9

466Chapter 9: All Hallows' Eve

Updated 7/18/18

All Hallows' Eve

"—did what?"

"He was asleep, Prongs! He probably doesn't even remember!"

"But that's our biggest secret!"

"Technically, it's only part of our biggest secret."

"Shut up, Wormtail. I can't believe you, Padfoot!"

"You didn't see him, Prongs."

The conversation was clearly over. Harry gave a muffled groan and rolled over, blinking blearily.

"Morning, Harry," Peter greeted him cheerfully enough.

"Ugh," Harry grumbled. He ignored a stifled chuckle. "What time is it?"

"Just gone nine o'clock. We figured we'd let you sleep, since you seemed pretty off last night," Remus replied kindly.

"On my bed," James grumbled.

"Like there's a difference," Sirius retorted.

"It's my bed," James repeated with more emphasis.

"Sorry," Harry said, though he wasn't really sorry at all. He sat up and stretched, grimacing as he realized he was still wearing his uniform and it was now very wrinkled. He slid off the bed, stripping off all but his trousers, then grabbed a fresh set of muggle clothes for the weekend and went to the bathroom to shower.

Only after he had toweled himself dry and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror did Harry realize that his hair had turned red overnight. He sighed heavily, wondering which of the Marauders would bring it up first, and morphed it black again. Probably Sirius—little Dora, as he called her, was a frequent conversation topic as Andromeda sent him pictures now and again.

Sighing again, Harry dressed in a black hoodie and jeans. Then he emerged into the dorm to hear his roommates going over the prank for tomorrow.

"—set up. But the big finale is going to take more work; we'll have to do it sometime today."

"But when? The Great Hall is open to students nearly all day on weekends."

"They close it for a few hours between lunch and dinner," Harry put in. He was determined to pretend he was fine for as long as possible. Let them think last night was just a bad reaction to the dementor and it went no deeper than that. "You might be able to sneak in then."

"What do you mean, 'you'? You're helping us. Half of it was your idea!" Sirius insisted.

Harry smiled tiredly. "But you four are the masterminds. I might mess it up."

"Uh-uh," Remus objected, smiling. "You did great with the last one—better than great, actually. Besides, without you, these two," he gestured to Sirius and James, "will try some insane plan to set it up and probably get us caught—again," Remus added with a pointed look at his two friends.

"Moo—Remus is right," Peter agreed, hastily amending the nickname at a sharp look from all three boys.

"Moo—?" Harry questioned. "Like…Moon?"

"No, not at all!" James said quickly.

"Right. It was just—"

"Just me trying to be funny," Peter interrupted Sirius, smiling self-depreciatingly. Harry cocked an eyebrow incredulously—that was a far cry from Peter's usual sense of humor—but he let it go.

"All right, fine. I'll help," Harry finally conceded. The others cheered with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and Harry resigned himself to being caught up in their excitement.

Most of the morning was spent in putting the finishing touches on their prank and planning the setup, along with typical Marauder mischief and fooling around. Harry's spirits lifted somewhat throughout the day, but every now and again, he'd be struck by the memories again. Then he'd have to play it off like nothing was wrong, when echoes of his father's or godfather's dying moments kept playing back in his mind in response to something James or Sirius said.

Harry succeeded in fooling the Marauders, but not his surrogate sister. Just after lunch, she all but dragged him to a secluded corner of the library. The other boys made him promise to be back an hour before dinner, but let him go without too much fuss.

Tonks sat Harry down at a table in the back of the library, where the air was thick with dust, and gave him a look that said "talk now or I'll make you." But she didn't actually say anything—she'd learned long ago that forcing Harry to talk and asking prying questions was a good way to make him completely shut down.

Harry tried to hold her gaze and pretend he was fine. But Tonks's gaze only grew more pointed and more intense and finally he had to look away. "I can't get the echoes out of my head."

Tonks's expression softened and she put a hand over his arm. "What do you hear?"

Harry shook his head. "Not just hear. See, feel, hear, even taste. The green light, my mum falling. Dad begging her to get away. The veil. Him falling through it. I hear her taunting me." Harry's voice grew softer. "That night in the graveyard. I can taste the smoke, the fear." He wrapped his arms around himself. "I feel scared, lost, confused. And pain. So much pain." His voice cracked. "I've tried everything, but anytime I hear any of them speak…it just gets worse."

Tonks pursed her lips in thought and gently squeezed Harry's arm. After a pause, she spoke. "Have you ever really taken the time to really feel the loss? To actually mourn?"

Harry opened his mouth, then shook his head and lowered his eyes. "I don't know what I'm supposed to feel. Especially about…tomorrow."

Tonks made a noise of comprehension, then squeezed his shoulders. "Just try to put it out of your mind for now, but don't try to stifle it. Let yourself feel, and gradually it will get better." Then she smiled. "But you'll only hurt yourself if you try to puzzle it out—your brain's not built for puzzles."

Harry scowled halfheartedly. "You were getting points for sympathy. But you just ruined that."

Tonks shrugged. "What can I say? I'm not a sensitive person." She then got to her feet. "Why don't we do some training? It's been a while, and I'm sure you could use a chance to blow off a little steam."

A smile finally broke across Harry's face. "Let's go."

He led the way to the Room of Requirement. It transformed itself into the familiar yard behind the cottage he'd stayed at over the summer, before coming to the past. It had plenty of space, and the familiar setting was a comfort in and of itself. Playfully at first, then with growing determination, they started exchanging spells. Determined not to lose this time, Harry cast a number of spells meant to distract rather than target. Then he transformed into his Animagus form and launched himself across the room to pin Tonks beneath a hundred pounds of red wolf.

She grunted under the weight and tried to shove him off, but wolf-Harry just lolled his tongue out in a canine grin and laid flat across her chest, preventing her movement. It felt good to stretch those muscles and feel the power beneath them. He didn't spend nearly enough time as a wolf, Harry decided. Everything smelled and looked so much sharper, and his emotions were less complicated.

Tonks glared at the wolf on top of her, daring him to stay put. Wolf-Harry responded by licking her face with enthusiasm. She struggled to keep her scowl in place, but soon she was laughing.

"Enough, wolf-boy," she finally managed, still half-laughing. She shoved the russet-colored wolf off of her and rolled away before he got any bright ideas. The wolf transformed back into Harry, kneeling beside her and laughing hard as Tonks wiped wolf saliva off her face with a grimace.

"Brat," she said, whacking his arm. Harry grinned and got to his feet, then offered her a hand. She took it—and promptly yanked Harry back to the floor. He landed with a surprised grunt. In retaliation, he swept her legs out from under her as she tried to stand. An instant later, two animals were wrestling fiercely but playfully. Finally, the light brown lynx pinned the smaller, lighter wolf to the floor, violet eyes twinkling in a very Tonks-like, mischievous manner.

"All right. I surrender!" Harry said, half-laughing, as he transformed back into himself. The lynx gave him a calculating look, but finally rolled off him and turned back into his surrogate sister. Then they both got to their feet.

"Merlin, that was fun," Tonks said, slightly breathless. "I'm glad you talked me into becoming an Animagus with you."

Harry shrugged with a sheepish smile. "I couldn't have done it without your help."

Tonks pretended to preen under his praise. "I am pretty awesome, aren't I?"

Harry elbowed her playfully. "Careful, or you'll turn into a peacock."

Tonks rolled her eyes fondly and ruffled his hair. "It doesn't work like that, kid," she said, ignoring his protests. "Ready for dinner, then?"

Harry's eyes went wide. "Dinner! I was supposed to help the guys set up!"

"Then you'd better hurry," Tonks said with a smile. She gave him a gentle push toward the exit. Harry smiled back, then hurried out of the Room of Requirement and toward the common room.

Harry skidded to a stop just outside the portrait hole, almost knocking Sirius over.

"You're late," Remus observed.

"We were just about to do it without you," Sirius said with a grin.

"Merlin forbid," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"You would have been missed," James assured him.

"Should we go now?" Peter asked.

"Of course, dear Wormtail! Onward to conquer!" Sirius exclaimed, hoisting an imaginary sword. Harry tried not to cringe at the nickname and forced back the memories associated with it. No one seemed to notice.

"First, assignments," James began, stopping Sirius from walking away without the plan. "When we get to the Great Hall, we'll have to work fast. Peter and Harry, you're on pumpkin duty. Remus, animals. Sirius, sound effects. And I'll do the words. Remember, none of it can go off before tomorrow morning. So remember your time-delay charms."

"Yes, Professor," Sirius said, saluting. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Tonight, we'll do the suits of armor and the corridor spells," James continued as though Sirius hadn't spoken.

"Tonight?" Harry asked in dismay.

"Of course. We can hardly wander the corridors in the middle of the day casting charms on stuff and expect not to get caught."

"Technically it's early evening," Peter corrected.

"Whatever. Besides, it's more fun to be out after curfew," James added, grinning. Harry sighed.

"Do I have to come along?" he asked. He was in a better mood than he had been, but he still wasn't thrilled to be dragged along like that.

"Well…" Remus began.

"Of course you have to come! If only to make sure we don't get caught," Sirius said with a grin.

"I thought that was my job," Remus grumbled, but his lips were twitching.

"Nah. We've fully corrupted you by now," James replied. "We need someone else responsible to keep us in check."

Harry couldn't help it—he snorted in amusement. "You think I'm responsible? Merlin, the stories I could tell you," he murmured. Their ears perked up.

"Oh?"

"Do share, Harrison."

"Not now," Harry said quickly. "Let's go, before the students start coming looking for dinner."

"Right. Let's go."

With that, their attention sufficiently diverted, James led the way down to the Great Hall. It was a rather easy matter getting in; James and Sirius were clearly disappointed. Peter seemed relieved. But as soon as the huge doors shut behind them, the five boys got to work on their appointed tasks.

They finished just as the first few students were starting to come to dinner. Hurriedly the Marauders plus Harry found their seats at the Gryffindor table to avoid suspicion, then surreptitiously congratulated each other on a job well done.

After dinner, Harry pleaded and begged to be allowed to sleep, but to no avail. Reluctantly he was all but dragged along. Armed with an invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map (though the others tried not to let on that they had either), they set out to prank the rest of the castle.

They split into two groups—Peter and Remus, to work from the top down, and Harry, James, and Sirius, to work from the bottom up. The plan was to meet on the fifth floor near a secret passageway that let out almost right by the portrait hole into Gryffindor tower.

Harry dutifully performed his part of the prank, all the while with a growing sense of dread and a tightening knot in his stomach. He was looking forward to the prank, he really was, but overshadowing it all was the memory of that night, the night that had rewritten Harry's entire life. And being in the company of the ones who frequently starred in his nightmares of that night didn't help, especially as the hour grew later.

By the time Harry, James, and Sirius got to the fourth floor, it was already after eleven o'clock. Most of the professors' offices were on that floor, so they were extra-careful. But all the care in the world couldn't prevent being caught by the caretaker's dreaded cat, Mrs. Norris.

"Shoo! Go away!" Sirius whisper-shouted at the cat, waving his hand as if to scare her off. But the cat just glared with baleful yellow eyes, then darted off to go fetch Mr. Filch. Panicked, the trio fled in the opposite direction as quietly and as quickly as they could. They passed McGonagall's office without incident and started to relax. Then, out of nowhere, Peeves flew out of the out-of-order girl's loo, cackling and taunting, and knocked over a suit of armor on his way out. The moaning cries that gave the resident ghost her name echoed down the corridor after him, as did the huge clatter from the suit of armor hitting the stone floor.

The racket brought, of all people, Professor McGonagall running. Sirius and James immediately ducked into the nearest, darkest corner they could find. Harry made to follow, but there was no more room. Stuck in the middle of the corridor with no escape, he almost made a run for it. Then a wicked and brilliant idea entered his mind. He ducked behind a statue and pressed himself against the wall. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might.

Moments later, just as Professor McGonagall's footsteps reached them, Remus Lupin stepped from behind the statue, right into the middle of the ruckus.

"What's going on, Professor?"

"Mr. Lupin! What on earth are you doing here at this time of night?" McGonagall demanded. Despite her tartan nightgown and mussed hair, she looked downright intimidating.

"Just finishing my patrol, Professor." He gestured vaguely to the prefect badge pinned to his robes. "What has Peeves done this time?"

McGonagall sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Peeves has upset Myrtle again, it seems. Why Albus hasn't banished him I can't fathom. He causes more chaos than your friends combined."

"I can deal with him this time. You go on to bed, Professor. It's nearly midnight."

Professor McGonagall glanced between the boy in front of her and the poltergeist, floating upside down just below the ceiling and blowing raspberries. Then she straightened up. "Very well, Mr. Lupin. I'll leave him to you. I certainly wish you luck." McGonagall glared at Peeves, who blew a particularly loud raspberry in her direction, then she returned to her office.

"Peeves," Harry said with a nod, a faintly displeased look on his face that just happened to look just like Remus's.

"Loony, Loopy Lupin!" Peeves sang. "Ickle prefect thinks he can deal with Peevesie all alone?"

Harry smirked. "How about we make a deal? You apologize to Myrtle and don't cause any more mischief tonight, and you can be part of our Halloween prank tomorrow."

"How does Peeves benefit from being part of your prank?"

"I'll provide you with some wet-start, no-heat fireworks to set off tomorrow evening, just as everyone is leaving the Halloween feast. Any leftovers from then you're free to use however—but you can't hurt anyone. How about it?"

Peeves flipped back upright and stared at Harry—who looked like Remus—for a long moment. Then his ghostly face broke into a truly frightening grin. "Agreed."

"I'll give you the fireworks tomorrow morning, then. Remember, you have to set off the fireworks tomorrow after the feast. And no more disturbances tonight. And don't forget to apologize to Myrtle."

"Yessir," Peeves said with a salute, then he sped away, cackling in an undertone.

The moment the poltergeist was gone, James and Sirius burst from their hiding place.

"Moony!"

"You saved us!"

"That was brilliant!"

"Where did you come from?"

"We are forever in your debt!"

"Fireworks?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh as they tripped over themselves looking for answers. But he continued acting, not quite ready to reveal his metamorphmagus abilities—or at least the extent of them—just yet. "I had to do something, or McGonagall would have discovered you. Or would you rather I let you get detention?" Harry raised an eyebrow in Remus's signature look.

They both shook their heads frantically. "Nope. We're good without detention," Sirius said quickly.

"But we owe you one now, Moony," James said.

"I'm holding you to that. I'm going to find Peter; you guys finish up and we'll meet back on the fifth floor like we planned."

"Aye, aye, captain," Sirius replied, saluting.

"Will do," James declared. Harry smirked, then he left before they could say anything else.

He slipped down a side corridor once he was out of sight and morphed back into Harrison Carter. He wasn't sure if he was proud of himself, or disappointed that they hadn't recognized him or realized "Remus" was an imposter. But either way, he was proud of himself for talking his way out of detention.

Harry took a different route back to where the others were waiting, and peeked around a classroom door that was slightly ajar.

"Is it safe now?"

"Harrison!" Sirius exclaimed. James elbowed him in the ribs and he grunted in displeased acknowledgement.

"Where'd you go?" James asked in an undertone.

"I just ran," Harry lied. "Found an empty classroom and listened. I couldn't hear what was said, but I heard McGonagall and Peeves. How'd you get out of that?"

"Moony saved us!" Sirius declared. "I don't know where he came from, but he distracted McGonagall and made Peeves leave."

"Come to think about it, where did Moony come from? They're not supposed to be on this floor," James mused.

"Think later. Finish pranking first," Sirius said, grinning.

With that, they got back to work. They finished up about forty minutes later without further incident. There was a close call with Filch when Mrs. Norris returned with her master, but they hid in a secret passage until they passed.

When they finally reached their meeting place, it was nearing one a.m. Harry was exhausted and ready to drop, and even Sirius, whose enthusiasm was usually unwavering, was yawning. It looked like Remus and Peter had been waiting a while, sitting on the floor in the shadow of a pillar. Peter had fallen asleep against Remus's shoulder and Remus was nodding off as well until James announced their presence.

"I solemnly swear…"

"I am up to no good," Remus finished, yawning. "What took you guys? We've been waiting for ages. You're lucky we had the cloak, or we'd have been caught three different times."

"But you finished, right?" James asked.

"Of course we did," Remus huffed. "You see, things go much faster when we don't have to put up with two idiots who seem determined to get themselves caught."

"Can we argue later? I-I'm about done for," Harry said, covering a yawn.

"But—" Sirius began.

"Shut up," Peter said sleepily, the noise waking him. "Harry, let's let the idiots get caught while we go to bed."

"Good plan," Harry agreed. He helped Peter to his feet—which left Remus room to stand and start scolding the others. Then, without another word, Harry and Peter headed back to the common room.

When they got to the dorm, Harry collapsed across his bed without even bothering to undress apart from his shoes. He was asleep almost instantly.