Hogwarts: A Snake in the Grass - BOOK 6 (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

1: A Strained Relationship

I stared at the leaflet that had just arrived.

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF
THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
PROTECTING YOUR HOME AND FAMILY AGAINST DARK FORCES
The Wizarding community is currently under threat from an organisation calling itself the Death Eaters. Observing the following simple security guidelines will help protect you, your family, and your home from attack.
1. You are advised not to leave the house alone.
2. Particular care should be taken during the hours of darkness. Whenever possible, arrange to complete journeys before night has fallen.
3. Review the security arrangements around your house, making sure that all family members are aware of emergency measures such as Shield and Disillusionment Charms, and, in the case of underage family members, Side-Along-Apparition.
4. Agree on security questions with close members and family so as to detect Death Eaters masquerading as as others by use of the Polyjuice Potion (see page 2).
5. Should you feel that a family member, colleague, friend, or neighbour is acting in a strange manner, contact the Magical Law Enforcement Squad at once. They may have been put under the Imperius Curse (see page 4).
6. Should the Dark Mark appear over any dwelling place or other building, DO NOT ENTER, but contact the Auror office immediately.
7. Unconfirmed sightings suggest that the Death Eaters may now be using Inferi (see page 10). Any sighting of an Inferius, or encounter with same, should be reported to the Ministry IMMEDIATELY.

I heard some yelling from the kitchen. Tonks came running past and out the door and Remus was standing at the door looking ashamed.

I shoved the leaflet down and walked up to him, anger rising in my chest. This was not the time to be an asshole, which was exactly what Remus appeared to be doing.

'What the hell did you do?' I demanded.

'I told her we couldn't be together as I'm dangerous...' he replied sadly, 'We're going to the Weasley's this weekend...'

I sighed and stared at him.

'You know, Josh doesn't care that I'm dangerous and we're together...' I said quietly.

'You're not dangerous...' Remus replied.

'I'm more dangerous than you!' I exclaimed, 'And you're being a little bit mean! She's just... She's just lost her cousin!'

'Yeah, well he was my friend too!' Remus replied.

'And he was my father!' I yelled angrily, 'It's not all about you! You've changed, Remus, and not for the better... I've been invited to the Weasley's just now, so I'm going.'

That was a lie. They hadn't invited me, I just wanted to get out of there. I pulled the sleeves of my baggy jumper right over my hands, drowning myself in it. Since my dad had died, I hadn't worn anything but huge jumpers. I liked the way I could hide within them, I felt protected with them on.

I wandered the streets all night then decided I'd see if the Weasleys would let me stay until all the others came later on. Mrs Weasley let me in and told me to go upstairs. I was angry at Remus but I disguised it as I went into the room that Harry, Ron and Hermione were in.

'Hey! You're early!' said Hermione.

'Yeah, I couldn't stay in that house any longer... Kreacher is doing my head in...' I lied. I had told him to shut up ages ago.

'Oh... He's still... Aah... Well, I was going down to see if our O.W.L. results have arrived! Maybe yours will be here too!' Hermione said and I smiled slightly.

Later on, the rest of us went downstairs to find four owls flying towards us. Everyone was hyperventilating apart from me. I had completely forgotten we still had to get our results, too much had happened since the exams that it had escaped my mind.

An owl landed in front of me and I took the envelope off of its leg. I opened it and breathed in.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS
Pass Grades
OUTSTANDING (O)
EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS (E)
ACCEPTABLE (A)
Fail Grades
POOR (P)
DREADFUL (D)
TROLL (T)

Molly Black has achieved:
Ancient Runes - O
Arithmancy - O
Care of Magical Creatures - O
Charms - O
Defense Against the Dark Arts - O
Divination - O
Herbology - O
History of Magic - O
Muggle Studies - O
Potions - O
Transfiguration - O

I stared at the results in shock. How was that possible? I had done terribly in a few of them and couldn't have possibly gotten an 'Outstanding'.

Both Ron and Harry had achieved seven O.W.L.s, failing Divination and History of Magic, and Hermione had achieved ten. She wasn't happy though, she had gotten all 'Outstanding' apart from DADA, where she got an 'Exceeds Expectations'.

'What did you get, Molly?' asked Harry, noticing my shocked expression.

Ron glanced at my results and raised his eyebrows.

'Eleven 'Outstanding'! Bloody hell!' he said, 'Well, we're N.E.W.T. students now!'

It was a brilliant achievement but I still wouldn't get a job, no matter my qualifications.

We celebrated Harry's birthday that night. Remus arrived and headed towards me but I disappeared into the crowd before he could reach me.

'Why are you hiding from Remus?' asked Harry.

'I'm not!' I replied.

'Good, because he's coming over here!' Harry said.

'Happy birthday, Harry! I heard about your results! Well done! But what about yours?' Remus looked down at me.

'She got eleven 'O's!' Ron said, arriving at the scene, 'Even better than Hermione!'

'Well done!' Remus exclaimed smiling but then he went on to announce that Igor Karkaroff, an ex-Death Eater, had been found dead.

The next day, I had made up with Remus. We went to Diagon Alley with the others and got all of our stuff very quickly then Remus and I left immediately. We didn't even go to Fred and George's joke shop.

As we were heading away from Flourish and Blotts, we saw a stall selling amulets.

It said they were effective against Werewolves, Dementors and Inferi.

The guy who was selling then said to Mrs Weasley, leering at Ginny, 'One for your little girl? Protect her pretty neck?'

I resisted the urge to turn around and hex him. My patience was wearing thin and the smallest comment would set me off, making me do things I regretted. I swallowed my anger and we continued with our shopping, going through it as quickly as possible. Diagon Alley had lost its warm feeling, we didn't want to spend longer than necessary there.