minnow // sirius black

twenty-five

25 :  speeding

The moment the words left my mouth was a game-changer.

Dumbledore immediately sent my parents a letter, requesting permission to speed me through my seventh year, so I could be out of school by the new year.

He wanted me to get through this year as quickly, and as fully, as I could, just so that I could be placed in a safer place. When I asked if Hogwarts wasn't safe, Dumbledore shook his head.

"You know, as well as I do, that there are students here who wish to join the Dark Lord, and if they were to learn that you were here, catching you for him would give them a fast track to his inner circle and his good graces."

So, my parents agreed, and as did I. I started getting much more homework, and in my free-periods, I would spend them with a professor to learn more spells, potions, theories and disciplines before going and hiding away in the Astronomy Tower, reading through entire text books.

Dumbledore set my final exams for the three days before Christmas Break, so I could spend the time with my friends and family, before learning whether I passed and would go into hiding, or failed and would try again.

I was dead-set on passing.

I didn't tell anyone for a few days, wanting to wait until after Sirius' 18th birthday to tell them that the last few months they spent at Hogwarts would be without me.

The day before his birthday, we all gathered in the Common Room because we'd all managed to produce full bodied Patronuses.

I sat on the loveseat with Sirius, and we both said we'd go first since our Patronuses were the most obvious.

As we cast the charm, I thought of the day that Sirius had made us a picnic, and I found myself wondering what memory he used.

Two large wolf-dogs bounded out from our wands, panting for a few moments before sniffing one another and curling up with one another. My wolf-dog was just a little smaller than Sirius', but it acted like the more dominant of the two. I rolled my eyes as I let my concentration go. Sirius followed, softly chuckling. He wrapped an arm around me as we leaned back. I pulled my knees to my chest and leaned against him.

Peter went next, and his Patronus was, unsurprisingly, a small rat. Remus' was a wolf, much larger than Sirius' wolf-dog, but was still a wolf. He admitted he was relieved it wasn't a werewolf. It was a large wolf that stood on all four legs, had a long snout and shaggy fur. Kind of cute.

I looked at James, who looked at Lily, so I looked at her. Narrowing my eyes as they nodded to each other. I grabbed Sirius' arm as it dawned on me.

James' Patronus was a massive stag, with giant antlers and huge hooves. It was a bit larger than James' animagi, but I was still in awe of the beauty of the creature. James looked towards Lily as his stag shook its head, and she took a deep breath.

Her magic shot through me, and my body was ignited with electricity.

It wasn't just the magic that made me audibly gasp, but it was also her Patronus.

A doe emerged from her wand, and didn't hesitate to nuzzle against the stag's neck. The silence in the room was defeaning.

"I guess you both owe me 5 galleons," I nodded. Lily rolled her eyes, snorting. "And technically, you guys all owe Lily a ton of money too."

By the end of the night, we all had our official nicknames. The next morning, we charmed a special map that Remus and I had made two years ago to showcase our nicknames as the Marauders. But, like all good things, the fun didn't last as within a few hours Filch had confiscated it.