Harry and His Non-Existent Pumpkin Juice
Chapter 17: Harry and His Non-Existent Pumpkin Juice
October 29, 1993
"Woah, Buckbeak, yer bones are strong," Hagrid grunted, tugging on the chains. "Well, we need yer to get up now… I need to throw out them old pumpkins."
Buckbeak slowly straightened himself, spreading out his wings and giving a soft whine.
"I love yeh too, Bucky," Hagrid said, tears spilling out of his eyes. "I wish I didn't have ter go ter court, no, but still I'll fight for ya', you know that? I will."
"Hagrid?" came a voice, making Hagrid jump.
"Hello? Who's 'ere?" Hagrid dropped Buckbeak's chains, brushed off mud from his attire, and lumbered over. "Oh, Hermione! How are yeh?"
Hermione smiled up at him. "I'm fine, Hagrid, and you?"
"Just fine… Just fine." Hagrid tilted his head to the side. "You all right, then?"
"Yep."
"So, what brings you here? Where are Ron and Harry?"
Hermione frowned, her eyes tightening. "I don't know."
Hagrid nodded, immediately realizing what the problem was. "Well then, how about you come in for some tea? I'll be right with yeh, I have to clear up the pumpkins. Harvest season is over, and them pumpkins are growing moldy, and I have to feed and move Buckbeak, not to mention I gotta take pictures of him to send into the hearing I gotta go to, mighty, that's an awful lot of work!" Hagrid sighed. "You just go inside, I'll try to clear up these pumpkins and get right with yeh, 'kay?"
Hermione shook her head. "Don't bother, Hagrid, I'll just help you clear up the… er… pumpkins. And then I can help you with Buckbeak's case."
Hagrid frowned. "Naw, you don't need ter It's my case, you don't need ter get dragged into all this."
"No, I do," argued Hermione. "I promised I'd help, Hagrid, so I will. Please don't bother."
"Thank yeh, Hermione, it means a lot. Truly."
"Anytime."
Hermione followed him to the back of the cabin, and she watched as he started undoing Buckbeak's chains.
"Come off, Buckbeak," Hagrid groaned, tugging the chains. He unclipped one, whirling it up off the pole. "Three more to go."
"Why do you have so many chains?" Hermione inquired.
"Buckbeak likes ter run off," explained Hagrid, yanking the second chain. "And he's strong, see. Yeh gotta keep him restrained."
"Got it."
After ten minutes, Hagrid had unleashed Buckbeak from the pole and was buckling a chain on him, sending him to the opposite tree. "Yeh gotta have lots of strength for that. Gamekeeping a career yeh interested in, Hermione?"
"No, not really," Hermione said clearly. "I don't want to work with nature, really. Not a job that gets my hands dirty."
Hagrid chuckled, digging out his rotten pumpkins and throwing them in the compost pile. "Desk job?"
"Sure," said Hermione. "Something that involves magic, though. Not just sifting through paperwork. It can get boring."
Hagrid laughed as he chucked another pumpkin into the compost pit. "I'm done here. Let's go work on Buckbeak's case… if yer alright with that?"
"Of course!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Hagrid cried. "Let's go!"
James was bored.
And so naturally, he was going to Lily.
He stopped at her office and peeped through the door. She was deep in concentration, writing down something with a quill, probably grading papers. He slyly snuck into the room, and she still didn't notice him. Her hair was flying all around the place, and her face was all scrunched up in that cute way it did when she was concentrating.
He leaned against the cupboard behind her and watched her for a little bit before he moved forward and scooped her in his arms, wrapping his arms around her stomach.
"What the- James!" she scolded. "What in the name of Merlin are you doing?"
James smirked. "I'm greeting my wife."
She rolled her eyes, but she was clearly fighting a smile. "Hello. Now please let go of me, I have to grade the tests."
"Fine. How long will you take?"
"Give me ten minutes."
"Can you not do that later?" he asked.
"No, it's got to be done by my next class."
"Fine, fine." James drew back against the cupboard. "I'll just watch you, then, happy?"
Lily nodded, sweeping her hair behind her ear. She picked up her quill and her eyes travelled back and forth between the answer key and the test scores.
James watched her as she worked. Her hair kept untucking, and he loved the way she swept it back behind her ear. He watched and heard the scratching of her quill, the way her green eyes glistened as she worked.
Just then, a Patronus flew into the room and spoke.
"Hey James," the voice said. "Impromptu mission. I need you to come with me to Manchester, we have a few people down South to kill. Get here now!"
James sighed. "I guess I gotta go. See you, Lily."
"Bye, James," Lily said, smiling.
James pressed a kiss to her hair before jogging out of the room.
What timing.
"Come on, everybody, I want you guys all up in the air now," ordered Oliver Wood, clapping his hands together. "It's my last year, so I'm trying a new technique. Let's try it out."
"Er…" Angelina looked over at Harry. "I mean…"
"What?" asked Harry irritably, knowing what she was trying to say.
"I mean… no offense, but you don't… have… a broom."
"I know that," muttered Harry. "Would you kindly stop reminding me of that?"
Angelina shrugged. "Whatever. Sorry. I won't. But like… that's not gonna change the truth. You need a broom."
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Fred sniggered. "Harry, just use a broom from the broom shed."
"Yeah, I will," Harry said. "Thanks, Fred."
Harry picked out the newest looking Shooting Star, but it just didn't have the same groove to it that his Nimbus did.
"Up in the air, Harry," Oliver said.
Harry mounted his broom and flicked his toes off the ground. It took a little more force than the Nimbus, and it didn't come with as much ease.
"Hey, looks like we have some Ravenclaws spying on us!" Alicia cried, zooming over to Harry and narrowing her eyes. Shaking back her long brown hair, she frowned. "Isn't that their Seeker?"
Harry spit out his non-existent pumpkin juice. "Cho Chang?"
"Oh, is that her name?" Alicia asked, nodding. "Yeah, it's her though."
Harry spun around, looking into the stands. He saw Cho, sitting and chatting with one of her friends from Ravenclaw.
"What is she doing here?" Angelina cried.
"I don't think she's spying," Fred said, frowning. "She looks like she's just enjoying the sunshine."
Oliver snorted. "Don't make me laugh. Either way, let's just practice. Show her how good we are."
He grabbed the practice Quaffle and swung it over at Angelina. "Try to get this past me," he suggested. "Katie too. Alicia, you're already good at this technique. You, Fred, George, and Harry can just pass the ball to each other. Practice throwing and catching. Then we can all do laps around the field."
"Yes, sir," muttered George.
"I'm serious, George," Oliver said warningly.
"I'm Fred!"
"You're George!"
"Dang, Wood, you know us better than our mum does," the real Fred muttered, grinning.
"No, it's because the last time this happened, it was Fred pretending to be George. And if that weren't enough, you guys always play this prank. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if your names were actually Gred and Feorge."
"Wow, how did you figure that one out?" George said dryly.
Oliver smirked, shooting a ball at George. George swerved back, catching it. "Go practice."
They started to practice, and Harry's eyes were on Cho.
Her hair was really nice: long, flowy, and black. It was moist and wavy. Looked soft, too. Very clean. Beautiful. Enhanced her glowing skin. Her skin was nice, too, if possible even softer than her hair. Smooth. It was very smooth. Harry couldn't see a single pimple on it… no goosebumps… but then again, Harry was so far up, and she was so far down. She was wearing a bright, hot pink sweater, and were those black pants? No, they looked thicker. Wow. Black jeans. She looked really pretty in those clothes… how had Harry never noticed…? And that skin, that smooth skin, Harry could just-
Bonk.
"Ow," muttered Harry, whirling around. "What was the need?"
Fred frowned. "We're supposed to be tossing the ball to each other."
Harry blinked. The three of them were staring at him. The practice ball had just hit him on the head. "Oh."
"Why didn't you catch it?" Katie asked. "You were… out."
"If out means staring like a one-sided lover at the stands, yeah." George snorted. "Mate… what happened?"
"Nothing," said Harry quickly, shaking his head and extending his arms. "Pass me the ball."
"Okay," said Fred, clearly unconvinced. "Let's go, mate."
It took Harry a lot of strength not to look at Cho Chang after that.
Selena was having a lot of trouble getting to her next class.
She was only in her first-year, so she was getting confused about which way she had to go. Charms was on her left, right? Or did she have to go right? Or straight? No, Potions was straight. Wait, wasn't Potions in the dungeon?
Then, she saw a tall girl walking her way with a Head Girl badge on her sweater.
"Hi."
"Hello," the Head Girl said. "I'm Penelope. Penelope Clearwater. Do you need something? I think you should be in class."
"Yeah, um, I got lost," she admitted. "Can you help me get to Charms class?"
"Of course I c-"
"Penny!" came a pompous voice. Selena raised her eyebrow as she watched another seventh-year, the Head Boy, come up to them. "Penny, is something the matter?" he asked, looking at Selena.
"Yeah," said Penelope, smiling at him. That smile was a little… too much. "She needs help getting to Charms."
"Name?" the boy asked.
"Selena."
"I'm Percy," he said. "Percy Weasley!"
"Cool. Can you help me get to Charms?"
"Definitely," said Penelope. "Come on." They started going right, and then Penelope stumbled. Selena tried to catch her, but Percy was faster. He slid under her and caught her shoulders, steadying her.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly.
Oh. Selena felt a little embarrassed, like she'd intruded on somebody's moment. These two were probably in a relationship.
"Yes, I am," Penelope replied. "Thank you."
"No problem." Percy's hands slid down to her waist as they continued walking. Selena let herself trail behind.
Penelope's eyes moved down to his hands, and then she winked at him, smiling. Selena prayed that they would hurry up and get to the Charms classroom already. Percy whispered something in her ear, and she blushed furiously.
"Shut up, Perce."
"But it's true."
"True or not, shut up!"
"Have we reached yet?" Selena asked.
Penelope nodded as they came to a stop in front of a door. "Here we go. You just needed to go right, and go down that hallway."
"Brilliant," muttered Selena. "Thanks for your help."
"Anytime," said Penelope, smiling down at her. She turned to leave, slamming into Percy. Their eyes met as they drew closer to each other.
Selena had never slammed a door so hard.
"Seriously? That's the guy she fell for?" Tonks asked, flipping over the book. "Definitely not this one."
Tonks and Sia were sitting in the back of the library, looking at books and criticizing them based on the summary.
"It sounds interesting," argued Sia, taking the book from her. "Actually… ew. Never mind."
Tonks laughed as Sia put the book back in the bookshelf and pulled out another one. "Ooh, I like this one. It's about these guys plotting a murder, and they succeed with it. Then his ghost comes back to Earth because his spirit was restless. He needs revenge, so he makes their life grey."
"You like that one?" Tonks asked. That sounded… dark.
"Yeah, it sounds so cool," Sia said, nodding. "Why, you don't?"
"Isn't that a bit… dark for an eleven year old?"
"Nah. Not for my kind, anyway." Sia winked, but the ease in her voice vanished. It wasn't easy making jokes about "your kind," and Tonks understood that.
"Haven't you ever read stories where this guy eats cupcakes and a rainbow appears?"
"Nope." Sia made a face. "Only sissies read those books."
Tonks laughed again. "I liked those when I was younger."
"Really?" cried Sia, laughing too.
"Well, now I know what to get you for your next birthday," came a voice, and Tonks and Sia whipped around to see Remus Lupin leaning against the bookshelf, smiling. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you two. Were you working?"
Sia stiffened, and Tonks knew what she was worried about. "When did you… come here?"
"Just a few seconds ago, when I heard Tonks say something about a cupcake," Remus said, his warm smile still on his face. Tonks felt herself melt in that smile. How could somebody be so warm?
Sia's eyes flashed. "Oh. That's all you heard, though, right?"
From one look at Remus's face, Tonks knew that Remus could figure out that they'd been talking about something not meant for him to overhear. "Yeah. Didn't hear anything other than that."
Sia relaxed. "Cool. Just wondering. We might've been talking about you." Sia seemed to be skilled at keeping her secret.
Remus's eyes wandered to Tonks's. "Oh?"
Tonks willed herself not to blush. "We might've been," she said teasingly.
"Fun. All good things, I hope." He looked over at Sia. "How's school going?"
Sia rolled her eyes. "That's not an interesting topic, and we both know it. Stop trying to be a typical teacher." Tonks noticed how Sia's tough attitude was immediately back on, and she also noticed how unoffended Remus was.
"In that case… what are you two doing?"
"Going through books," Tonks answered nonchalantly. "Deciding which ones are good and which ones are a complete waste."
"Like ones with cupcakes and rainbows," Sia added. "Which is why we were talking about that."
"I see."
"So, Remus, how's your first year as a teacher coming?" Tonks asked.
"Great," Remus answered. "I try to make classes engaging and all… they seem to like me."
"They do like you, Remus, you should've figured that out in September," Tonks said, smiling at him while she flexed her hand. "Everyone likes you."
Remus muttered something that sounded like "Snape!"
"Okay, let me rephrase that," Tonks laughed. "Everyone who's not a total dork and git likes you."
Remus smiled. "Yeah, thanks. Other than that… the students' grades are actually pretty good."
"With a teacher like you, who wouldn't?" Tonks asked. "I wish I had you for a teacher."
"You do?"
"I mean… yeah." Tonks tried to push down the blush creeping up her cheeks, as she became aware that both Remus and Sia's eyes were on her.
"That's really… sweet of you, Tonks, thank you," Remus said. Then the corners of his lips pulled down. "Unfortunately, I think I have to go now. I've got a teachers' meeting…"
"It's okay," Tonks assured him, letting herself think that Remus was upset because he had to leave her. It made her happy, at least. "I'll see you around, Remus."
"Definitely. Bye, Sia," Remus said, waving at the two of them before turning around the bookshelf and disappearing.
Tonks stared after him at the spot where he'd gone.
"You like him."
Tonks whirled around. Sia had spoken, eyeing her. She said the words so plain, so simple, like it was obvious to everyone.
"Who?"
"Professor Lupin."
Tonks played it off the easy way, the normal way, the cliched line. "I do not," she said, forcing a laugh. "We're just friends, that's all." She cringed at the overused line, mentally cursing herself.
Sia smirked. "Whatever you say." She got up. "I have to go, Valentina and I have plans."
"Yeah. Right."
The corners of her lips twitched, like she was fighting a smile. "See you later."
Sia vanished, and Tonks blinked. Had that just happened? Had somebody just called her out? Was it that obvious? Maybe Sia was just perceptive. Yeah, that was probably it.
But whatever the case, she had to make sure she was a lot more careful after this.
Remus was almost there.
He could practically feel it.
One more puzzle piece he had to connect… one more…
"Remus?" called a soft voice. Tonks.
"Come in."
She entered, dressed in a lilac v-shirt and blue jeans. "Hey."
Remus smiled at her. "Hi."
She plopped down on a seat. "So… Liana."
"Yeah," Remus said. "So we used the Trace and narrowed down the area near those woods. You know, the ones we went to."
"Yep."
"Right, but since it's a magical area, we couldn't narrow down one location."
Tonks nodded. "Right…" She frowned, clearly trying to follow his train of thought. "So?"
"That was the only clue we worked on," continued Remus, trying to get her to figure it out. It was her case. "We didn't bother to think of how they got there in the first place."
"We tried," countered Tonks, her face extremely concentrated. "But I don't get what this has to do with the case, Remus."
"How do you think they got there?" Remus asked, trying a different route. "They can't apparate. They didn't use broomsticks, we checked with Madam Hooch if any were missing from the broomshed, and they didn't have any in the first place. They didn't use Floo, either, because they're being watched. I went and talked to the Floo person at the Ministry yesterday, and they denied that anyone had come from Hogwarts. So the only way left is…?"
"Portkey," muttered Tonks. Then she frowned. "You went and talked to the Floo person at the Ministry?"
"Yeah."
Her face broke out into a smile. "Thank you, so much. This is my case… you didn't have to…"
"No, I did," Remus reassured her, her smile spreading to his face too. "I did because I wanted to. I wanted to find my students and I wanted to help you out."
"Thank you."
"Anytime. But then, I talked to the portkey person at the Ministry too, and we tracked down the exact location of the portkey. It's in the woods. If the kids are going to get back, they're going to come via the portkey." He'd given it to her on a plate now.
She blinked. "Oh. So we go to the portkey and wait until we find them?"
Remus smiled at her. "You said it, not me."