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by hvgwcrts

by hvgwcrts

CHAPTER TWENTY
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH NANCY
BECOMES INVOLVED

. . .

"Alright, Scamander!" James was grinning as Sirius herded Nancy out of the Great Hall and into the awaiting arms for the three boys he called his best friends. "Didn't think you'd be up for something like this."

"Please." Remus shook his head. "You and Sirius went hand in hand trying to convince us that it would work - not that you had to do much considering that when you've made up your minds about something there is little to no worry in my mind that it will definitely happen."

Sirius rolled his eyes, shoving James off and taking his place in slinging an arm around Nancy. "Let's walk." He said, pushing them forward and the group behind followed. Together, as five, they made their way out of the large public area that was the school's entrance hall and into one of the corridors ajourning.

"If I didn't know I could protect myself I would be more scared." Nancy commented, as their journey didn't stop with the amount of people thinning out slightly.

"Come on, Nance - we need total privacy for this." Sirius turned back to her as they rounded yet another corner. If there was one thing that Nancy had found out about Hogwarts in the month she had been there, it was that the entire thing was a maze. But that was quite alright; with what was inside Nancy's suitcase and her prior experience throughout the years she spent with Newt instead of being in school, she was quite used to finding and figuring things out.

James nodded, taking the lead of the group as they came to the end of the corridor. "Absolute, complete privacy." He said, as he turned to the side and pushed open the wooden door, and holding it as the others followed him in side.

Sirius and Nancy, at the back of the group, came to a stop before the others. His arm slinked away from her shoulders, hand landing on the small of her back. "Ladies first." The dark-haired boy winked as Nancy slipped in before him, and Sirius closed door behind him.

The room appeared to be a classroom of sorts, forgotten by the teachers and seemingly all students other than the group within it. The old chalkboard was dated for a year or so previous, and from the detailed analysis of a mandrake plant drawn beneath the date, it appeared to have been used for a Herbology room that wasn't the greenhouses - they could get increasingly cold in the winter and on the opposite side of the scale it became swelteringly hot in summer, like one of those muggle steam rooms.

Most furniture was pressed up against the walls. The teacher's desk remained in place, but aside from a few student tables and chairs pulled from the centre, they were stacked up against the bookcases and cupboards that now held dust-coated jars of jellied... somethings. Early evening sunlight streamed through the windows against one wall, and when Nancy peered out of them below were the scraggily cliff edges that the school was set upon.

It wasn't exactly the most comforting of sights, but she didn't think the school would allow access if it was dangerous.

"So." James settled down on the top of one of the pulled-out desks. "You may be wondering why I have gathered you here today."

"Nope." Came the rather conclusive reply on the behalfs of Sirius, Peter and Remus. James rolled his eyes, but saw Nancy nodding warily and continued.

"Shut up, the lot of yous." He shook his head. "Nancy, you may be wondering why I have forced you out of your study hours and brought you two the Herbology classroom we had a cover lesson in four years ago annd didn't remember until last year."

"I... yeah, a little." She admitted, resting against the very edge of the teacher's desk. Sirius, although having been leant on the table to the side of James, seemed to spring to his feet and ended up sitting beside her yet again, arms around her shoulder. She didn't shrug him off, and so there he stayed.

"Well then, let me enlighten you." James clapped his hands together, looking excited. "As you may know... we tend to play pranks. Remus is the mastermind behind all of these - with plenty of input from me, of course - and he's agreed with... well I would say mine but they were Sirius's ideas - and so we had to bring you here. To let you in on our plans."

"Your plans?"

"We're going to play a prank. And we think you're exactly the right fifth person to help us pull it off."

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