Yes, Auror Potter."
James scowled and left the room.
Revenge.
Blood.
Torture.
Murder him. Murder them all.
Remus made his way towards his office from the Great Hall. Lily had confided in him that the Potters were having a bunch of issues, mainly concerning Liana's Sorting into Slytherin. He had promised Lily that he would help in any way that he could, though he didn't know how much his assistance would do. He could provide comfort, yes, he was good at that, but other than that, there wasn't much he could do.
"Lupin," drawled a voice.
Remus turned around to sight Severus Snape standing there, a bored expression on his face. "Severus," he acknowledged. "Do you need something?"
"You do, actually," responded Snape dryly. "Unless you'd rather discuss this in the corridors…" He gestured to the halls, which were full of students. "My office?"
"Oh." It was evidently about his lycanthropy. "Yeah. Your office."
"Follow me," sneered Snape, and Remus followed him down to the Potions office.
"Dumbledore has requested that I brew you the Wolfsbane Potion every month. I believe that you have never taken the potion, so I will impart with you the directions of taking the potion." Snape picked up a vial of bubbling, blue potion from the desk and handed it to Remus. "You will take it in the days leading up to the full moon, including the day of. I've made an entire cauldronful, should you want more. Drink it directly and everyday. Sugar renders it useless, so do not add sugar. The Wolfsbane potion, when brewed and taken correctly, will allow you to retain your mind during the full moon, though you will still transform. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Severus, thank you," said Remus politely, gingerly accepting the vial. "I'll drop by to pick it up tomorrow and the day after."
"Good," said Snape, his eyes glittering. "I believe that is all."
"Right, thank you very much, Severus." Remus stood up and gave the Potions master a polite nod, backing out of the room and heading back to his office.
There was a letter waiting for him.
Dear Remus,
I talked to her. She apologized. Is that good enough for you? Or should I whack her on the head? Up to you.
James
Remus smiled at his friend's bluntness. He grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, and scribbled back a response.
James,
I accept her apology and hope she's doing well.
Remus
He was going to have to make sure that his best friend didn't figure out about his crush on Nymphadora Tonks.
Though, if James had honestly thought that the reason for his nervousness was that Tonks had insulted him about his lycanthropy, Remus found that he wouldn't really have to worry.
Oliver Wood watched the Gryffindor team play, shouting swerving techniques to Alicia Spinnet, reprimanding Fred and George for doing nothing while the Bludgers were zooming around, and simultaneously defending the hoops. They were doing well, but they would have to put in a lot of extra sessions in order to win the Quidditch Cup this year.
It was his last year to win it, and they needed to give it their best.
"Excellent," he said as they all touched down onto the ground. "Harry, you need to be watching out for all of the balls, not just the Snitch. If the Quaffle comes zooming towards you, chances are there's a bunch of angry Chasers right behind it. And remember that Bludger that was harassing you last year? We have to expect the opponent Beaters to send the Bludger in your direction all the time. Without a Seeker, we can't win. And, obviously, watch for the Snitch. Now, everybody, listen. We're going to have to watch our points this year. Sometimes we're going to have to wait until we have a certain number of points on the board or until we have a certain lead until we go after the Snitch. We need points. The number of games we win isn't as important as the number of points we have on the board. Obviously, we need the Snitch. We can't give that up to the opposing team. That'll be a huge blow. But we may need to wait until we're ahead by thirty points to start pursuing the Snitch. Everyone understand?"
"Yes, Oliver," the rest of the team chanted.
"I have a question, though," Katie Bell interjected, frowning. "If we see the Snitch but we don't have our lead yet, then what are we supposed to be doing?"
"Excellent question, Katie. We need to figure that out. The most important thing is that we cannot let the other team sight the Snitch. We'd rather capture the Snitch and miss out on the lead than give the Snitch up to the opposing team. Any ideas on what we do if we see the Snitch before the lead?"
"We could follow it until we have the lead," suggested Harry.
"The opposing Seeker's going to be watching you, Harry," pointed out Angelina. "They'll notice if you're following the Snitch."
"Good point," said Harry.
"So maybe we should have a Beater to distract the other Seeker," suggested Fred. Or George. Oliver couldn't tell the difference. "Keep attacking him with a Bludger."
"Or her," added Alicia. "Cho Chang's the Ravenclaw Seeker."
Harry's head turned slightly at this, but Oliver didn't have time to think about it further.
"I like that idea," he approved. "Have a Beater distract the other Seeker while Harry follows the Snitch."
"From a distance, though," added Katie.
"From a distance," agreed Fred and George.
Oliver watched his team enthusiastically as they started suggesting ideas as to how they could grab the Snitch while retaining a lead. He loved how his team was dedicated, even though they could never compare to the level of dedication that he himself put into Quidditch. Quidditch was his life, his love, his one and only.
He sighed.
One of these days, he would end up marrying a broomstick.
James was sipping lemonade in Lily's private quarters. As usual, she didn't know that he was there, and he was planning to surprise her.
As he waited for Lily to come, he was filling out some Auror paperwork.
6. Where did you arrest Poppins?*
James quickly scribbled in his answer, Bristol. He moved on to the next question. Whenever he got paperwork, it was just more fun to do it here. Sometimes he did it at the Office to keep Tonks company and reduce suspicion, but he preferred to do it at Hogwarts.
"Hi, James," came Lily's voice.
James's head shot up. "You know I'm here?"
"You left your Zonko's Merchandise in the hallway," Lily said, coming into view. She was wearing her teacher robes. "Don't give yourself away so much next time, James, this time was pathetic."
James snorted. "Whatever you say. But you prefer not being surprised, right?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Understatement. I'm going to go change and come back." She went into the closet and returned, wearing a faded pink sweater and grey sweatpants. James gaped at her. She always looked good, even in casuals like this. "Oy. Stop looking at me like that."
James shook his head and looked up at her sparkling green eyes. "How's Liana?"
"Not sure," Lily said. "Still spending time with Draco." James curled his hands into a tight fist, his knuckles blaring out at him. "But Kylie and Candice seem to be pretty nice. I like them. For Liana's friends, at least, they seem to be cool."
"Yeah," grumbled James. "I don't care, though, the only thing I don't like is that she spends time with Draco. Maybe I should ask for a re-Sort?"
Lily sat down on the couch next to James, putting an arm around him. "Don't do that."
James let the subject drop for then, not wanting to get into an argument with her. He really didn't want that. "I guess not."
Lily smiled at him. "Thanks." Her smile practically lit up her entire face, giving her a warm, glowy look.
"So… How's Harry?" James wondered. "Is… Sirius still after him?"
Lily stiffened. "Yes."
"I'm sorry," muttered James, tracing circles on her shoulder. "I didn't mean to bring that up."
"It's okay," Lily responded. "It's not like we can ignore it."
James let out a cold laugh. "Definitely not." It was Sirius, after all.
"But Harry doesn't know." Lily turned to face James. "Harry doesn't know. And he's not supposed to. We can't tell him."
"We won't," murmured James. "I promise."
Lily smiled again. "Thank you so much." She leaned into him, pressing her head against his chest. "It's been a wacky couple of weeks."
"You can say that again," James muttered, wrapping his arms around her back and frowning. "Sirius escaping. Him after Harry. Liana's a Slytherin. Attacks her brother. Befriends Draco Malfoy. Just wacky, right?"
Lily let out a laugh. "We could call it normal, the way our life's been going."
"Yeah. Poor Harry," James said. "Every year something to do with Voldemort keeps coming to him. You know he doesn't go looking for trouble."
"Liana doesn't," whispered Lily.
"Let's not go down that path right now," James suggested.
"Yeah, let's not," Lily murmured. It was now her turn to trace circles, this time against his chest. "You're amazing, James, I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Neither would I," James said.
And he knew it was true.
"Psst. Dean!"
Dean Thomas sat up in bed groggily. "Seamus? What is it?"
"Can we talk for a second?" asked Seamus Finnigan from the bed below him.
"Seeing as now I'm awake, go ahead," Dean replied sleepily.
"Well, you know how Trelawney predicted the Grim the other day?" asked Seamus warily.
"Yeah? So?"
"Well, aren't you concerned?"
"Why would I be?" asked Dean. "Harry gets into all sorts of trouble."
"Yes, but, don't you think we could be affected by it too? And doesn't it sound like it has something to do with Sirius Black escaping from Azkaban?"
"Possibly," said Dean uninterestedly.
"Why would Sirius be after Harry, though?" asked Seamus.
"I don't know," murmured Dean. "Can we go back to bed now?"
"Okay," replied Seamus, still sounding unconvinced. "We need to talk about this later."
"Yeah, sure," muttered Dean. "Now please let me sleep."
"Okay. Good night."
"Good night."