The year after her brother James graduates, Teddy Potter returns to Hogwarts for her final year. With the Marauders gone, it should be a quiet, peaceful year despite the mounting tensions in the world outside of school.
The problem, naturally, lies...
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Alecto Carrow has been suspended until after Christmas.
"It's a joke." Teddy says furiously, pressing her quill so aggressively against her parchment that it rips a hole straight through her essay on the history of Britain's last mountain trolls. "What the hell were they thinking? That's no more than a slap on the bloody wrist! She should be in bloody Azkaban, she used an Unforgivable Curse! At the very least they should have given Filch leave to use those stupid whips he's always talking about! I mean, how is a measly suspension meant to discourage violence against Muggleborns?"
"Oh, I don't know. I think the fear of pissing you off is enough to deter most people thinking about it." Mary jokes drily. She's taking it better than expected — she had barely looked up from her homework at all when Alice, who had heard the news from Maisie Greenridge, had sat down to share what she'd heard.
"Oh, please." Teddy makes a dismissive gesture with her hands, but Alice starts to laugh.
"Honestly, Teddy, I don't think you realise how much damage you managed to do to Carrow. I was helping Madame Pomfrey out in the hospital wing that evening, you know," She points out, as if either of them could have forgotten how both of them had sat in strained, drawn silence by Mary's bedside for hours that evening. "You turned her knees backwards and broke her nose so badly Madame Pomfrey had to contact St Mungo's to arrange a Healer to come out and restructure it! You also fractured her cheekbone and gave her a concussion, and I'm pretty sure your Bat Bogey Hex might have permanently damaged the tissue in her nasal cavity."
Teddy just sniffs. "Right. Finished taking inventory?"
Snorting, Mary hides her face in her Arithmancy textbook. Alice also seems to be biting back laughter, though she's at least trying to pretend to look disapproving about the whole thing. "See?" Mary reaches out to ruffle Teddy's hair. "The Muggleborns of Gryffindor House can sleep easy knowing we have a guard dog ready to protect us against all those scary blood supremacists."
The two of them start to howl with laughter, even as Teddy rolls her eyes and rests her chin on her knees. "Oh, whatever." She says, barely stifling her own smile. A quick glance at her watch shows that it's coming up on 7 o'clock, so she starts shoving her stuff back into her bag as she gets to her feet. "I'm heading off to Floo James."
"Cool," Mary says absently, still giggling. "Tell Sirius he's the love of my life and I miss him."
"What happened to Sukie?" Alice sounds indignant on Dracup's behalf, and she slaps at Mary's shin. Mary colours instantly, and ducks her head a little to hide her face.
"Bloody hell, Alice, it's a bit early to be throwing around the word 'love', isn't it?"
"But it's perfectly fine to use it for Sirius?" Alice asks disbelievingly. "I mean, if it was Remus it would be a different story-"
