Reality Bites Harry Potter

Meeting with a Fugitive

After Shay told me that we needed to have Harry and Sirius talk, I immediately wrote a letter to Sirius.

Dear Snuffles,

Things are starting to get dicey. You and Harry need to talk soon.

Please send a good time,

Pyper

I quickly made my way to the owlery and used a random barn owl to send the letter. On the way back, I ran into Cho Chang and she looked very unhappy. Well, Pansy did cover her in glue, glitter, and jingle bells. She stopped me from going any further and glared at me. "Can I help you?" I asked her. "I'm in a bit of a hurry to get back."

"You're the one who covered me in that gunk." She accused me.

"No, I didn't." I said frowning. "I was in the Hospital Wing the whole time. I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't mess with me, Harper! I know you're the one who did it!" She yelled. "Your sister put you up to it, I know it!"

"Shay and I have nothing to do with what happened to you." I told her firmly. "So, please move."

"Not until you've apologized to me." She said glaring at me.

"But I haven't done anything warranting an apology." I said sighing. "Do you have any proof?"

"Well, no, but," I held up my hand, silencing her.

"If don't have proof, then you can't prove anything." I said shaking my head. "So, unless you can find proof, please move."

"Fine, but this won't be last of me." She said before taking off. I rolled my eyes and made my way to the Quidditch pitch for practice. Flint sighed when I arrived. Everyone was already changed out and doing stretches.

"I'm sorry, but Cho Chang held me up."  I said scowling. "She wouldn't move out of my way."

"It's fine, just go get changed." Flint said shaking his head. I hurried into the girls' locker room and changed out into my practice clothes. I grabbed my broomstick and joined the rest. We stretched for a few minutes before we got started.

"How's your shoulder?" Derrick asked me.

"Never better," I said shaking my head. "I can't believe Crabbe and Goyle would do something so idiotic."

"I can," Bole said snorting. "I'm just surprised they thought of it on their own."

"Yeah, who knows who put that idea into their head?" Bletchley said snickering.

"Come on, guys. We're here to practice, not gossip." Flint said rolling his eyes.

"Sorry, sorry." We muttered.

"So, what's the plan for today?" I asked him. We spent the practice working on our accuracy with the Bludgers and our hand/eye coordination with the Quaffle. Not only that, we started on a new game strategy for our match against Ravenclaw. Later on that day, I received a response from Sirius that said he'd meet up with us tonight at the Whomping Willow. I passed it on to Shay and Harry. Harry seemed nervous, but eager. "Did you figure out what you want to ask him?"

"Yeah, I wanted to ask him about my parents, but I know we won't have a lot of time." Harry said frowning.

"Once we catch that rat, you'll have all the time in the world to ask him about your parents." I told him smiling.

"I keep having doubts about that." He mutters. "It's not that I don't think we can clear his name, I just don't want to get my hopes up."

"I understand," I told him sympathetically. "You just need to have faith."

"I'll do my best." Harry said smiling. "Thank you for telling me about Snuffles."

"You're welcome, Harry." I told him. "Have you told Draco about him yet?"

"Not yet." He said shrugging. "I want to make sure everything is okay with Snuffles first."

"That's a good idea." I said nodding. When it was time to meet with Sirius, Shay and I met Harry at the entrance. We rushed out to the Whomping Willow and Crookshanks was there to meet us. He pressed the notch in the tree and Shay and I led Harry to the Shrieking Shack. Sirius was in the upstairs bedroom and it looked like he'd been pacing. He was probably nervous about talking to Harry.

"Harry," Sirius said grimacing. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." Harry said shaking his head.

"But it is." Sirius said sighing. "I'm the one who went looking for the rat in the first place. I know what kind of person he is and I was so stupid to go after him without a plan at least."

"You were blinded by betrayal and loss," I told him.

"We would've done the same thing if I were in your shoes." Shay said sympathetically.

"Thanks," Sirius said with a small smile. Shay and I left the room for the two of them to talk in private.

"Now, that they're talking, we can focus more on taking care of Pettigrew." Shay said sighing.

"I think Ron said he's taken off again." I said thoughtfully. "Of course, he worded that differently. He thinks Crookshanks killed him."

"Of course he does." Shay said rolling her eyes. "Sometimes I wish that'd happen."

"Me too, but we do need him alive." I said shaking my head.

"I know." She said sticking her tongue out at me.

"How's it going with Fred?" I asked her. She grimaced.

"Not so great." She sighed. "We're not really talking and I'm pretty sure he and Angelina are getting together."

"Oof, that sucks." I said frowning. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." She said frowning. "It's my fault for sure, but I was hoping this would something we could talk through. But I'm starting to think Fred and I won't survive this one."

"And if that happens, what are you going to do?" I asked her.

"I don't know." She said sniffling. I hugged her. "I want us to work out, but I know that with the way things are right now, it's not possible."

"Hey, I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but everything will be okay." I told her. "Maybe not as soon as you want it to, but it will happen."

"That doesn't really make me feel better, but thanks." Shay said with a small smile.

"You can come back in." Harry said approaching us. We nodded and re-entered the room.

"So, is everything okay?" I asked them.

"Yes," Sirius said with a big smile on his face. Aw, I'm glad he gets to feel some happiness through this mess. "So, what's this I hear about helping Hagrid's hippogriff escape?" We explained everything we knew about Buckbeak's situation and Sirius agreed to help. "On the day he's supposed to executed, I'll take care of helping him escape. But I need you three to keep an eye on Wormtail."

"Don't worry, we plan to." Shay said with determination. "We can't let him get away."

"Just be careful." Sirius told us. Shay, Harry, and I soon returned to the castle and so far, we didn't run into any issues. Shay and I wished Harry a good night and headed to our own house commons. When shit hits the fan, I hope we're able to capture Pettigrew and everything goes somewhat smoothly.