minnow // sirius black

fourty-six

46 ;  leading

The visit to Hogwarts was quite the adventure. We didn't get as lost as we had expected, arriving at Hogsmeade nearly two hours before we had anticipated.

We nearly flew over the small town, as neither of us had thought it would be so close.

The car was parked behind the Three Broomsticks, locked. We told the owner that it was there, so they weren't startled when they took the trash out. We walked around the little village for nearly twenty minutes, mingling with some of the older students, before we saw Professor Slughorn approaching.

"For Merlin's sake," I groaned quietly to Lily. "He sent the talker?"

"I happen to like Slughorn."

"I do too," I snorted. "He just talks a lot."

"He really does."

And a lot of talking happened as Slughorn escorted us to the castle. I had purposely worn a hooded cloak, pulling the hood up as we walked. Just in case.

My hands were glued to my stomach.

Slughorn left us just outside the Great Hall. Lily and I were entranced, as if we were first years all over again, by the endless walls of stone knights. I thought about the rumor mentioned in one of the history books that the Headmaster could animate the knights to protect the castle.

Part of me hoped to never have to see it, but the other part of me was beyond curious.

After a moment, we realized that we were not waiting for someone to come and retrieve us, so we began to walk to where Minerva's classroom was.

In our years at Hogwarts, old students seemed to visit the teachers more often during the Christmas time, so very few lingering students seemed curious as to why there were two graduates roaming the halls. There were a few who stopped us, asking how the outside world was fairing. How the Muggle world was doing.

Lily answered those questions, while I answered the questions about whether or not it was true that I shattered a dozen windows by the Great Hall.

I planted a seed of a rumor that it was three dozen.

"You're ridiculous," Lily snickered as the third year Gryffindor ran off with her friends. "I wonder how that rumor will progress."

"I hope it progresses far. I hope one day, Esme hears that I shattered every window in this bloody castle."

"That's excessive."

"It truly is. I only shattered four."

Near the Transfiguration classroom, Lily and I ran into a familiar looking Hufflepuff.

I had to do a double-take, mostly because the boy looked terrified, before I realized it was the boy that literally killed me in his second year; my sixth.

"You're a fourth year now, aren't you?" I asked softly. He nodded. "Are you in Quidditch?"

"I'm Hufflepuff's Keeper."

"Nice," I smiled. "No hard feelings; for nearly killing me. Genuinely."

"What?"

"He sneezed on me in sixth year," I explained to Lily quietly. "I ended up in St. Mungo's."

"Oh, yeah."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be, kid," I said, patting his head. "You didn't know. Hell, I'm sorry for reacting the way we did. My brother and I. You had no idea, and we got upset with you anyway. I am sorry, and I am alive."