🥀ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤: ℍ.ℙ🥀

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕤 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙: 𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕋𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖

Harry and Emily walk aside a fuming Lupin, who grips the map fiercely.

"I don't know how this map came to be in your possession, Harry, but I'm astounded that neither of you turned it in. Did you ever stop to think that this -- in the hands of Sirius Black -- is a map to you?", Both teens hang their heads and walk silently.

Lupin can barely contain his anger.

"Your father didn't set much store by rules either. But he and your mother did give their lives to save yours. Gambling their sacrifice by walking about the castle unprotected, with a killer on the loose, strikes me as a poor way to repay them. I won't cover up for you again, Harry. You either, Miss Merlin."

Lupin enters his office, tosses the map on his desk, and begins to sort through some papers. Harry and Emily linger briefly in the doorway.

They go to leave but Harry stops.

"Professor. Just so you know, I don't think the map always works. Earlier, it showed someone in the castle. Someone I know to be dead."

"And who was that, Harry?", Lupin asks, only half-listening.

"Peter Pettigrew."

Lupin hesitates ever-so-slightly, then returns to his papers.

"Very well. I'd like you both to return  to your dormitory now. Oh, don't take any detours.", Emily and Harry look to him as he taps the map.

"I'll know."

They both leave the room and silently walk back to their common room, absent mindedly intertwining their fingers together.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
"Relax... Let your mind... go...", Professor Trelawney's voice floats through the room as students gaze into Crystal Balls.

Conspicuously, Harry, Emily Ron and Hermione sit apart.

"Crystal-gazing requires that you clear the Inner Eye. Only then, will you... See. Oh my, what do we have here...?", As Trelawney eyes Harry's crystal, Hermione rolls her eyes.

"Here we go again. It's the Grim! It's the Grim!", Hermione mocks her.

"My dear, from the moment you first arrived in my class, I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination. You may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shriveled as an old maid's, your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave.", Trelawney's eyes narrow at Hermione.

Stung, she starts to reply, but -- remarkably -- seems incapable of a single word. Rising gracelessly, she exits, knocking her crystal ball to the floor. Harry watches curiously as the ball rolls slowly out the doorway...

"'In late spring, one of our number will leave us forever!' You knew, Professor! You saw.", Lavender Brown speaks cheerfully.

"On these occasions, I take no joy in my gift, Miss Brown."

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
As the students exit, Ron, walking separately from Harry and Emily, turns to Neville.

"She's gone mental, Hermione has. I mean, not that she wasn't always mental, but now it's out in the open for everyone to see...", Ron stops, glances at Harry, then moves off. Harry watches him go, along with Emily, then spies Hermione's crystal ball lying on the landing.

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
Harry sets Hermione's crystal back on its stand, starts to go, when... the smoke within the crystal suddenly darkens. Leaning close, Harry watches the shape that appears. It is unmistakable: Sirius Black. Just then, a shadow crawls the glossy surface of the crystal and... ... a hand snatches Harry's shoulder. He wheels around to find Professor Trelawney.