Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 30 - Detentions

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 Al was halfway through her second week of Detentions. McGonagall's weren't too bad to be fair - they were only an hour long each and not that tedious. Today was her last detention cleaning the classroom. Something McGonagall could've done with a wave of her wand, Al noted. She finished putting the books back on the shelves she'd dusted when McGonagall came over to dismiss her. "Thank you very much Miss Dursley. Professor Lupin has asked for you on Saturday - something about cleaning a tank." Then she dropped her voice, "Has Mr Black found Pettigrew yet?" she asked.

 "No, Professor," Al said with a sigh, "We've discussed him leaving Hogwarts, but we think we should leave it until the summer. He might make a reappearance after all."

 "Very well," McGonagall said with a nod, "You may go."

 "Thank you, Professor," Al said, before heading down to the dungeons to revise. She had the end of the year tests coming up and she really needed to work on Ancient Runes in particular. And she could do with making some flashcards for History of Magic and Potions, which had both become a bit of a chore.

*****

 Soon it was exam season and Al had finished all her detentions with McGonagall. She still had that one with Snape of course, but she had a month and a half before that. For now, she needed to focus on her exams. Arithmancy, Astronomy and Herbology went really well, "Easy breezy," she commented to Theo on their way out of the former, who didn't look quite so amused. Potions, History and Ancient Runes less so. She didn't know what it was about potions at the minute, but she really just couldn't be bothered. Snape's teaching sucked all the fun out, and she had often found herself procrastinating essays.

 Finally, exams were over. Al, Theo and Daphne spent their afternoon on the lawn waiting for Draco to finish divination. He soon arrived, looking light-hearted and free, and reminding Al that she was late for Snape's detention. "But we're partying with everyone else tonight though?" he called out as she hurried off.

 "One hundred percent," she called back with a grin.

*****

 She hated Snape. She hated him so much. She was cleaning out the fifth years cauldrons because they'd had their practical OWL two days ago. Two days these potions had been sitting here! How the hell was she supposed to get that out! It was all dried up and she'd had to resort to scraping.

 Snape kept looking at the clock above the door and tutting. Suddenly, he stood up and swept into his office, returning with a goblet full of steaming potion. "Out!" he ordered. Al didn't need telling twice. She whipped off her gloves and hurried out, eager to join the celebrations in the common room.

 Al had just turned the corner when something occurred to her. Where was Snape taking that potion? Figuring half an hour wouldn't make much difference, she turned around and followed him through the corridors. He walked quite fast so she had to jog to keep up. Every now and then she'd come across a random Professor, who'd look at her for running and then turn their head.

 Finally she stopped outside the office Snape had entered - Lupin's she thought. What was he doing in there? Oh, Wolfsbane potion. But Lupin was no where in sight. Al peered outside; the sun was setting pretty rapidly. Where was he?

 She watched as Snape peered at a piece of parchment on his desk and as his lips curled into a thin smile. He looked awfully smug as he rushed out the office, so suddenly Al thought she'd been seen when she hid behind the pillar.

 Once he was out of sight, she too went into the office to see what he'd seen. It was a map of Hogwarts! Most students were in their common rooms or dorms, and a few professors patrolled the corridor. But what Al was most curious about was the bundle of dots on the border of the map where a path from the whomping willow ended. From top to bottom it read:

- Sirius Black

- Ronald Weasley

- Peter Pettigrew

- Harry Potter

- Hermione Granger

- Remus Lupin

  If Lupin was with them, he could transform at any minute without his potion! And this was hers and Black's chance to capture Pettigrew. Snape was on the lawn now and it was clear he was heading to the whomping willow.

 Quickly and carefully, Al poured the contents of the potion into a flask Lupin had lying around and sprinted out the castle and towards the willow. Her morning runs had clearly paid off, she thought smugly. Soon, Snape was insight and she ducked down to avoid being seen. He had what looked to be Harry's invisibility cloak in his hand. She watched as he collected a long branch of the ground and prodded a knot on the trunk of the tree, which had previously been swinging at him. Now however, it froze and Snape ducked down to the base of the tree and disappeared. "Wicked," she said to herself.

 Al needed to hurry though; it was getting darker by the second and if she left it too long Lupin could transform. She imitated what Snape had done and the whomping willow froze. Now she was closer to the tree she could see an opening in the bottom, which she slid down into.

 Inside the passage was completely dark. It was also very cold and smelled damp and Al shivered at the change in temperature from the warm evening air. Up ahead she could see a faint light bobbing away - that must be Snape. She illuminated her wand and followed him down the passage, careful to keep a good distance.

 After about five minutes, Snape disappeared; clearly the passage had come to an end. She carried on and saw an open trapdoor in the ground. Looking up through it, she saw a staircase and heard Black and Lupin talking upstairs. That was good - he hadn't transformed yet. Snape was no where in sight though.