Magic? || Years 1-5

Amisty Snaps: Year 5

"Well, if you want to -- er -- what is it?" Harry let out a very forced laugh, checking Percy's letter. "Oh yeah -- 'sever ties' with me, I swear I won't get violent."

"Give it back," Ron demanded, taking it without Harry even moving to hand it over. "He is -- " He tore it in half, "the world's -- " he tore it in half again, "biggest -- " and again, "git." He threw the letter in the fire.

Mentally, knowing it wasn't the appropriate time nor place, Amisty clapped for his dramatics.

"Come on," He continued, as if nothing had happened, "we've got to get this finished some time before dawn."

Hermione watched Ron, her mouth quirked up in a little smile, "Oh, give them here."

"What?"

"Give them to me, I'll look through them and correct them," She replied, holding out her hands expectantly.

"Are you serious?" Ron exclaimed. "Ah, Hermione, you're a lifesaver, what can I -- ?"

"What you can say is, 'We promise we'll never leave our homework this late again,'" Hermione cut him off.

"Thanks a million, Hermione," Harry's voice was very soft, and he sank back into his chair, pushing up his glasses to rub his eyes.

Hermione set to work immediately, scribbling out sentences and correcting things with the familiar scratch of a quill.

"Okay, write that down, and then copy out this conclusion that I've written for you," Hermione pushed the essay and slip of parchment toward him.

"Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful person I've ever met, and if I'm ever rude to you again -- " Ron began, positively relieved.

" -- I'll know you're back to normal," She finished. "Harry, yours is okay except for this bit at the end, I think you must have misheard Professor Sinistra, Europa's covered in ice, not mice -- Harry?"

Amisty turned toward him, almost laughing as she saw where he was. He was kneeling just in front of the fire as if they were the meaning of life.

"Er -- Harry? Why are you down there?" Ron asked.

"Because I've just seen Sirius's head in the fire," Harry replied as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"Harry..." Amisty's voice trailed off as she looked at him. "Are you sure you're not just exhausted?"

"No, I saw him," Harry shook his head, watching the flames carefully. "His head in the fire. Pretty hard to miss, Am."

"Sirius's head? You mean like when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard Tournament? But he wouldn't do that now, it would be too -- " Hermione broke off suddenly, emitting a sharp gasp. "Sirius!"

Ron's quill fell to the floor and Amisty's jaw dropped.

Sirius's head, in fact, was floating in the flames, grinning up at them.

"I was starting to think you'd go to bed before everyone else had disappeared. I've been checking every hour," His dark eyes sparkled.

"You've been popping into the fire every hour?" Harry asked, a trace of a laugh in his tone.

"Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear yet," Sirius replied nonchalantly.

"But what if you'd been seen?" Hermione pressed, fingers to her mouth in worry.

"Well, I think a girl -- first year by the look of her -- might've got a glimpse of me earlier, but don't worry. I was gone the moment she looked back at me and I'll bet she just thought I was an oddly shaped log or something," Sirius replied, adding on the hasty reassurance at Hermione's thunderous expression.