Reality Bites Harry Potter

It's a Harper Thing

Seeing as Shay had a mental breakdown and failed in trying to get Harry to take her seriously, I decided to take a whack at it. Quidditch season has started and Flint is as relentless as ever when it comes to practices. Draco seems to have improved over the summer with his Seeker skills and Flint was very happy to see that. "Harry said Shay was trying to tell him that Sirius Black is innocent." Draco told me after practice.

"Yes, he is." I said as we headed back up to the castle together. "She just got impatient and blurted it out."

"How is she? I know she was terribly upset." Draco said looking concerned.

"She's better now, but she's still worried about it, of course." I said shaking my head. "She suffers from anxiety, so she always worries about the little things."

"So, you believe her then?" Draco asked me.

"Of course, I do." I said rolling my eyes. "This is the whole reason why I started S.W.A.P in the first place. They didn't give him a trial, didn't question him, nothing. The only thing they have on him is faulty witness statements from Muggles who saw the whole thing in the middle of the night. They only took Pettigrew's word at face value, but I can't fault them for that since that was the only thing they heard."

"Where did you find all this information?" Draco asked curiously.

"The public records at the Ministry." I said shrugging. "Anyway, I'm going to talk to Harry about it if I can get him alone for more than a few seconds."

"Leave Ron and Hermione to me." Draco said smiling.

"Thanks Draco." I said gratefully. We entered the school and found the gold trio making their way into the Great Hall. Draco pulled Ron and Hermione into a conversation about Quidditch and I took the chance to pull Harry off to the side. "Listen, I know Shay sounded a little out there, but she's not wrong. Peter Pettigrew is the one who betrayed your parents."

"I believe her." He said frowning. "I looked at the map and saw him running around the castle."

"Are you okay?" I asked him, worried. "I know it's a lot to take in and you're probably angry."

"I'm very angry." Harry said through clenched teeth. "But there isn't anything I can do about it."

"That's why Shay and I are trying our best to help Sirius Black." I whispered this part in case someone overheard us. "We're trying to help prove his innocence by capturing the rat, but Pettigrew is slippery. So, we're going to need some help."

"Okay, but what can I do to help?" Harry asked, his eyes filled with determination.

"Right now, there isn't much we can do other than to wait for Pettigrew to make a move." I said sighing. "It's the only option we have or he might make a serious run for it."

"That's frustrating." Harry said scowling.

"Trust me, I know." I said sighing. "Of course, no one is more frustrated than you and Snuffles."

"Snuffles?" Harry asked confused.

"Code name." I said shrugging.

"Got it." Harry said nodding. "Snuffles is a really good friend of my parents then?"

"He is. He and your dad were best mates in school." I told him. "And he's your godfather also."

"I-I have a godfather?" Harry muttered in shock.

"Yeah. I'm sure he regrets his actions and wishes he'd done more to be in your life." I told him sympathetically. Hopefully, Harry isn't too angry with Sirius.

"I want to speak with him." Harry said after a few minutes of silence. "Do you have a way of contacting him?"

"I do," I said nodding. "I'll send him a note tonight and let you know when he responds."

"Okay," Harry said nodding. "And... thanks for telling me all this."

"You're welcome." I said smiling. We moved onto talking about Quidditch and I grinned at him. "You're going to have to work harder this year."

"Why's that?" Harry asked curiously.

"Draco has gotten way better since last year." I said still grinning.

"I look forward to it." Harry said confidently. We split off and I went looking for Shay. She seemed to still be bummed about the other day.

"Hey," I greeted her.

"Sissy, I failed..." She said sniffling.

"But you didn't." I said before hugging her. "Come on, cheer up. Harry believes us."

"He does?" She asked surprised.

"Yeah, he looked at the map." I said smiling. "And who was the one who told him to do that?"

"Me..." She said with a small smile.

"That's right, you." I said wiping her tears away. "So, you didn't fail at all. You probably could've executed it a little better though." She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Thanks, Pyper." She said with a bigger smile on her face.

"You're welcome." I said shrugging. "So, how's the wings?" I whispered the last part. She grimaced.

"I haven't seen them since then." She said sighing. "I don't want them to come out again either. It was scary and made me feel more like a freak."

"You're not a freak, Shay." I said shaking my head. "You're unique and that's okay. Like I said, you're just as crazy as I am."

"That doesn't make me feel much better." She said rolling her eyes. "I don't see you sprouting wings."

"No, but I'm terrible with trying to make friends and then once I do make friends, I drag them into crazy shit." I said shrugging. "But I suppose that's just a Harper thing."

"It really is." Shay said shaking her head. "Are you excited about the upcoming Quidditch match?"

"Yeah, but I'm still swamped with my studies." I said sighing. "I barely made it to practice on time. I think Flint is going to be scolding me a lot this year."

"Just tell him what's going on with your studies, I'm sure he'll understand." Shay said shrugging. "He's a seventh year right? So, he's probably got a lot of stuff on his plate too."

"Yeah, I suppose." I said shrugging.

"And he's used to having a full plate and you're not." She said scowling at me. "So, if he says you're just making excuses, just tell him that you're not used to having so much to study!"

"Thanks," I said chuckling. "I'll be sure to tell him that." I can just imagine the look on his face now. It's going to be hilarious. Later on, I wrote out the note for Sirius and sent it to him via Crookshanks. I had to turn into my animagus form to talk to him, but Crookshanks agreed to take it to him. It would be weird if I used Salazar to send the letter. It might draw a lot of unwanted attention and that wouldn't be good for anyone involved.