IN NO TIME AT ALL, Defence Against the Dark Arts had become most people's favorite class. Only Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins had anything bad to say about Professor Lupin.

"Look at the state of his robes," Malfoy would say in a loud whisper as Professor Lupin passed. "He dressed like our old house-elf."

This would lead to Harper hexing him which leaded to her being in detention right now. Fred and George were here too, they probably had done some pranking.

"So, Harp, what have you done that got you into detention?" Fred asked, walking on her right side.

"I hexed Malfoy," Harper said, spatting out the name.

"I can feel a lot of anger radiating, what do you think Fred?" George spoke up.

"I think we should help her get rid of this anger," Fred agreed, grinning, as if the two brothers had already come up with another prank. "I think the three of us should do a prank together, what do you think about that, George?"

"Splendid idea, brother, what do you think, Harp? Care to prank Malfoy?"

Harper looked up at the twins, touched by the fact that they would get in trouble just to make her happy. "I appreciate it, but I don't want you getting into more trouble and detention than you already are."

"You only get detention if you get caught, isn't that right, Fred?" George remarked, smirking.

"I totally agree with you, George, maybe it's time for Harp to know how we can sneak around the castle without being seen," Fred said, glancing at his brother.

"Maybe it's time," George nodded, eying her up and down. "But Harp, you have to solemnly swear it that you won't tell anyone!"

"I solemnly swear that I won't tell anyone about it," Harper promised them, rather curious about what they were going to tell her, but, to her surprise, Fred looked into his robes only to pull out some parchment.

"What's that?" Harper asked, trying to get a good look at the parchment.

"Explain, George," Fred said.

"Well . . . when we were in our first year, Harp — young, carefree and innocent . . ." Harper snorted, knowing fully well that Fred and George had never been innocent. ". . . well, more innocent than we are now — we got into a spot of bother with Filch."

"We let off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason . . ."

"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual —"

"— detention —"

"— disembowelment —"

"— and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."

Harper grinned. "Don't tell me . . ."

"Well, what would you have done?" Fred asked. "George caused a diversion by dropping another Dungbomb, I whipped the drawer open and grabbed — this."

"It's not as bad as it sounds, you know," George added. "We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."

"And you know how it works?" Harper asked, excitedly.

"Oh yes," Fred replied, smirking proudly. "This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."

"You're winding me up," Harper said, looking at the ragged old bit of parchment.

"Oh, are we?" George said, taking out his wand, touching the parchment lightly and saying, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that George's wand had touched. They joined each other, they criss-crossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words that proclaimed:

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP

Harper's breath stocked as she recognized the name of the map. She recognized the names from Remus' stories but he had never told her that they had made something like this.

"Wicked," Harper whispered, in total awe. "Just wicked."

The twins grinned as they looked down at her. "Any idea for the prank, Harp?"

Harper grinned broadly. "Oh, I know just what to do . . ."

• ✧ •

"I MUST SAY I AM IMPRESSED, MISS POTTER," George said, following Harper and Fred outside. After checking the Marauder's Map, they had discovered that Malfoy was sitting in the Courtyard, probably complaining about Remus to everyone who wanted to hear about it.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley," Harper replied, grinning from ear to ear, as she had a black cloak tugged under her arm. "I hope my Dementor act will make him shit his pants."

"Don't worry," Fred said, holding the door open for her. "I'll take care of the floating part while George will be checking the map to see if a professor is nearing and he'll be taking the picture. It can't go wrong."

They walked past Malfoy, who was indeed complaining about Remus, but this time, Harper smiled evilly and followed the twins to the other side. She caught Cedric's eye, who was talking to some friends, and gave him a smile before disappearing behind one of the pillars.

Once George gave thumbs up, Harper threw the cloak over herself and Fred took out his wand and made her float a couple inches from the ground. After checking if everything was secured the way it should be, Fred gave her thumbs up and made her float pass the pillar towards Malfoy.

Goyle was the first one to see Harper — or rather the pretend Dementor. His eyes widened, he jumped up and pointed at her while screaming like a girl. Malfoy turned around and fell off the balustrade he was sitting on. He, too, screamed and scrambled back up before running back inside. Harper could hear both Fred and George laugh as the former put her back on the ground. As she turned around, she was met with the top of someone's wand. As she glanced up, she saw Cedric, muttering some sort of spell and a white shield was formed between the two of them, making her fall down.

"Hey!" Fred exclaimed, running from behind the pillar and standing between the two of them, glaring at Cedric. "What are you doing?"

Cedric looked at him in disbelief. "I am using the Patronus charm, as we have learned in class last week, remember?"

"Yeah, but why are you using it on our dear Harper?" George asked, standing beside his brother. "By the way, the photo is hilarious."

"Harper?" Cedric lowered his wand and looked down at her. Harper pulled back the hood of the cloak and smiled sheepishly up at him.

"Sorry for the trouble, just had to deal with Malfoy."

He shook his head, but she saw a smile tugging on his lips. The twins pulled her up and George looked at the map, his eyes widening. "Shit! Filch is coming!"

"We need to go," Fred said, urging Harper further.

She looked over at Cedric, smiled apologetically, before running after the two brothers.

• ✧ •

"IS HE STILL FOLLOWING US?" Fred asked, as the three of them ran around a corridor.

George quickly checked the map. "Yes, he is."

"Shit," Fred muttered, "well, there is one place where he wouldn't follow us."

"The Common Room?" Harper spoke up, but he shook his head.

"That's too far away, no, the closest place will be the Forbidden Forrest."

The three of them stopped and Harper glanced up at them. "Do we have a choice?"

George showed her the nearing footprints of Filch. "We don't."

• ✧ •

THEY RAN ONTO THE GROUNDS TOWARDS THE FORBIDDED FOREST as if their lives depended on it. I was not going to get detention again, Harper thought, not because of Malfoy.

She followed the twins into the Forrest and the three of them hid behind a bush. As Harper peeked through a gap, she could see Filch running towards the edge of the Forrest, stopping and peering through the trees, trying to get a glimpse of them. Finally, after ten minutes, he gave up and stalked back towards the castle and Harper sighed in relief, before smiling.

"Can I get a look at that picture, George?"

He, too, smiled and showed her the photo of Malfoy screaming like a baby. Harper laughed and passed the photo to Fred, who grinned broadly.

"He got what he deserved," Fred remarked, handing it back to Harper.

"I'm going to frame this and hang it above my bed," Harper said, grinning. "Starting every day with a laugh."

They stood up and were about to make their way back towards the castle, when a sound made them look back. They exchanged an alarmed glance before taking their wands.

"Not to be negative or something," Harper whispered, "but what if it's a Dementor?"

"Just say Expecto Patronum while thinking of something that makes you happy," George whispered back.

"Okay, that can't be hard, can it?"

Neither of the twins replied, giving Harper a pretty good feeling of the answer.

"Let's head back towards the castle," Fred spoke up, when nothing appeared in the following five minutes. "It could have been gone already."

"I am not going to argue about that, dear brother of mine," George replied and the three of them ran back towards the castle, once in a while casting a glance over their shoulder to see if someone was chasing them, but the edge of the Forbidden Forrest stayed quiet.

They didn't stop until they arrived at the Common Room and the three of them sat down near the fireplace.

For a moment, no one said something. Then, Harper looked up, met both their eyes and a chuckle escaped her lips. Fred started to laugh and soon George followed.

"That was . . . amazing," Harper said, between all the laughter. "Really, thank you, you guys."

"No need to thank us, Harp," Fred said, winking at her, "we're family after all."

She smiled gratefully at the two brothers. "We are indeed."

• ✧ •

HARPER WAS PLEASED TO SEE THAT NO ONE ELSE CARED THAT REMUS'S ROBES were patched and frayed. His next lessons were just as interesting as the first. After Boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed, in the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted battlefields, waiting to bludgeon this who had got lost. From Red Caps they moved on to Kappas, creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.

Harper only wished she was as happy with some of her other classes. Although she secretly liked Potions, these days, the dungeons weren't the place to be. Snape was in a particularly vindictive mood these days, and no one was in any doubt why. The story of the Boggart assuming Snape's shape, and the way that Neville had dresses it in his grandmother's clothes, had travelled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn't seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin's name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever.

Harper was also growing to dread the hours she spent in Professor Trelawney's stifling tower room, deciphering lop-sided shapes and symbols, trying to figure out how this subject could be useful for her later in life.

Nobody really liked Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action-packed first class, had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence. They were now spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after Flobberworms, which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence.

"Why would anyone bother looking after them?" Ron said, after yet another hour of poking shredded lettuce down the Flobberworms' slimy throats.

At the start of October, however, Harry and Harper had something else to occupy them, something so enjoyable it made up for their unsatisfactory classes. The Quidditch season was approaching, and Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor team, called a meeting one Tuesday evening to discuss tactics for the new season. Oliver Wood was a burly seventeen-year-old, now in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. There was a quiet sort of desperation as he addressed the six of them in the chilly changing rooms on the edge of the darkening Quidditch pitch.

"This is our last chance — my last chance — to win the Quidditch Cup," he told them, striding up and down in front of them. "I'll be leaving at the end of this year. I'll never get another shot at it. Gryffindor haven't won for seven years now. OK, so we've had the worst luck in the world — injuries — then the tournament getting called off last year . . ." Wood swallowed, as though the memory still brought a lump to his throat. "But we also know we've got the best — ruddy — team — in — the — school," he said, punching a fist into his other hand, the old manic glint back in his eye.

"We've got three superb Chasers." Wood pointed stars Angelina, Katie and Harper.  

"We've got two unbeatable Beaters."

"Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us," Fred and George said together, pretending to blush.

"And we've got a Seeker who has never failed to win us a match!" Wood rumbled, glaring at Harry with a kind of furious pride. "And me," he added, as an afterthought.

"We think you're very good, too, Oliver," George said and Harper nodded in agreement.

"Cracking Keeper," Fred added.

"The point is," Wood went on, resuming his pacing, "the Quidditch Cup should have had our name on it these last two years. Ever since Harry and Harper joined the team, I've thought the thing was in our bag. But we haven't got it, and this year's the last chance we'll get to finally see our name on the thing . . ." Wood spoke so dejectedly that evening Fred and George looked sympathetic.

"Oliver, this year's our year," Fred said.

"We'll do it, Oliver," Angelina added.

"Definitely," Harry finished.

Full of determination, the team started training sessions, three evenings a week. The weather was getting colder and wetter, the nights darker, but no amount of mud, wind or rain could tarnish Harper's wonderful vision of finally winning the huge silver Quidditch Cup.

She was also practicing the Patronus Charm in her dormitory when everyone was asleep. She wanted to be prepared when a Dementor would cross her path. So far, she had managed a couple of silver sparks but nothing more.

She and Harper returned to the Gryffindor common room one evening after training, cold and stiff but pleased with the way practice had gone, to fine the room buzzing excitedly.

"What's happened?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in two of the best chairs by the fireside and completing some star charts for Astronomy.

"First Hogsmeade weekend," Ron said, pointing at a notice that has appeared on the battered old notice board. "End of October. Hallowe'en."

"Excellent," Fred spoke up, who had followed the Potter siblings through the portrait hole. "I need to visit Zonko's, I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets."

Both Harry and Harper threw themselves on the couch beside Ron, their high spirits ebbing away. Hermione seemed to read their minds.

"Harry, Harper, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time," she said. "They're bound to catch Black soon, he's been sighted once already."

Harper shuffled nervously as Sirius was mentioned.

"Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade," Ron said. "Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry, and Harper, ask Lupin, the next one might not be for ages . . ."

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry and Harper are supposed to stay in school . . ."

"They can't be the only third-years left behind," Ron argued back. "Ask McGonagall and Lupin, go on, Harry, Harper . . ."

"Yeah, I think I will," Harry said, before glancing at his sister. "What about you, Harp?"

"I'll ask Moony again, but I'm positive he'll say no," Harper replied, shrugging.

Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but at that moment Crookshanks leapt lightly onto her lap. A large, dead spider was dangling from his mouth.

"Does he have to eat that in front of us?" Ron asked, scowling.

"Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?" Hermione said, ignoring Ron.

Crookshanks slowly chewed up the spider, his yellow eyes fixed insolently on Ron.

"Just keep him over there, that's all," Ron said irritably, turning back to his star chart. "I've got Scrabbers asleep in my bag."

The cat was still staring unblinkingly at Ron, flicking the end of his bushy tail. Then, without warning, he pounced.

"OY!" Ron roared, seizing his bag, as Crookshanks sank four sets of claws deeply into it, and began tearing ferociously. "GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!"

Ron tried to pull the bag away from Crookshanks, but Crookshanks clung on, spitting and slashing.

"Ron, don't hurt him!" Hermione squealed. The whole common room was watching; Ron whirled they bag around, Crookshanks still clinging to it, and Scrabbers came flying out of the top . . .

"CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron yelled, as Crookshanks freed himself from the remnants of the bag, sprang over the table and chased after the terrified Scabbers.

George made a lunge for Crookshanks but missed; Scabbers streaked through twenty pairs of legs and shot beneath an old chest of drawers. Crookshanks skidded to a halt, crouched low on his bandy legs and started making furious swipes beneath the chest of drawers with his front paw.

Ron and Hermione hurried over; Hermione grabbed Crookshanks around the middle and heaved him a away; Ron threw himself onto his stomach and, with great difficulty, pulled Scabbers out by the tail.

"Look at him!" he said furious to Hermione, dangling Scabbers in front of her. "He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!"

"Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!" Hermione replied, her voice shaking. "All cats chase rats, Ron!"

"There's something funny about that animal!" Ron exclaimed, who was trying to persuade a frantically wiggling Scabbers back into his pocket. "It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!"

"Oh, what rubbish," Hermione said impatiently. "Crookshanks could smell him, Ron, how else d'you think . . ."

"That cat's got it in for Scabbers!" Ron said, ignoring the people around him, who were starting to giggle. "And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!"

Ron marches through the common room and out of sight up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Harry and Harper exchanged a glance, both knowing their dear friends would be at war with each other for the following days.

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December 27th 2023
I hope you enjoy it & tell me what you think of it! :)