Raven (Fred x oc)

6. Newspapers and Boggarts

"Hey Potter!" Parkinson called, shrieking with laughter. "Potter! The dementors are coming, Potter! Wooooo!" I rolled my eyes, throwing her a dangerous glare that quickly shut her up as Harry sat next to George, across from Fred next to me.

"New third year course schedules," George said, handing them to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "What's up with you, Harry?"

"Malfoy," Ron explained, sitting on the other side of George.

"That little git," George said, glancing back to see Draco pretending to dramatically faint again.

"Delightful, my cousin," I remarked sarcastically, giving a fake smile.

"He wasn't so cocky last night," George remarked. "I saw him right after."

"Nearly wet himself," Fred agreed.

"I wasn't too happy myself," George said. "They're horrible things, those dementors..."

"Sort of freeze your insides, don't they?" Fred said as I paled and lost my appetite.

"You didn't pass out though, did you?" Harry asked.

"Forget it, Harry," George insisted. "Dad has to go out to Azkaban one time, remember Fred? And he said it was the worst place he's ever been. They suck the happiness out of a place, dementors. Most of the prisoners go mad there."

"I almost did," I said quietly, making everyone took at me as I swallowed. "The first week wasn't that hard. I was able to hold onto most of my happy memories and thoughts, but by the end of the week it got harder and harder until the end of the third week I didn't have any left. The fourth week I started to go mad. I tried to hold onto something trying to keep me sane. Eventually I just had to hold on to the fact that my father and I are both innocent. By the second month, I was trying to find a way to break out, but before I could try, I was released. If I'd gone through with it, they'd just take that as a sign of guilt. Everything would've gotten worse."

"So if they had kept you locked up, you never would've gotten exonerated," Harry said, suddenly very pale. I nodded gravely, not looking at him. "I'm sorry. Now that I know what the dementors are like...I'm sorry I ever said or thought you should've remained there." I remained quiet, moving my food around my plate with disinterest.

"Val, we should go, we have Transfiguration," Angelina said, approaching me. Nodding, I grabbed my stuff and followed after her. Lowering her voice, Angelina said, "I thought you'd want to know. My aunt is an editor for the prophet and this is the article they're running tomorrow morning." Snatching the paper from her, I scanned it over.

"He's heading here?" I clarified, handing it back to her.

"I'm just telling you what I heard," she replied. I sighed and we sat down for class. As in my last few years, I breezed through my classes, excelling in every one. The next day, we had our first class with Remus for DADA.

"Hey, Remus," I greeted, stepping into the room.

"How're classes going, Val?" he asked, ignoring the students giving us confused looks or glares.

"Same old same old," I replied, sitting down in my seat.

"Books away," Remus requested. "We're having a practical lesson today. I shared an excited look with Fred and Angelina where were on either side of me as we all got up and headed into the staff room. "Can anyone tell me what this is?"

"Boggart," Angelina said, looking at the rattling cupboard.

"Very good, ten points to Gryffindor," he replied. "Can anyone tell me what a boggart does?"

"It shifts into your perceived greatest fear," I replied.

"Another ten points," he said. He quickly explained how to beat a boggart and we all lined up to face it. My heart raced as the space between me and the boggart grew less and less. At last, I was facing it. I shot Remus a scared look, but he wasn't looking at me. The boggart instantly shifted into the form of a dementor and a deadly cold flooded into my core and I paled. The figure shifted and molded until there were other forms in front of the dementor. It looked like a court scene.

"Do you, Sirius Black, finally confess to the crimes of which you've been accused?" a man asked in a commanding voice.

My father, looking how he does in my photographs and not in the paper, said, "Yes. I killed them all." Next moment, the dementor swept over him and his soul left his mouth. Crazed and violent, he got up from the ground and the other figures disappeared as Sirius shifted into the man in the paper. The man with the sunken eye sockets and waxy, yellow skin.

Before anymore could happen, Fred jumped in front of me and the boggart shifted again. Remus knocked the creature back into the cupboard and all eyes landed on me. It was as if I was suspended in place. I couldn't move. I couldn't make a sound. Angelina grabbed my wrist and took me from the room, Fred following behind with my stuff. Ange led me to the astronomy tower, the only place I could really be calm, and sat down beside me as Fred did the same. A few minutes later, George and Lee joined us.

No one spoke for a long while. We just sat there together. After a long time, I finally said, "Thank you." Everyone turned to look at me. "I know that most of you don't believe he's innocent like I do, but...thank you for still standing by me and not leaving me like everyone else."

"Of course," Angelina replied, wrapping an arm around me.

"We can't just abandon our prankster girl," Lee added, nudging my shoulder as I let out a small laugh.

"I love you guys," I said, smiling at them all.

"We love you too," George replied. "Now let's go show up Snape in potions." As we all got up to leave, he said, "I've been thinking. What if we prank him? I know we agreed we didn't want to risk it, but if we do it right, he'll never know."

"He's right," Fred replied, his eyes lighting up at the idea. "What if we spell all his cauldrons?" They continued to theorize as Angelina rolled her eyes playfully and I smiled. These guys were my family here, my home.