Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 129: Pepper-up

Harry was running his fingers over the pattern of elongated diamonds cut from crystal in the stem of the custard goblet when it occurred to him that Professor Lupin never joined them for dinner. He turned to Gemma, touching her arm to get her attention, but she was absorbed in a conversation with Peter and signed "wait" in response.

"Hey, Neville—I thought Professor Lupin was going to join us for dinner?"

"Yeah, me, too. But I saw him talking to Aminah and Mrs. Khan and none of them are here—so maybe they left to try to find that Bill guy?"

"Oh, okay—blimey. I hope they find her dad and can free him from the curse."

"Whose dad? What curse?" Terry Boot asked from Neville's other side.

"Er..." Neville stammered.

"Oh, oops. Nevermind. Hey, Terry—do you know anything about how to sign up for classes?"

"What? At Hogwarts? Didn't you sign up at the end of ... oh, yeah. You were gone when we did that. Crikey! I guess talk to your head of house? That's Professor McGonagall, right?"

"Yeah."

"Blimey, I hope you don't get stuck with bad classes—Mum's been worried about Gemma being shunted into something dreadful or something she can't do because she can't speak," Terry shared.

"But she's learning how to do nonverbal spells and anyway, she speaks..."

"Oh, I know... and you know what I mean, verbally—out loud, whatever," Terry explained and sounding frustrated.

"When does she take the placement test?" Neville asked.

"Not until the end of August. She's going to keep working with the Center after this bit of training is done, I guess. It's bloody dull at home without her. I never thought I'd admit this... but I miss her constant chatter. It's just... " Terry trailed off. There was something really bleak about his tone.

"You okay, Terry?" Neville asked quietly.

There was the sound of a chair being pushed back hastily and then a clatter of footsteps and Harry gathered that Terry had rushed away.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"I dunno. He just seemed rather upset. Like he was going to... cry. I imagine he didn't want to do it here, in front of everyone," Neville whispered to Harry—though Harry wasn't sure why as the only other people left at their table couldn't overhear the conversation as Neville's Gran had left a while ago to go talk to Professor Sinistra.

"Yeah, well. Lots of big emotions here. You, Peter, and Gemma are going back to St. Mungo's, right? To work with your mum? I think it'll be too crowded with me there... so I'll just go back to my room and write that letter to Professor McGonagall about my courses for next year, okay?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. That's a good idea. So, tomorrow—want to meet in the reception area at 9:30 again?"

"Sure. And say 'hi' to your mum for me tonight," Harry said with a small smile in Neville's direction. "And thanks a lot for coming today—it was really great... it meant a lot to me that you were here. Thank you. And your Gran, too... I'll go tell her."

Harry asked his staff to direct him to Augusta Longbottom and it guided him on a circuitous route through the dining hall. He felt the heat rising in his cheeks as conversations quieted when he neared, the ringing of his silver-tipped staff against the chair legs no doubt making his approach more obvious, and then picked up again after he'd passed.

He silenced the navigational voice in his ear when he realized that he could pick out Mrs. Longbottom's voice on his own. He stood patiently nearby as she was speaking animatedly with Professor Sinistra.