In Between the Lines [Harvin Crossover]

[Harper Marowski]

Well, my nerdiness has finally overcome me. Yes, here it is. Another crossover. In reality, I don’t know where I got the muse from, but it’s here and it won’t go away. Harper, Gavin, and many other Prophecies folk thrown into the Harry Potter world. Please, before you get out your numerous weapons and tomatoes, please give me a chance to run away first. I just felt like writing this, so here it is. A Harvin/Harry Potter Marauders Crossover (mainly ‘because I like the Marauders era better and it gives me a heck of a lot more freedom). I wrote up a brief summary, so here it is:

While Lily and James were falling in love, and Voldemort was rising in the wizarding world, another story was forming in between the lines. Harper Marowski, a seventh year muggleborn and a friend of Lily’s, is planning on joining the Order. Her only problem? She’s falling for Gavin Sawyer, a pureblooded Slytherin who desperately wants to become a Death Eater. This is the story of Harper and her friends, a story that developed while nobody was looking. The title 'In Between the Lines' comes from the song that inspired it, and the titles of the chapters come from prompt words that I think are fitting.

Chapter 01: Searching
“I know that they always try and keep it low on PDA, but can they get any more obvious?”

Harper Marowski giggled at her dear friend’s, Julia’s, comment, as she looked over at the table next to theirs to see two fellow students, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, partnering up to work on the newest spell they were learning in Transfiguration – the beginnings of what would eventually be Animagus training. This was a class that seventh year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws shared, taught by the young and vicious Professor McGonagall.

“Let them be obvious.” That was Harper’s other best friend, Julia’s twin brother, Cameron that spoke. “It’s nice to see some love around this school. It’s not like you see it very often these days, with those snakes making fun of every person who doesn’t want to join the You-Know-Who fan club.”

“Cam!” Julia sounded scandalized.

“What? None of those Slytherin crooks are in here right now, and if they were, it’s not like they’d do anything while McGonagall’s looking. Nobody’s got the guts to try anything here, McGonagall’s way too…”

“Talking instead of focusing on the subject at hand, Mr. Hale?”

Cam blanched and looked over his shoulder at Professor McGonagall, who had him fixed in a cold stare from behind her small circular spectacles. “Sorry, Professor,” he said meekly.

“I would take away points from Gryffindor if I had a mind to, Mr. Hale. Now get to work. Maybe Miss Marowski can show you how to actually get a spell right in this class.”

When she was gone, Cam looked disbelievingly at Harper. “How is it that you’re the only one that doesn’t get in trouble around here?” Before Harper could respond, Cam held up a hand. “No need to say anything. I should have known it was your absolutely adorable face and everything about you that spells amazing. No pun intended.”

Harper rolled her eyes. “Cam,” she said with a smile and shaking her head.

Harper Marowski, Cameron Hale, and Julia Hale had been best friends ever since they’d met on the train first year. Harper could remember the time they met as clear as day. She’d been wandering the train all alone with her new kitten, Sundance, when she bumped into the two, and they’d become fast friends. They’d been inseparable ever since, and had become a trio almost as infamous as the four Marauders, whom they shared a house and year with.

The three of them worked through the rest of the lesson. Transfiguration was one of the few classes that Harper excelled in, so she was more than happy to help out Cam, who struggled with the subject. Julia was good at basically everything she did, and with beautiful blond hair and pretty hazel eyes, she was practically perfect. She was the kind of girl who made you feel embarrassed to be in the same room with her, and when she was smart on top of being pretty, it sort of made a girl, excluding Harper, wonder how there was justice in the world. Julia practiced her spell-work while Harper was busy helping her brother, and this was the way they normally went about their classes.

When Transfiguration was over, Professor McGonagall dismissed them with an air of dignity and Cam, Harper, and Julia were off to the Common Room, followed by some of their fellow Gryffindors.

“I never want to be an Animagus,” Cam declared once they were well away from the classroom. “If it requires that much work and pain, I don’t think…”

“Cam, it was only painful because you annunciated Transmutamo wrong. You put too much emphasis on the long u,” Julia patiently reminded him.

“If you weren’t my sister whom I love so much, I would say I hate it when you talk smart and happen to be right,” Cam grumbled.

“I’m always right, Cam, I thought you knew that by now.”

“I would have to say you’re wrong there, sister of mine.”

“I highly doubt it.”

“I don’t.”

“Guys!” Harper giggled, brushing some of her long dark hair over her shoulder. “Come on, we’re going to be late for dinner.”

“If we’re having ham again, I’m probably going to starve myself to death anyway,” Cam grumbled as he shouldered his satchel and followed his friend.

They went to the Gryffindor Common Room, where the three friends left their bags and school supplies for dinner. Now that school had ended for the weekend, the school seemed to be abuzz with a kind of excitement that could only exist when school wasn’t really in session. They were all just teenagers now, not just students attending a wizarding school.

It was just the only problem that certain attacks took place more during the weekends than any time of the school year.

Which was probably why Cam, Julia, and Harper were more on edge as they walked down to dinner, accompanied only by their wands concealed within their school robes. Even though they were joined by a few other Gryffindors, including three of the four Marauders, and two girls from their house by the names of Avery Reynolds and Cordelia Marshall. Though they appeared to be just a regular group of students heading down for supper, there was a certain air about them that made them seem almost like a group of sheep traveling together to protect themselves against the pack of wolves that roamed the school.

Unfortunately, Hogwarts had been turning into a hot bed of evil and persecution the past few months, thanks to a good deal of Slytherin students who had all but announced their intentions to join an evil cause that was rising outside the school. The persecution of muggleborns, including miss Harper Marowski, appeared to be their main goal, and it didn’t seem safe for anyone these days.

“And when Black looked at me after he got done explaining, I started laughing,” Cordelia Marshall was telling them as they entered the Great Hall. “I’d never heard such a stupid idea in my entire life.” Cordelia, known more affectionately to those who knew her as Delia, was probably one of the most lighthearted girls in their year, despite her being muggleborn and the profound effect this whole ordeal was having on her and her best friend, Avery.

“Sounds like the Marauders are starting to lose their touch,” Avery sympathized, though there was a grin on her face as well. Cordelia wasn’t the only one who was trying to take the entire situation lightheartedly.

“Good. Maybe they can stop pranking people and actually get to doing some good for a change,” Cam grumbled as they all took seats at the Gryffindor table.

Julia looked at him with incredulity. “You’re still not upset about that prank they pulled in third year, are you? Cam, that was four years ago.”

“And it took four weeks for Madame Pomfrey to get the pink out of my hair, Jules. Four weeks!”

“I thought it looked cute,” Harper supplied, trying to sound supportive even though she was smiling in amusement from the memory.

“You’re only saying that because you dated the bloke in fourth year. Which I still haven’t forgiven you for, by the way. And I haven’t forgiven him either for breaking up with you. The nerve of some people.” Cam scowled at the table as if it was all the table’s fault.

Harper sighed. “Cam, how many times do I have to tell you that the breakup was mutual?”

“As many times as it takes for it to get through my brother’s thick skull, which might be a million more times,” Julia amended, nodding decisively. “I believe you, Harp.”

Before Cam could respond with a sharp reply, food appeared among the tables, obviously transported up from the kitchens. The three of them, starved after the day’s efforts, dug right in, and for that moment in time, it was like nothing had changed. Like there was no war developing on the other side of the walls, a war that was getting darker and darker by the day with more death and carnage to sort through.

Muggles were dropping dead left and right, as the Prophet was reporting. The popular newspaper had taken to just posting a list of all the deaths on the back page, a grim addition to everyone’s mornings. Muggleborn and halfblood students always scrambled through the names to make sure that all of their family members were safe. On more than one occasion, at breakfast, someone would cry out in grief and pain, or maybe even some of the Slytherins who no doubt knew something about the deaths would laugh at the names there in the paper.

Harper thanked whatever greater power there was that her mother, her only living relative, had not yet been targeted, but with the number of deaths increasing, sometimes multiplying by day, there was a constant fear in the pit of her stomach that it was only a matter of time.

Her friends seemed to notice the grim matter on her mind. Cam nudged her, concerned. “Harp? Is there something wrong?” he asked quietly.

“Nothing, sorry. Just… lost in thought, I guess,” Harper replied, messing with her food on the plate with her fork. She wasn’t so sure she felt like eating anymore.

The sympathetic look that everyone around them was giving her suggested that they were talking about a topic as grim as the one that was on her mind. Cam wrapped an arm around her and gave her a half hug, rubbing her arm for friction as if it was suddenly cold in the Great Hall.

“It’s going to be alright, Harp,” Julia told her, her eyes warm with the comfort she was trying to convey. “We’ll get the sick people who did this.”

“Wait, who did what? I don’t think we’re on the same page.” Harper’s voice rose with panic.

“Didn’t you read this morning’s Prophet?”

Harper shook her head. She’d only read the list of casualties, relieved that, for one day, she could live with the knowledge that her mother was still alive.

Avery and Cordelia shared a look before Avery said, “There was a huge attack on a Muggle train station outside of Dublin yesterday evening. The Muggles think it was a bombing, but they’re so terrified that the Minister is going to make a personal trip up there to try and erase some peoples’ memories. The worst of them anyway. More and more Muggles are getting killed every day, and these sick people call themselves Death Eaters. And anyone can tell that a whole crowd of them are sitting on the other side of the Great Hall.”

“Avery, not so loud!” Julia hushed her, sending the girl a disapproving look.

“So what if they hear me? The bastards can go ahead and try something on me. I’d love to see them try,” Avery declared defiantly, much to the chagrin of those around her.

Nobody turned their heads to look over, probably because what the Gryffindor had said was drowned out by the other talking going around them, and that the Slytherins were an entire hall away from them. All of them appeared to be busy amongst themselves anyway, and none of them had spared the Gryffindor table a second glance.

“Bastards,” Avery grumbled before she returned to her food. “They probably know everything about the attack too.”

“We don’t know that,” Cam pointed out, his arm still around Harper. “I mean, they’re just kids like us. I don’t think You-Know-Who has shared all of his deepest darkest secrets with them, or even any plans. They’re just wreaking havoc here.”

“For whom, I wonder?” Cordelia asked bitterly. “You know just as well as we do who they’re going to run off and join the second school lets out this summer. That’s why someone has to stand up and stop them. I mean, hell, they hexed Zander Horiatis the other day, all because he defended Gail Chase from some Slytherins who were picking on her for being a halfblood. Zander’s a muggleborn, and you know who else defended her? Nick Hawthorn. But they didn’t go after him, because he’s a pureblood.”

Nick’s name was common enough for the trio. They knew him, a seventh year Gryffindor like them.

“And nobody punished them for it?”

“Flitwick gave the blokes some detentions, but it’s not going to do anything,” Cordelia informed them with disgust in her voice. “Professor Hartley was all for expelling the kids, but from what I heard Dumbledore told him that they couldn’t punish students so severely for their beliefs.”

“Dumbledore’s going loony,” Avery grumbled, and was then elbowed by Delia when she said it. “What?”

“Don’t say that,” Delia snapped at her. “If anything, Dumbledore is just trying to look fair. Those kids have parents too, parents who probably have enough power to interfere with the school and make things worse. I’m sure the Professor is just doing what he can to keep the situation from getting any worse.”

Harper sighed. Life was getting worse around Hogwarts if you had any Muggle blood somewhere in your heritage period, no matter who was doing what to try and make it better or what was being done to punish those who took it upon themselves to torture other students. It was like muggleborns had to travel in packs with their friends these days. Even the Head Girl and Boy, Lily Evans and James Potter, had to travel everywhere together to try and minimize attacks on the girl. (Granted, Cam always insisted it was just because Potter wanted to get in with Evans, and that sooner or later the two of them would fall madly in love.)

“All we can do is try to keep out of their way,” Cam said, bringing Harper from her reverie. “And if we can’t do that, then at least try to protect ourselves.”

“If we just try and keep out of their way, it isn’t going to stop anything,” Cordelia argued with a frown. “We should be fighting back. All because you’re too coward to actually-”

“I don’t think we should really be talking about this right now,” Julia interceded carefully, seeing an argument forming when Cam angrily opened his mouth. “Can’t we just eat and get to it later, when there aren’t a bunch of people around that could be listening in?”

Everyone seemed to quiet down after that, sticking to careful neutral subjects, though when everyone was on edge, it was hard to maintain conversation. It seemed subdued all around the Great Hall, Harper noticed, nothing like it had been in her first year. For the first time, Hogwarts almost seemed like an actual school than a home for all of the students here. She glanced up to the staff table to see if it was the same there. To her displeasure, it was.

The only professors that were actually having a conversation were Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Hartley, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. They were all discussing something in low voices, and the conversation sounded tense and fervent.

Harper picked at her food, only taking a few more bites before Cam claimed fullness and suggested they head back up to the Common Room. When Harper and Julia heartily agreed and the three left the hall, they didn’t notice a group of Slytherin students briefly confer and get up to follow them.

It wasn’t until the third floor that they realized they were being followed.

Julia was the one who noticed it first, considering as Harper and Cam were arguing whether or not yellow was a considerable color to wear on an upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. She nudged Cam with her elbow, watching the group of Slytherin students out of the corner of her eye.

“What? Julia, this had better be important-”

“Cam, we’re being followed.”

Cam and Harper immediately tensed, and the pair of them glanced over their shoulders at their pursuers. Cam wrapped an arm protectively around Harper’s shoulders as he had at dinner and the three of them started to hurry off towards the staircase when one of the Slytherins finally shouted out,

“Aren’t you scared of getting your arm dirty, Hale, touching that filthy little Mudblood?”

Even though Harper urged for him to ignore their jibes, Cameron clenched his jaw and turned around to glare at the young man who’d said that. Pulled by Cam’s arm that was still around her shoulder, Harper was forced to do the same, and Julia grumbled under her breath about her brother being the biggest idiot on the face of the planet before taking a place on Harper’s other side.

“No, actually, Harper’s probably one of the cleanest girls I know, thank you very much,” Cam said stiffly. “She showers regularly, and smells like very nice flowers, which is probably more than I can say for most of you.”

They found themselves facing four Slytherins, among them the two Lestrange brothers, Sirius Black’s younger brother Regulus, and a particularly nasty boy in their year named Gavin Sawyer, who’d been vicious to Harper and her friends from the second they met in Defense Against the Dark Arts first year. The one who’d spoken, however, was Rabastan Lestrange, the younger of the two Lestranges who was in the year with Regulus.

“Very funny, Hale,” snarled Regulus, glaring at the three as if they’d just committed a heinous crime by insulting them. “I think you need a lesson in the proper way to amuse people.”

“Really?” Cam replied sourly, raising an eyebrow as his grip tightened on Harper. “I thought it was pretty amusing myself.”

“You might want to be careful the way you’re holding that Mudblood, there, Hale.” This was Gavin, who was giving them his smirk that had been his signature expression since second year. “You might just squeeze all her dirty blood out, and then we’d really have a mess to clean up.”

“Like the mess that we’ll have to clean up the second any of you looks into a mirror?” Cam inquired, trying to sound innocent.

“Cam,” Harper whispered in distress as Julia sent her brother a warning glare. “Don’t make them upset.”

“Yes Cam,” Gavin spat, his eyes gleaming maliciously. “Please don’t make us upset, or we might end up doing something you’ll regret.”

Cam scowled at the threat. “I’d love to see you try. I’d love for you to see what happens if any single one of you tries to touch Harper.”

The Slytherins all exchanged amused looks. “Would you?” That was Rodolphus Lestrange who spoke then, his eyes glinting. He was reaching back into his robes for something, and instantly Harper, Cam, and Julia all tensed as they saw wands slip out amongst the group.

“I sincerely hope that those aren’t wands I see, Mr. Lestrange,” came a sharp voice from further down the corridor. “And if they are, I’m going to have to take away twenty points from Slytherin.”

All of the Slytherin boys whipped around, and the looks on their faces gave Cam, Julia, and Harper great joy. Professor Hartley was absolutely the toughest professor at Hogwarts on the students who were known to cause trouble, and as he approached, his brown eyes zeroed in in the four Slytherin boys and the wands they hadn’t even bothered to put away.

“Well then, twenty points from Slytherin,” Professor Hartley announced, satisfied. “You’re lucky you didn’t cast any spells, or every single one of you would have detentions for the next week.”

“You think points matter to us?” sneered Rodolphus, who was nearly as tall as the professor was.

“And do you think taking that tone of voice with a professor is wise, Mr. Lestrange? I’ve already taken away twenty points. You’d best get out of here before I decide to take away more for conspiring to hurt Miss Marowski and her friends.”

Cam, Julia, and Harper all grinned as the Slytherins all looked at each other, grumbled a few unintelligible things, and scurried down the hallway they’d come. Only one of them, Gavin Sawyer, turned to glare at them all one last time before vanishing around the corner with his friends. As soon as they were gone, Professor Hartley turned back to the three Gryffindor students with concern in his eyes.

“Are the three of you alright? Would anybody care to tell me what happened?”

“They were threatening Harper, sir,” Julia supplied before Cam or Harper could open their mouths. “Well, insulting us, really. Cam was… in a way, egging them on.” When Cam shot her a glare, Julia shrugged as if to say, ‘It’s the truth, isn’t it?’ “But he was doing It for the best sir.”

Professor Hartley nodded, and he regarded Cam with respect as opposed to displeasure or disappointment as a professor would normally do when hearing something like that about a student’s actions. He looked between the three, and none of them spoke, he finally said, “How about you three come with me to McGonagall’s office? We have something that we would like to discuss with you.”

“S-Sir?” Harper’s eyes were wide with confusion.

“You’re not in trouble, Harper, I promise. Just come with me.”

The professor led them back down to the first floor, where McGonagall’s office was, and knocked on the door. Cam, Julia, and Harper all looked at each other nervously as the door opened and the Transfiguration professor was looking out at the four people that had just arrived at her door through eyes that looked like a hawk’s.

“Come in,” she finally said crisply before stepping back and allowing all four to pass and shutting the door behind them. “Apollo, I assume you’ll explain this? These three haven’t been causing any trouble, have they?”

“No, but some Slytherin students were causing them trouble, and I thought maybe you’d like to speak to them… about a special cause. Miss Hale here tells me that her brother was holding his own against the Slytherins, and honestly you and I both know how rarely other students stand up to them. And the few that we already know do…” Something about what the professor left unsaid made his words seem meaningful, though to the three seventh year Gryffindors it didn’t make much sense.

Professor McGonagall let out a sigh, and pulled her glasses away from her face. “Apollo, you know that Dumbledore is very selective about the students that he wishes to induct…”

“You know we need more in numbers, or nothing’s ever going to get done.”

“Apollo…”

“Excuse me, but what are you talking about?” Julia asked with a frown. “Should we go?”

“No, Miss Hale,” Professor McGonagall told her, putting her glasses back on and taking a seat behind her desk. “Professor Hartley, I think, had a right to bring you here. But what he wishes for me to do is something that is very… rare. But, if Professor Hartley believes you should be inducted, then his opinion should be highly valued. Have you ever heard of an Order of the Phoenix?”

The three Gryffindors looked between one another. “No, ma’am,” Harper finally said, her brown eyes wide and curious.

“Good, because you most certainly weren’t supposed to,” Professor McGonagall replied sharply, leaning back in her chair. She looked up at Professor Hartley for a moment, who nodded firmly, and she sighed and adjusted her glasses carefully on her nose. “And what I’m about to tell you about it you must never speak to except for to me, Professor Hartley, or Professor Dumbledore alone. Do you understand?”

Cam, Julia, and Harper all nodded eagerly.

“The Order of the Phoenix is an underground group – we’re working to counteract the Death Eater activity that’s going on outside the school. Professor Dumbledore is its leader, and he would more than likely be the one you need to talk to about being inducted. However, he is very particular about letting students joining the Order, considering as you still have most of the year left to complete here at Hogwarts before you’re unleashed into the wizarding world. But he is trying to induct as many muggleborns as possible, like you, Harper, because the way the future is looking, it’s very likely that you won’t be able to get a job here once you graduate,” Professor McGonagall explained, looking apologetically at Harper, who’d averted her gaze because she knew that her professor was saying was true.

“And I suppose what I’m offering is… I’m offering the three of you places in the Order once you graduate. You could say I’m asking you to join the Order of the Phoenix.

~~

But little did they know that, down two more floors in the Slytherin Common Room, there was a young man who was thinking about a certain muggleborn girl, and why her pretty face would not leave his already troubled thoughts alone.

[Harper Marowski]

No, the second chapter isn't as long as the first one, but at least I managed to finish it. o.o

Chapter 02: Effort

“Professor?”

Professor McGonagall looked in between the three students in front of her with a critical eye. “I have just offered you something that I haven’t offered many others,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “I am giving you a chance to join a very secretive and exclusive organization that is going to combat the monstrous acts that are being committed outside these walls. Granted, I highly doubt that Dumbledore will allow you to participate fully until you’ve graduated, but you will be guaranteed a place at all future meetings and a place in the Order once you leave school here.”

Harper, Cam, and Julia all exchanged looks and then look at their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who nodded as if to confirm what Professor McGonagall was saying.

“I’ve been a member of the Order for a few months,” he explained. “And Dumbledore is looking for willing members to join the cause, and I can’t think of anyone who might be more willing than some of the students here, you three among them. Julia, you’re one of the best in my class, and you three have been the closest of friends since before I took up this job for this year. I would think the three of you would want to join the cause. The Death Eaters won’t spare anyone, not even purebloods if they’re associated with a muggleborn.”

Harper winced as if he’d slapped her, and Cam scowled when he saw this, and wrapped what he hoped was a comforting arm around her shoulder. But before he could say anything to her, Professor McGonagall said,

“Well, will you give me an answer? Or not?”

It was Julia who answered. “Professor McGonagall, we’re honored and everything, but I think I speak for all three of us when I say we’re going to need time to think about your offer. We swear not to tell anyone about the Order, and you can spell us if you doubt me.”

“Think about it? Why?” McGonagall narrowed her eyes.

“Professor, it’s a lot to think about,” Harper murmured. “I’m not much of a fighter, and… and I think you’re asking us to join a side in a war.”

McGonagall sighed. “I am asking you to take a side, and I will not lie to you about that. But it’s a side that has yet to truly form, and there’s a chance you personally will never have to fight.”

“But what about Cam? And Julia? I just… I’m not sure I want to have to worry about them all the time,” Harper said quietly. “They mean everything to me, Professor, and I don’t want to lose them. And this is a big decision. Isn’t there any way we can have some time to think about this?”

The professor sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Of course, Miss Marowski. You and the Hales can take as much time as you need to decide, but please forgive me when I say I’m going to have to swear you to secrecy magically. It isn’t that I don’t trust the three of you, but it’s just that this organization can’t afford the possibility of anyone finding out about this.”

The three students nodded their acquiescence, upon which McGonagall had them verbally swear to secrecy and used a charm that none of them had ever heard before, ensuring that they would never speak of it.

“The spell won’t harm you,” McGonagall reassured them after the fact. “You just simply won’t be physically able to talk about the Order amongst anyone but yourselves. And I hope you understand when I say that I sincerely hope you’ll consider my offer and accept it. This world will not get any better by itself. Professor Hartley, if you could show them to their dormitory, I would be most appreciative. I don’t want to risk them running into any more Slytherins.”

Professor Hartley nodded his agreement, and he led the three Gryffindors out into the corridor. In silence they headed up to the seventh floor, and by the time they’d reached the Fat Lady’s portrait, Cam, Julia, and Harper were all exhausted, and wanted to get to bed.

As the three stated the password and started to head in, Professor Hartley suddenly spoke up. “I was wondering if I could talk to Miss Marowski alone for a moment.”

Harper blinked and nodded at her two friends to go ahead in without her. Cam and Julia gave her supportive smiles before disappearing into the Gryffindor Common Room.

“Professor?”

“Sorry I’m keeping you from a nice, warm bed, but I swear this’ll only take a minute,” Professor Hartley said with a bright smile. “I wanted to offer you some private lessons in defense. I’m giving them to muggleborns that I think might need them.”

“Am I not doing well enough in your class?” Harper asked, alarmed.

Hartley only grinned and shook his head. “No, you’re doing just fine on your own. Since you don’t have the protection of the Order just yet, I think you should be able to defend yourself. Some of the curses we’ve seen those kids use… well, let’s just say standard spells for seventh years aren’t going to cut it. I don’t want any more muggleborns getting hurt, especially you-“

“Why me?”

“You have friends, you have a future. I’ve seen enough of them ripped away by these Death Eaters, and I don’t want to see any more innocent people like you hurt like that,” Hartley explained. His voice was so sincere that it almost made Harper feel like she’d made a mistake asking him. “Harper… is it alright if I call you Harper?”

Harper nodded.

“I just want to do my part. Even if Professor Dumbledore won’t expel the students responsible for all the mayhem around here, the least I can do is try and prepare their targets for what’s coming. You’re a muggleborn, and you’re friends with the Hales, and the Hale family is a very old and pureblooded family almost as renowned as the Potters or the Malfoys. To the Death Eaters, you’re a threat. Especially since half of them think you’re going out with Mr. Hale…”

“I’m not dating Cam,” Harper giggled. It was the most absurd thing she’d ever heard, though she did know that their close relationship brought many to think that. “We’re just friends – we have been since first year.”

“I understand. But Harper, times are getting dangerous for muggleborns and halfbloods alike. Apparently there’s even talk around the Ministry about starting to crack down on muggleborns and investigating their parentage. These lessons are going to help prepare you.”

Harper sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. She was just as aware of all the bad things happening to muggleborns. Lately, she’d just been keeping her head down and never straying from Cam or Julia. Tonight had been the first encounter they’d ever had with Slytherins, but at this point there was sure to be more, now that they were on the radar. If Professor Hartley hadn’t shown up, who knows what could have happened?

“I’ll take the lessons,” she said softly. “I don’t think I have a choice.”

“You’ll always have a choice, Harper,” Professor Hartley remarked, smiling. “It’s just that the other option seems impossible. Now, go and get a good night’s sleep. We’ll start on Monday, after dinner.”

“Thank you, Professor,” Harper murmured, before turning around and heading into the Gryffindor Common Room, where Cam and Julia were waiting to hear exactly what their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had to say.

---

It was Sunday evening, and it had been a particularly uneventful day in the Gryffindor Common Room, in which Cam, Julia, and Harper had spent a majority of their day playing Exploding Snap and wizard’s chess and talking.

At least, until Lily Evans burst into the Common Room, causing the three to look up from their activities as she came over to them, an excited look in her emerald green eyes. Lily Evans was Head Girl, and a muggleborn like Harper, and a loose friend of the trio’s. She had her long red hair tied up into a ponytail, and she looked breathless as if she’d run the whole way here from wherever she’d been.

“I’d like to ask something of you three,” she said, not even allowing them time to greet her.

Julia raised her eyebrows. “What do you need, Lily?” she asked.

“I just came from Professor Dumbledore’s office. James and I had an idea… well, actually, ironically, it was James who came up with this which is completely amazing considering as it was a brilliant idea, and Dumbledore said that I needed to find some students willing to help me out with this, and I thought maybe you three would like to help because you’re some of the few seventh years I can trust to handle this-“

“What was the idea?” Harper questioned, tilting her head in curiosity. “A party?”

“More than a party,” Lily told them, the excitement still having not vanished from her voice. “A ball. A masquerade ball.”

“I love masquerades!” Julia exclaimed, her eyes lighting up and a grin coming over her face. “What’s the occasion?”

“James and I were thinking that maybe the school could use a little bit of a breather from all of the terror going on around the school. We’ve had to give so many detentions and take away so many points from students bullying others that maybe something fun can get the entire school to simmer down a little. We were thinking about having a masquerade ball, where nobody would know who was who, and maybe we could establish some friendships that could… I don’t know, hopefully get rid of some of the hatred that keeps brewing.”

Cam dipped his head, obviously impressed by the idea. “It sounds like an amazing night waiting to happen, if you ask me. It gives me a chance to wear a tuxedo and make myself look even more devilishly handsome than I do now.”

Harper giggled as Julia rolled her eyes and Lily just scoffed.

“It is a good idea, though,” Julia said to the Head Girl sincerely with a smile. “But what did you need us for, again?”

“Dumbledore asked me to get a group of students together to help me plan it. If you’re not too bogged down by your studies, I’d really appreciate it.”

“We’d love to help!” Harper replied. “Who else is in on this?”

“I’d actually love it if you could keep this amongst ourselves until we have some really concrete plans in place with Dumbledore and the staff. Right now, the planning committee includes you three, Annabeth Chase, James, and myself. I’m trying to think of who else might want to help, but I think we should have a little meeting about this in James’s and my common room tomorrow night to talk about it?” Lily offered.

Harper bit her lip. “Could we make it later in the evening? I have some private lessons with Professor Hartley that I need to go to after dinner, and I don’t-“

“You can come late, it’s alright,” Lily told her with a smile. “I know all about the private lessons with Hartley. I’m taking them as well, only on Friday afternoons before supper. I’m glad he’s decided to extend an invitation to you, though…” She frowned. “Usually when he asks someone, something’s already happened to them. Nothing’s happened to you, has it? Rumors would have spread by now.”

“A few Slytherins got a little testy, nothing we couldn’t handle,” Cam explained. “The Lestranges, Sirius’ younger brother, and that Sawyer boy. They were making threats, that’s all, and Hartley happened to see it.”

Lily’s frown turned into a scowl. “Gavin Sawyer? James and I have had more trouble with him than I ever had with the Marauders. If anything bad happens at this school, he’s almost always behind it. You’d best watch yourself, Harper, if he’s turned his attention onto you. Promise you’ll be careful?”

Harper nodded. If there was one thing she’d learned during her seven years here at Hogwarts, it was to tread carefully whenever Gavin Sawyer was involved. Period.

And when Monday evening came around, and dinner was done, and most everyone had retired to their common rooms or dormitories to work on homework, Harper was knocking on Professor Hartley’s office door on the third floor, her wand in her back pocket and her satchel secured safely on her shoulder.

It only took a few seconds for the door to open and Professor Hartley smiled down at her. “Come in, Harper, come in. I hope you don’t care that there’s two others who are taking these extra lessons with you.” He stepped aside to allow Harper some room to enter, and as soon as she did she spotted Gail and Annabeth Chase seated at a desk (Annabeth was sitting in the chair while Gail actually sat on the surface of the desk). The pair of them looked up and Annabeth smiled tiredly.

“Hello, Harper,” she said, almost wearily.

“Miss Annabeth and Miss Gail have been working with me since the start of term. They had a little incident over the summer, but if they wish to tell you the story, I think it would be best if they told you themselves. Tonight I was thinking about working on your Shield Charms. Wordless, of course,” Professor Hartley began the second Harper was in the room and he’d shut the door behind him. When Harper gave him a terrified look, he just grinned. “Wordless magic is always more fun. Hopefully, by Christmas, we’ll be able to have some practice wordless duels.”

Harper didn’t feel any more reassured by what the Professor had just said. “Er… how long does it take to learn how to do wordless magic, exactly?”

“I promise you, Harper, that these private lessons will go however you want them to go. Wordless magic is not as difficult as it sounds, it just takes practice. I have a lot of faith in you,” he told her.

The next hour went a lot better than Harper had ever expected. Annabeth and Gail already seemed to be experts at wordless shield charms, though Harper wasn’t entirely sure if that as because they had been practicing longer than she had or if their naturally superior intelligence led them to actually accomplish such a feat on the first try. For the sake of her own self-esteem, Harper liked to think it was the former. Halfway through the lesson she managed to conjure a Shield Charm without a word, but it wasn’t a very strong one and every other time she attempted the spell wordlessly it either wouldn’t work or she’d end up shouting the spell anyway on instinct.

When Professor Hartley released them for the night, Harper immediately headed for the Head Girl and Boy’s Common Room on the seventh floor. Annabeth, who was also due at the meeting, told her to tell Lily that she would be even more late on the account that she couldn’t allow her sister to walk back to the Ravenclaw Tower alone without someone to watch out for her with all the Slytherins around.

But when Harper arrived at the portrait that guarded Lily and James’s rooms, she realized that she had absolutely no idea what the password was, which made her pause awkwardly and stare up at the portrait that stared right back and declared it wouldn’t let her in unless she knew the correct password.

She stood there silently for a moment until a voice that raised the hair on the back of her neck made her turn around.

“Marowski, I hope you know that the Gryffindor Common Room is the other way.”

Harper shut her eyes took a deep breath and turned around to see Gavin Sawyer standing there, his robes gone and the collar of his white buttoned uniform shirt all askew. His green and silver tie was loose around his neck, and he had the appearance of a young man who’d just exited a makeout session in an abandoned classroom. For some reason, the look on him made Harper blush a little, as if she had been the one to be in the makeout session with him, which was a ridiculous thought considering as she would never make out with Gavin Sawyer.

“And I hope you know that it’s none of your business what I’m doing here,” Harper snapped right off, keeping in mind that her wand was securely in her back pocket.

Gavin smirked. “No, it’s not any of my business,” he agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t be curious. Off to talk with the Mudblood Evans?”

“Don’t call her that,” Harper snapped.

“Why not? Her blood is just as dirty as yours,” came the sneering reply.

“All because we have parents that aren’t magical doesn’t make us any less magical,” Harper growled. She’d just about had it with all of the insults and the terror that these Slytherins were putting off on other people, and she decided to make that known. So she stalked right up to Gavin Sawyer and poked him in the chest, something the Slytherin boy had not expected. He blinked as she continued, “I’m so sorry if you’re jealous that someone else can have magic. I’m so sorry if you think that Muggles are beneath you, all because you can trace your ancestry back to some pompous ass who had the magic that you have flowing through your veins. Because you’re wrong. Everything that you and your stupid friends think is wrong. And someone is going to make you see that.”

“You crossed a line, Marowski,” Gavin snarled right back at her, glaring down at her from those stormy blue-gray eyes. “Don’t you ever touch me again, you filthy little-“

“Get away from her, Sawyer.” The icy voice of Annabeth Chase echoed down the corridor as the Ravenclaw approached them at a rapid pace. “Before I hex you into the disgusting worm that you are.”

Suddenly, something in Gavin seemed to change, almost as if he’d snapped out of something. While he still glared at Harper, she noticed that there was something different in the way he looked at her before he turned around to face Annabeth.

“Please, Chase, as if you had the guts to actually break the rules around here.”

“You do anything to Harper and I might just be tempted to do so.”

Gavin snorted as if the idea amused him. He smirked over his shoulder at Harper and said, “Looks like my fun is over. See you around, Marowski.”

With that, he walked down the corridor with a swagger in his step as if the scene that had just transpired hadn’t happened. As soon as he was out of sight, Annabeth and Harper both physically relaxed and Annabeth went over to Harper with a concerned look in her eyes.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “He didn’t try anything, did he?”

“No, just being himself, I s’pose,” Harper replied reassuringly, her eyes following Gavin as he disappeared around the corner. There was something odd about him, and she couldn’t seem to put her finger on it. How had he known where she was, and why had he chosen to talk to her when he could have just as easily ignored her? Mysteries, mysteries. Hogwarts seemed to be full of them as of late. “He called Lily… well, he used that not-so-nice word and I felt the need to defend the muggleborn name. It’s not easy to get away from these days.”

“Don’t worry, Harper.” Now it was Annabeth’s turn to reassure her. “I’m sure there’s someone out there who will recognize and respect you for who you are, regardless of your blood status. I mean, I have Percy, and I’m only a halfblood.”

Harper grinned mischievously at Annabeth. “Please. You and Percy have had the goo goo eyes for each other since first year before all of this was happening. You have no room to speak, Miss Chase.”

“Come on. We’re already almost a half-hour late.” Annabeth’s cheeks were pink with embarrassment as she turned away from the Gryffindor. “And I have an Ancient Runes essay I still want to finish tonight.”

“When is that due? Next week? You’re starting to cut it a little close,” Harper teased her with a smile.

Annabeth Chase muttered something unintelligible before giving the portrait the proper password to enter the Common Room (how she knew the password was beyond Harper, but then again, Lily Evans had a lot of study buddies and having one of the smartest witches in the school as a study buddy wasn’t unthinkable). Harper’s last thought before entering the room was of Gavin Sawyer, and that irritatingly cute smirk of his.