Mischievous-A Marauders Fanfic

16-An Issue with a Rat, and Other Things

Despite how tired and already shaken up Halley was as she climbed the stairs that same night, it seemed Fate had dealt her more troubles. She had barely reached the common room when she was pounced on by Remus and Sirius, and led quietly over to a corner.

"The hell's going on?" she asked, but Remus shushed her.

"Hal, we've got a bit of a problem" Sirius muttered. "The others are already hiding in the library. We've got to go. Come on."

Bemused and already quite stressed and worried, Halley allowed herself to be led down to the library, although she herself was already close to tears.

Remus and Sirius took her to the back of the library, where Samantha, James and Sephy were sitting, all looking equally concerned.

"Where's Peter?" Halley asked.

In reply, Samantha lifted a quite large, kind of podgy, nondescript brown rat from in her lap. Halley's eyes opened wide.

"You're bloody joking me."

"We're not" James sighed. "He's changed. And doesn't know how to change back, the prick."

"Hey" Samantha snapped, cuddling Peter the rat as he squeaked loudly. "Be nice to him, James. Just cos he was first to do it out of all of us."

"We need to find some way of helping Peter change back" Remus explained. "Hence why we're camping in the library."

"Hal, are you OK?" Sephy asked suddenly, noticing Halley's vacant expression and how her friend was swaying slightly. Halley nodded slowly.

"Yeah-well, no" she admitted. "Merrythought's lesson wasn't really a lesson, more of a-Look, as much as I want to help Peter, I'd really just like to sit down for ten minutes..."

"Sit on the armchair" Samantha offered, hopping up off of the arm as James vacated it. "And hold Peter."

"Don't let him look down your shirt" Sirius joked. Sephy hit him on the arm as Halley took off her coat and collapsed into the chair. Samantha passed Peter to her, and everyone but Sirius huddled together while Remus wrote out a list of books to look in.

"To be honest, Peter, mate, I'd stay as you are" Sirius commented, coming to sit on the arm of Halley's armchair. "You're getting all the cuddles off the girls tonight."

The rat in Halley's hands squeaked, and the girl decided from that moment on that Peter could sit on her knee, but she wasn't going to cuddle him.

"So, what happened in Merrythought's lesson?" Sirius then asked. Halley sighed.

"So much. Too much to comprehend at once. Basically-Hagrid had been talking with the centaurs about the fact that one of their children has gone missing-"

"This is relevant?" Sirius butted in. Halley nodded.

"Yeah. You wouldn't think it. Anyway, apparently Dumbledore ordered Merrythought to take me into the Forest-"

"Whoa whoa whoa" Sirius butted in again. "They took you in the Forest?"

Halley nodded again.

"I'm getting the others" Sirius gasped, jumping up and running over to where the others were muttering together. One word and they were all crowded around Halley.

"So" Sirius prompted. "Merrythought took you to the Forbidden Forest-"

"With Hagrid and Fang, apparently on Dumbledore's orders" Halley continued. "Yeah. Hagrid was there to discuss with the centaurs about the missing foal, and I was supposed to be there to practice my Patronus Charm somewhere a little more scary-"