Sign it [Lupin's Daughter]

Chapter 18

"Lupin!" The voice was not one Maddy wanted to hear this early in the morning. She opened her eyes, and sat up to see Severus Snape standing in the doorway.

"Is there something wrong, Severus?" Remus asked, as he got out of bed to face him.

Despite it being three o'clock according to the clock, Snape still wore his signature robes, and Maddy had the feeling he slept in them.

"Yes, something is 'wrong', Lupin. Black was inside of the Gryffindor Common Room with a knife extended over Ron Weasley." said Snape.

Maddy threw her legs off the side of her bed and stood up quickly. Her eyes wide with fear.

"McGonagall just told me. We need to search the castle again. Drop Madeline at the Gryffindor Common Room on your way, he left the dorm so McGonagall thinks it's the best place for her, as all the students are already awake." Snape continued, before he turned, and his robes flung behind him and exited.

Remus bit his lip, turned to Maddy and without a word held out his hand towards her. She grabbed it, and Remus walked towards the Gryffindor dorm, Maddy running to keep up.

McGonagall was standing in front of the portrait hole, glaring with a disapproving look at Sir Cadogan. She turned around when she saw Remus and Maddy coming towards her.

"Here, Maddy. Go inside, I'll get you when I'm done. Okay?" Remus said.

Maddy nodded, and McGonagall gave Sir Cadogan a firm look over her shoulder that caused him to open the portrait hole very quickly.

Maddy fearfully looked towards McGonagall. Minnie?

McGonagall knelt down next to her, "We'll explain everything later. Stay here until we confirm Sirius Black is no longer here."

Maddy nodded, and made her way through the hole.

All the Gryffindor students were sitting around the Common Room, anxiety etched across all their faces. Percy Weasley saw Maddy first, and gestured for her to come over to where he had been sitting on the couch comforting Ron and trying to keep order in the room.

"Hello, Madeline," said Percy, his voice laced with a pompous tone, "Professor McGonagall said that you would be staying with us."

Maddy nodded, and plopped herself on the floor, leaning her back against the small table.

Are you alright, Ron? Maddy asked, looking at Ron's shaken form on the couch in between Percy and Hermione. Harry sat across from him, on a small sofa with Ginny and who Maddy assumed to be George, but she wasn't certain. Fred, or the other twin, sat on the table next to her.

Ron nodded slightly, but didn't make any move to calm down.

"Hey, Maddy?" Maddy looked up to see Fred looking down at her with a cocky grin on his face, "Do you like pranking?"

Percy rolled his eyes, "Don't try to corrupt her already, Fred."

George whistled innocently, "Us? Corrupt her? Never." He insisted, but the gleam in his eyes said otherwise.

Maddy nodded, and made a writing gesture in the air, to make it known that she wanted parchment.

Hermione, for a reason Maddy didn't know, had some with her, probably from a last minute essay.

I love pranking! She wrote, I've just never done it myself. My dad's teaching me the basics, he was a big prankster in school, you know? I'm going to be a great prankster one day.

She handed the paper to Fred, who read it with a lopsided grin. "I believe we've found ourselves a worthy apprentice, George!" He declared, causing Percy and Hermione to roll their eyes. He read the paper again, "Professor Lupin was a prankster? I didn't really pin him as that type. We'll have to ask him that later, George."