As Remus and Grace made their way back to where they'd left Peter, Remus' mind was in overdrive. A kiss on the cheek was nothing too special, but he knew Grace and he knew that she didn't just go around doing things like that willy-nilly. He rather enjoyed it too, and as he walked through the dancing couples looking at each other lovingly, he could help but wonder, what if-
"Sirius! Ely!" Grace exclaimed as they arrived at the cluster of chairs that they had previously been sitting in. "Hello."
"We saw you two heading over so we thought we'd join you," Ely said, a faint blush still spread across his cheeks.
"Where's Peter gone?" Remus asked, glancing at the chair his friend had previously been sitting in.
"Some shy Ravenclaw girl asked him to dance," Sirius said, sitting down "Jenny Nickelson?"
"Jenny Nickerson. Yeah, I know her. She's in our Care of Magical Creatures class," Grace corrected him, sitting down as well. "Part of that group of girls who stand up the back and just giggle through every lesson."
"Merlins beard, they're so annoying-"
Their conversation was broken off as a seventh year Slytherin girl by the name of Bernadette Blishwick, some distant cousin of Sirius', burst into through the group. "What do you think you're doing?"
Sirius sat upright in his chair. "Um... sitting in a chair? Is that illegal now or something?"
"You know what I mean," she huffed.
"I'm not sure I do. Please, enlighten me."
"Dancing with the muggleborn boy! And in front of the whole school too! Have you lost your mind?"
"I am right here, you know," Ely said quietly, his voice shaking.
"Don't talk to me, you filthy mudblood," Bernadette snapped, causing Sirius to stand up and draw his wand.
Ely placed a hand on his wrist. "Sirius, please don't. It's okay, I don't mind, really."
"You shouldn't even be allowed to go here. Don't worry though, soon, once the Dark Lord has taken over, you'll be-"
"Langlock," Sirius muttered, and Bernadette made a strange choking noise, clutching at her throat. She tried to speak but was unable to, due to the fact that her tongue was now glued to the roof of her mouth.
The ruckus attracted the attention of Professor McGonagall. "Merlins beard, what is going on here?"
Remus, Grace, Sirius and Ely all glanced at each other.
"Miss Blishwick was saying some... not very nice thing regarding Ely's blood status," Remus said. "And Sirius stepped into and stopped her."
"I see," McGongall said, looking over at the still struggling Bernadette with a hint of disappointment. "Well, Mr Black, as much as I want to congratulate your actions, unfortunately the use of jinxes against other students is not permitted. Five points from Gryffindor."
She then fully turned to Bernadette. "As for you, Miss Blishwick, you'd better come with me to the Hospital Wing and we can have a discussion about the consequences of your actions once your tongue is no longer glued to the roof of your mouth."
McGonagall then left the hall with Bernadette in tow.
Once they were out of earshot, Ely said "Thanks Sirius. You really didn't have to do that."
"I know," Sirius replied, grabbing his hand and pulling him down to sit beside him. "But I did."
"Do you reckon your parents will... y'know... find out about it?"
"Absolutely. Well, she'll no doubt tell her parents and gossip moves like wildfire through the Black family. Before long everyone will know that I jinxed her and that I was dancing with a muggleborn at the ball. I can't wait to see their reaction."
"Hey Pads, where did get that spell from?" Grace asked, interrupting their conversation. "I've never even heard of it before."
"Snape used it once against James and it worked a real treat so I thought I'd try it for myself. No idea where Snape got it from, though," Sirius answered as he sat back down.
"I think he's been making them up himself," Remus guessed. "That isn't the first time he's used a spell that no knows before."
At nine, they were joined by James and Lily, who, to everyone's surprise, was still smiling, and then joined by Abbey, Sam and Peter at half past nine. Together, they all spent the rest of the ball chatting and dancing as a group until the ball came to an end and they said their goodbyes to the Hufflepuffs before sleepily trudging up the stairs to the Gryffindor dormitories.
It took Grace a full fifty seconds after her head hit the pillow before she went to sleep.
---
They had one more week of school before the Christmas holidays, which ran smoothly until Wednesday morning.
A large, dark brown owl swooped in with the others during breakfast, holding an envelope. A red envelope.
It dropped the envelope in front of Sirius with a screech before flying off again, leaving Sirius staring at it in horror. He knew what it was. There was only one thing that came in a red envelope. A howler.
"It's way too early in the morning for this," Sirius sighed as he picked it up. "And what happens if I don't open it?"
"It explodes," Remus said, giving him an apologetic smile.
"Well then, here goes." The second that Sirius began to open the envelope, it unfolded and then arranged itself into a mouth like shape, hovering in front of him.
"Sirius Orion Black!" it began with a screechy voice that perfectly matched that of his mother, Walburga Black.
The whole hall was listening now.
---
Sorry for not updating last week, I've had so many tests and assignments and SACs and not enough time to write but hERE YA GO.
- Grace
YOU ARE READING
The Forest - R.L.
Fanfiction(Remus Lupin - Marauder's Era ) She was wandering through the forest when she saw it. A wolfish being, about as tall as herself, with scruffy grey-brown fur and a snarl forming on its lips. But she wasn't afraid. --- Grace Thorne is an eleven year o...
