Redemption For A Monster (Marauder fanfic) Book Three

51- The Four-Legged Patronus

Sara wanted to obey her promise to Harry, and not let him down, so first thing the following morning she locked up her father's wine cellar, to stop herself from going in there again.
She then cleaned the whole house, and threw out all the old bottles of alcohol, to keep herself distracted.
Having spoken to Harry about her guilt at failing to protect James and Lily, and having him forgive her, had made Sara feel much better.
Luckily since Sara hadn't been drinking for long, she found it rather easy to stop, as she had only been drinking to ease her pain. And after speaking about her feelings with Harry, she felt a lot more like her old self again, and no longer needed to hide her pain with drink.
She wanted to write to Remus right away, to try and make things better between them, and thank him for sending Harry to her. But she knew that he was unlikely to reply, as Dumbledore had sent him underground to live among his own kind, as a werewolf spy.

Wanting to keep her first promise to Harry, Sara was there to greet him as he exited the Hogwarts Express with Ron. And she spent every day with him leading up to Christmas.
Molly had offered her a bed at the Burrow, during the Christmas period, but since the small house was already so full, Sara declined the offer, choosing to return each night to her own house.
Waking up alone on Christmas morning, was difficult for Sara, as she hadn't been alone on Christmas Day, since before she started Hogwarts.
But after opening her Christmas presents as quickly as possible, Sara got dressed, and headed straight to the Burrow.

Harry was happy to see her, and even happier to open his presents from her. Sara had given Harry a box of chocolate frogs, a set of expensive quills, and a blue dragon brooch to remind him of her.
After attatching the dragon to his clothing, Harry was forced to chop up vegetables with Ron for Molly. And since neither of them were 17 yet, they had to do this by hand.
Then once they had finished, Sara watched them and the twins, Stun a garden gnome and shove him into a tu-tu, before placing him on top of the Christmas tree, without Molly noticing. Making him the ugliest Christmas fairy ever.

After doing this, Harry joined Sara, who was sitting by herself on the sofa in front of the fire.
"So, how are you?" He asked, as casually as possible.
"I'm fine" answered Sara.
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"I am, I swear. I haven't touched a drop of alcohol since that night" continued Sara.
"Good... Have you spoken to Remus yet?" Questioned Harry quietly, nodding his head to where Remus was talking to Arthur.
"No. This is the first time I've seen him since the 31st of October. He's been really busy recently" replied Sara.
"Yeah, he was telling me last night that he had been trying to convince the other werewolves to join our side, but it hasn't been going well"
"I guess it is hard to argue with Fenir Greyback. He makes a pretty strong case for Voldemort's side".

"Yeah... Listen, can I ask you something?" Questioned Harry.
"Sure. What is it?" Quizzed Sara.
"Well, it's two things really. The first is, have you ever heard of anyone called the Half-blood Prince, before?"
"Actually, the name rings a bell. But I can't think of where I've heard it before, sorry"
"That's all right. And the second thing is, do you trust Snape?".
Sara frowned.
"Why do you ask?".
Harry took a deep breath and explained that he had overheard a secret conversation between Snape and Draco Malfoy.
"So Snape was offering to help Malfoy, by claiming that he had made an Unbreakable Vow to protect him?" Questioned Sara.
"Yeah. Everyone else just thinks Snape was lying, to find out what Draco was up to. But I wanted to know what you thought, because it didn't sound like that to me" replied Harry.

"Well, in answer to your earlier question, yes, I do trust Snape. He has been making my potion for me, for over a year now, and I don't know what I would've done without his help. I certainly wouldn't be human right now, that's for sure... However, I don't think that Snape is a nice or good person, because of the way he treats you, but I just don't think that he could have become a Death Eater again, without Dumbledore's knowledge, despite what he may have said to Draco Malfoy" admitted Sara.
"Right" muttered Harry.
"However, we are speaking about a conversation that you shouldn't have heard in the first place. I thought I've warned you before about sneaking around, especially after that Malfoy boy" scolded Sara.
"Sorry"
"You should be".