the lucky one, sirius black

06

chapter six

  MURPHY GLIDED DOWN the corridor with a letter clutched in her hand, it was a breezy Sunday morning and she was making her way across the quiet castle to the Gryffindor tower so that she could speak to her brother about the letter that their mother had sent, and to ask him to read a Transfiguration essay that she had written earlier on in the week - out of all of the classes that she's still taking she thinks that Transfiguration is her weakest subject. 

Just before Murphy's first year at Hogwarts, Fleamont Potter made James promise her that he would help his sister whenever she needed it - whether it be with her school work or inviting her to Hogsmead with himself and his friends. (In the six years that Murphy has been at school she's only been to Hogsmead twice, so the deal worked out well for James). Much to James' surprise and glee, Murphy never asked too much of him over the years so he always felt obliged to help her whenever she did ask.

Despite it being Sunday, there was hardly anybody in the hallways — in fact, since breakfast ended Murphy hadn't seen more than ten students that were older than sixteen. She shook it off and blamed the weather for the desolate hallways. Over the past week the temperature had significantly dropped as September drew to a close and October was about to begin. Everyone would much rather enjoy the warmth and comfort of their common rooms than congregate in the draughty halls of the ancient castle. The younger students were still mesmerised by the magic of the school so they still ventured out in the corridors to make the most of their days off, a lot of the first years love to explore the castle and try to find every secret nook and cranny.

During the quiet breakfast, owls erupted through the hall and dropped letters and parcels down at the tables. A rolled up piece of parchment tied with a piece of red string landed in front of Murphy as she ate her butter drenched croissant.

The letter was from her mother, which wasn't unusual in the slightest as Euphemia and Fleamont send their children letters weekly, what was unusual was the fact that it had her mother's looped handwriting on the front instead of one of the house elves' unreadable scrawl. Murphy grinned instantly from ear to ear when she realised that her mother had written the letter herself.

Murphy ran her fingertips against the walls as she walked past, each and every portrait wished her well as she skipped past them. She greeted each one with a wave and a smile and continued down towards the Gryffindor tower until she could see the bottom of the steps edging closer. As she reached the bottom of the staircase she let her hand fall softly onto the wooden bannister, but before she could step up onto the first step someone called her name.

She spun on her heel and smiled at Sirius Black who had now caught up with her. Just as she stepped away from the bottom of the large staircase the entire thing twisted and changed direction.

Murphy glanced at it, relieved that she wasn't halfway up it when it decided to move. She didn't feel like being stuck on a rickety staircase in midair until it changed back. In her second year, she had gotten stuck on a staircase and missed two whole lessons — she never got over the embarrassment when a seventh year prefect had to get her down in front of half of the school.

"Murphy," Sirius said from where he stood next to where the adjacent bannister was only a minute ago. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to see James," she told him, "Mum sent a letter," she held the rolled-up parchment up to show him, waving it in front of Sirius' face with a smile. "And I want him to help me with some homework."

"I can help you with your homework," Sirius suggested with a shrug. Murphy looked at him sceptically, she tapped her foot against the floor. "James is busy anyway." He added with a queasy smile.