Reality Bites Harry Potter

Pyper Harper is not a Cheater

Sirius sends me a letter just as Shay and I get settled in at the Weasleys. They just returned from their vacation and looked visibly tanner than Shay and I. Shay, of course, was very happy to see her boyfriend. I didn't have much time to read the letter until later when we were all supposed to be going to bed. Shay and I are sharing a room with Ginny, so Mrs. Weasley had us leave our stuff downstairs so it'd be easier when we had to move it when we get our stuff from Diagon Alley. I think the plan was to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the last week and we'd head off to King's Cross from there. I'm using the moonlight to read the letter.

Dear Pyper,

We didn't get to really do any planning , did we? Anyway, now that I'm out of Azkaban, I can get into contact with you and your sister more often. You mentioned you had information about Pettigrew, please send me what you can in a letter. I would prefer to talk to you in person, but it's very risky and I don't want to put you or your sister in danger. The next time we meet, it will be when you've already arrived at Hogwarts. I saw that rat on that boy's shoulder. I'm assuming that's what you wanted to tell me. If you need to talk to me at Hogwarts, meet me by the Whomping Willow, but make sure it's after dark. Just be careful when you do go out after dark. I'm sure the Minister will find a way to interfere at Hogwarts, one way or another. Also, when referring to me out loud, please call me Snuffles. It doesn't hurt to be extra careful.

Yours truly,

Snuffles

I muffled the snort of laughter that came out with my pillow. Snuffles? I wonder if this was some inside joke with Moony and Prongs. If it is, that's hilarious! I calmed myself down, put the letter away, and finally made myself go to sleep finally. That means Shay and I get to use our animagus forms a lot more this year. It's going to be so fun! Plus, Sirius doesn't know that we're animagi, so we can surprise him! Oh, I can't wait! We'll just have to be more careful with Minnie. She'll definitely give us the detention of a lifetime if she spots us running around in our animagus forms. "Pyper, come join us for a Quidditch match." Fred said as he, George, and Shay entered the room the next day. I was just double checking I had everything I needed and that no one would be able to accidentally run across my letter from Sirius.

"Okay. Is Ron and Ginny playing?" I asked curiously. That way there will be six of us and we'd have three on three. Games like these will be more fun once Bill and Charlie come next year!

"Yep!" Shay said grinning. "Now grab your stuff and let's go!"

"Okay, okay." I said rolling my eyes and smiling. I grabbed my broom and we headed out to the back field. I just realized something, I hadn't really had the chance to go on my runs in the mornings. Ah, shit. Flint is going to be pissed. Well, nothing like starting now. Percy yelled at us to keep it down as we 'thundered' down the stairs, but we just waved him off. Fred decided to be Chaser/Beater, Ron is going to be the Keeper, and Shay is going to be Seeker; they're going to be one team. Ginny, George, and I are going to be the opposing team. Ginny is going to be the Seeker, I'm playing Chaser/Beater, and George is going to be our Keeper. Our match started off with Fred stealing the 'Quaffle' right off the bat. I chased him around until I got tired of his crap and hit a 'Bludger' at him when he thought he was going to make a goal past George. Ha! His mistake! I thought smirking as he dropped the 'Quaffle' and I stole it. I took off to their 'goal post' and got a score off of Ron.

"You cheated." Fred said pouting.

"Did not Weasley." I said ready to fight him. Pyper Harper is not a cheater and she did not just spend two whole fucking years fighting tooth and nail to change the whole dynamic of the Slytherin team just to be called a cheater.

"Fred, I don't think it would be wise to pursue that." Ginny said noticing my expression.

"Okay, okay. You didn't cheat..." Fred muttered, also noticing my expression.

"Thanks." I said, feeling a bit awkward now. Before I could think too much about it, Shay made it a point to start up the match again. We played for hours and it was only when Mrs. Weasley came to fetch us that we stopped playing. My team managed to win this time and it was great! It was still a bit awkward around Fred after the whole 'not-cheating' incident earlier, but I'm sure it'll go away eventually. Because I'm not going to cause a fuss over it and make it into a big deal. I'm good now and I hope Fred can see that. But considering who he is, he probably doesn't. So, I made the effort to explain to him, later after dinner, that I wasn't upset with him and that I was sorry for making him think otherwise. He seemed really relieved after that and it wasn't awkward anymore.

"Is everything okay, Pyper?" Shay whispered to me later when Ginny fell asleep.

"Yeah. I talked to Fred about earlier and we're good now." I told her, smiling. She nodded.

"Good. I didn't want to have to be the middle man between my sister and boyfriend." She said sounding relieved.

"I would never do that to you, Shay." I told her frowning. "Never."

"Good night, Sissy." She said smiling at me.

"Good night." I told her and I turned over on my cot. I don't want there to ever be a situation where Shay is forced to take sides between me and Fred, or any of our friends for that matter. I can't do that to her, not after everything we've been through. I don't know why I feel this way, but I'm certain it has to do with our childhoods before we arrived in London. But I know this feeling is right and I'm going to keep following it because I know it's going to help me protect her. Whatever experiences we had as smaller children, must've been very terrible if protecting my sister is very important. I'm sure it's normal to want to protect your sibling, but I feel like there's more to what I'm feeling. And it's frustrating because I don't know what that 'more' is. I hope Shay and I will be able to recover our memories, no matter how terrible they must be.