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It was late May now, and Blake and Daphne were no closer to finding a cure for Astoria.
"That's 500 ingredients we've checked out now," Daphne said, sighing as they exited the Room of Requirement.
"There's still infinite more," Blake responded seamlessly. "And besides, who knows? We might find a phoenix soon."
Daphne snorted, not bothering to respond. The Easter holidays had been well spent by both of them each going to their respective homes, as did Tracey and Zabini, leaving poor Charlotte on her own. Blake continued to note Charlotte's pile of mail continuing to grow day by day, and felt terrible that he couldn't keep her company.
It's fine, he reassured himself. It's only a week or two.
Either way, Blake had been anxious for the entire holiday, much to his mother's annoyance. Holidays would be a prime time for Sirius Black to make his move, and Blake despised the thought of losing his opportunity to learn more about that soul-splitting spell, Horcruxes, Animagi and any ingredients that could've been useful to Astoria.
Sirius Black is like a goldmine for me, Blake thought. Either way, I got lucky - he's still at large, and there's only a little bit of the Forest left to cover.
Suddenly, a familiar face came into view, disrupting Blake's thinking.
"You alright, Harry?" Blake said with a small smile.
"Yeah, you?" Harry returned, grinning. "Been a while, hasn't it?" Blake grimaced. Between Ron and Hermione's spat, he'd done his best to steer clear of the Golden Trio, especially considering each of them were in the wrong.
"Yeah," he said. "I heard about your last Hogsmeade trip," he added quickly with a smile, patting himself on the back for changing the subject to something actually interesting.
"Oh," Harry said bashfully, scratching his head. "Yeah…"
"I've got to see Tracey soon," Daphne told Blake. "I'll see you later. Potter," she nodded before leaving, to which Harry awkwardly nodded back.
"She's really- ah-"
"Tracey said Malfoy was fuming after you got off with no punishment," Blake interrupted with a small smile, changing the subject. "What a prat."
Harry grinned widely upon hearing that.
"Good! But I'll tell you what -" he said conspirationally, and Blake unconsciously leaned in closer to listen, "it was all thanks to Lupin."
"Huh?"
"Well, Snape made me turn out my pockets, right - and I had the-"
Harry looked around carefully to see if anyone was listening, as if afraid that Snape would Apparate out of thin air.
"The way I get into Hogwarts," he continued, giving Blake a knowing look.
"Ah," Blake nodded.
"And so he saw it, right, and he kept trying to activate it - he said 'Reveal your secret'-"
Blake sniggered.
"-he said 'Show yourself!'"
Blake sniggered again.
"- and then he was like 'Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to-"
Harry couldn't finish before Blake started creasing and laughing, and he found himself laughing alongside him.
"Then?" Blake prompted through deep breaths. "Then what?"
"And then the map - responded! It started writing by itself - the Marauders basically told him to piss off!"
"What?"
"I'm not joking!" Harry reassured him. "One of was like - 'Mr Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business'."
Blake gaped at Harry.
"No way!"
"And Mr Prongs called him an ugly git, and Mr Padfoot called him an idiot, and Mr Wormtail said his hair was greasy and he was a slimeball!"
Both Blake and Harry were beside themselves with laughter, and the former very much wished he'd been there to see it. Since the incident with Crabbe and Goyle, which the rest of the school had named the 'Double Fatty Incident', Snape had become much less friendly towards him (he wasn't friendly to begin with) - but that was fine by Blake. I don't like that b*tchy old man anyway. Grown man bullying children. He needs to get a life.
"But then Snape called Lupin," Harry eventually continued. "Said the map was Dark magic - and Lupin covered for me! He knew exactly what the map was!"
"Really?" Blake said, astonished. Lupin knew what the map was?
"Really," Harry confirmed, his face falling slightly. "He said he'd met the makers of the map before, but he was being really secretive about it - wouldn't tell us who. And then, uh, he told me off."
Harry paused for a second, looking guilty.
"Told me I was gambling my parents' sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks."
Damn.
Blake awkwardly patted Harry's shoulder.
"It's fine, Harry, he was just looking out for you - so don't worry about it. So, Lupin's got the map?"
"Yeah," Harry sighed.
Perfect, Blake celebrated mentally.
"Oh, by the way, Ron and Hermione are talking again."
"Huh?" Blake said, eyes wide. "Really? How?"
"Not sure, to be honest," Harry said with a smile. "I think you might've rubbed off on him - Ron told her he could understand why she was upset - not an apology, mind you - but Hermione started crying and apologising, and now everything's back to normal."
The Slytherin boy grinned as he shook his head in response.
"You Gryffindors. Always so weird and extra!"
"Says you!"
/
"You've got the map, Professor?" Blake asked eagerly. It was the next week now, and Blake, Daphne and Lupin had reunited once more to carry out.
"How do you know about that?" Lupin immediately asked suspiciously, before sighing. "Stupid question, wasn't it?"
"So, we finally have a real way to see Black's location," Daphne said. "But we've already covered most of the Forest - if he's doubled back now, we wouldn't know."
"That just means we've got to be faster," Blake said firmly. "Professor, would you mind giving us the map?"
"Blake!"
"What? I doubt Black would kill us both instantly - especially not if I manage to give off a signal. That way, we could give off a signal, and in the worst case scenario, you come to our aid, Professor. When you're busy, we can work. When we're busy, you can work."
Lupin stared at him for a long time.
"That would work in theory, Blake, but I'm-"
"Professor, was Black better than you? Would he beat you in a duel?"
Lupin hesitated.
"S- Black would beat me. He was the best dueller of us."
"And against me and Daphne? She's good too, and - well, I don't think I'm bad."
Lupin snorted.
"I don't think you're bad either, Blake - I daresay you're even prodigious - the teachers here describe you like they described Dumbledore himself at your age! But the fact is you are 14 years old - you are a child."
"But-"
"No buts," Lupin said firmly. "I'm aware of our Vow. Rest assured, I'm confident I'll find Black, and when I do, I'll send my Patronus to come and find you immediately - is that fair?"
Blake and Daphne hesitated.
"But - if he's stronger-" Daphne began.
"I've learnt a couple of things recently," Lupin said shortly. "And Black's tired and weak right now - wandless too, I'd imagine. I'll be fine, especially if I've you two to count on as back up."
Blake and Daphne were silent for a little while longer.
"Fine," Blake said suddenly. "But you have to send us the Patronus message immediately, Professor. You have to."
"Of course," Lupin said. "And you, Daphne?"
The pureblood girl sniffed. "The peasant speaks for me too."
"Shut up, princess."
"I told you, that's not an insult!"
"It is to me."
Lupin couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his face.
"What're you laughing at, Professor?"
"Nothing," he said, turning around quickly. "It's just - you both remind me of some people I once knew."
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