Eye of the Serpent | HP MARAUDER ERA [2]

Chapter Twenty-Four

As soon as I walked into the Great Hall with Sirius, James, Peter and Remus, the first thing I saw was Professor McGonagall standing at the front of the room, conversing with the three seventh-year Slytherin boys who'd been scared off by us only a moment ago. One of them was holding a bloody napkin to his nose.

James nodded his head towards the one with the bloody nose. "Nice one," he told Sirius, grinning.

Sirius smirked back, but the smirk faded when he saw McGonagall striding towards us. As she neared, James and Sirius took a step back and held their hands up in resignation. I expected her to go straight for them, but instead, she went to me. I stared at her, wide-eyed, waiting for her to speak.

"Miss Reynolds, I was informed that you used the Impediment Jinx on some fellow students in the corridors! Is this true?" she demanded sternly.

"What?" Sirius snapped, interrupting me as I had been about to lie and deny doing so. "No, of course she didn't do that! She did no such thing, right James?"

I let out a very quiet sigh of relief, hoping that she would believe him.

"Of course not!" James agreed.

"She didn't do it," Peter piped up.

"I can vouch for that, it definitely wasn't her," Remus interjected, sliding into a seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Professor McGonagall, let's be realistic here," said James, placing his arm on her shoulder, which she quickly shrugged off. "Does that honestly sound like something Bianca would do?

McGonagall pursed her lips. "No, which was why I was surprised."

"Exactly!" said James. "Those blokes got confused because we were the ones fighting them, not her." He gestured between himself and Sirius.

"What?" she snapped.

"I'm the one who used the Impediment Jinx on him," James lied.

"Yes, and I punched that one in the face," Sirius said honestly, pointing over at the Slytherin table. "It was very satisfying, though I must admit my fist got quite badly bruised."

"Mr Black!" McGonagall scolded.

"It's all right, Professor, you'd understand if you knew exactly what had happened that caused us to act in such a way," James said calmly, pushing his glasses up as they had begun to slip off his nose.

"Nothing—and I repeat, nothing—can justify such behaviour! Detention for both of you, and ten points each from Gryffindor!"

James turned to Sirius, shaking his head disapprovingly. "She'll understand when we explain the situation." He turned back to McGonagall. "Professor, I hope you have a minute to chat... Let's just go right over there and I can explain what exactly happened that does indeed justify our behaviour towards those bast—"

"Potter," McGonagall tutted.

"Those... Blast-Ended Skrewts. That's all I was going to say, Professor, honest!"

James led Professor McGonagall away to explain exactly what had happened between the Slytherin boys, Isla and Muriel. Meanwhile, I looked down the table until I saw them. Thankfully, Muriel wasn't crying anymore and it appeared as though Isla was trying to make her laugh.

"I can't even count the amount of times I have taken the blame for you anymore," Sirius said to me.

"Yes, and I appreciate it very much. Thank you," I said. "Like I always say, I'm not planning on ever getting detention."

"I might not be able to do it every time, especially if you keep doing bad things," he said.

"What? I don't do bad things!" I said loudly.