Gemma had fallen asleep in three different classes.
None of the Gryffindors had slept that night, but only a few of them were hit harder by the sleep deprivation.
And Gemma, who was already sleep-deprived before Sirius Black's invasion, was one of them.
Hermione, though, was an angel and took notes for her even though she herself was overly busy.
The security in the school had become more restrictive, but Gemma did not mind.
Especially with the note that Sirius Black had sent her through Crookshanks.
The note that she refused to tell anyone about.
Harry was already becoming overbearing, and Gemma could only imagine how he would react if she told him and what he would do once he caught wind of it.
All Gemma could picture was a ball and chain and about fifty bodyguards.
Even though her nerves were entirely shot, no one noticed because of Ron.
He had become famous almost instantly.
So she was left to her own panic and anxiety while everyone fawned over him.
Harry and Ron had left to go visit Hagrid, an invitation she had turned down, not really feeling like going anywhere but the library.
And Hermione decided to join her that day.
The two of them poured over their books, getting all of their homework done (Well, Gemma did) for the weekend, and even started to read ahead.
Gemma had been so immersed in Fred's potions book that it was not until Hermione's shrill voice said, "Harry, if you go into Hogsmeade again... I'll tell Professor McGonagall about that map!"
At the mention of the map that was actually currently hidden in Gemma's trunk, her head popped up.
Ron and Harry were standing in front of the table, both of them looking frustrated by Hermione's words.
Gemma opened her mouth to try and diffuse the situation, but Ron beat her and snapped, "Can you hear someone talking, Harry?"
Gemma was appalled at Ron's attitude.
His rat was going to die anyways; why does he have to be so cruel to Hermione about it?
"Ron, how can you let him go with you?!" Hermione cried. "After what Sirius Black nearly did to you! I mean it, I'll tell —"
"So now you're trying to get Harry expelled! Haven't you done enough damage this year?!"
"RON!" Gemma shouted at him.
Before she could speak to Hermione, the bushy-haired girl grabbed her cat that had just arrived and bolted to the dorms.
She swung her head back to Ron as he exclaimed giddily, "So how about it? Come on, last time we went you didn't see anything. You haven't even been inside Zonko's yet!" He looked at Gemma, "Neither of you have!"
Harry glanced over in the direction that Hermione had disappeared in before saying, "Okay, but I'm taking the Invisibility Cloak this time."
The boys looked at Gemma, and she crossed her arms, glaring, "I'm not going."
"Geeemmmaaa," Ron whine. "Come on!"
Gemma shook her head, "No. You're being cruel, Ronald Weasley, and I am not going to stand for it. So go off and enjoy your day. Next time if you're nicer to 'Mione I'll consider going. And anyways, I agree with Hermione this time. We shouldn't be going out with what happened."
And with the letter.
"You're so stubborn!" Ron snapped at her.
"And you're being an arse!" She stood up and spat right back at him. "Come on, Ron! It was an accident! Hermione is your friend! She misses you, and she feels awful about what happened!! Give her some grace!!!"
Ron did not answer. He just stomped away to his dorm, leaving multiple students staring after him, having just witnessed the scene.
Gemma looked at Harry and raised her brows, "Well?"
Harry pressed his lips together, "I'm going."
The redheaded girl sighed, "Then you do your own thing. If you need me, I'll be here."
Gemma gathered up her stuff and just threw it haphazardly into her bag before marching back out of the common room.
She knew it was almost curfew, but she needed to take a walk.
She was muttering angrily under her breath when she heard hushed voices coming from the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"I can barely look at her without seeing her..." Professor Lupin's broken voice hummed. "I have waited so many years for this, and I'm not even allowed to address it!"
"I know, Remus," Professor McGonagall replied sadly. "Just give it time. Dumbledore---"
"To hell with Dumbledore!" The professor shouted. "This isn't fair! This is torture of the worst account!"
Gemma furrowed her brows at his words, What was terrible that it was eating him up like this?
"He assured us that you would be able to speak to her soon about the whole ordeal, though. You just have to give it time," Professor McGonagall continued.
"Oh yeah?" Professor Lupin shot back. "When is soon? He said soon four years ago, Minerva! Is he gonna make me wait another ten years?! She'll want nothing to do with me then! I don't even know if she would want anything to do with me now!"
"Remus, listen to yourself! You're letting yourself spiral! You must stop, or when the time does come, you might scare her! You have to stay strong!"
Gemma barely breathed as the room was quiet.
Someone flopped back down into a chair and sighed, "I know...I just am so tired of waiting."
"I know, Remus, I know..."
The redheaded girl stepped away from the door, suddenly realising she was eavesdropping.
She walked back to the common room, her head bent in thought.
It was not until someone tugged on her hair that she yelped and came out of her reverie.
Spinning, she flinched to see Peeves's overly jolly face.
"What do you want?" She snapped at him.
He just flicked her cheek and flew off with a howl which echoed around the castle loudly.
Gemma sighed disgruntledly, Stupid poltergeist.
She had just left the twins, who had promised to bring her some stuff from the shops after she explained the situation with the boys and Hermione when she heard Neville's voice coming from around the corner.
She felt bad for him, especially since Professor McGonagall had banned him from future Hogsmeade trips because he left his passwords out and Sirius Black had gotten into the dorms.
Gemma turned the corner just as Professor Snape stopped in front of Neville and Harry, who were standing in front of the one-eyed witch statue with the entrance to the secret passage. Her heart hammered in her chest at the sight.
What if he knew about the passageway?
"We're not--meeting here," Harry stammered. "We just--met here."
Gemma swallowed thickly as Harry and Neville looked at her, and Snape swung around, spying her just standing there.
"Ah, Miss Hilton," He drew out. "And what brings you here?"
She almost glared at him but responded simply, "I was headed back to the tower."
"Indeed?" Snape nodded slowly before turning back to Harry. "You have a habit of turning up in unexpected places, Potter, and you are very rarely there for no good reason..." He waved a hand in Gemma's direction. "I suggest you take Miss Hilton's lead and the pair of you return to Gryffindor Tower, where you belong."
Gemma's ears burned at the comment but rushed with Neville and Harry back to the common room.
"Do you have the map?" Harry asked quietly once they shook Neville off by giving him the password.
Gemma sighed tiredly and passed the map over, "If you get caught, it's not my fault."
He just smirked, hugged her, and ran away.
She shook her head and set off the opposite way towards the library, wanting to go and hide in a corner somewhere with a good book till everyone came back.
So she did just that.
For the first time since coming to Hogwarts, Gemma felt as if she were just a normal student reading in the library to her heart's content. She was not a witch who stood up to teachers or other students. Or had a temper. Or carried out elaborate pranks without getting caught. Or hiding from murderers in the castle.
No, she was just Gemma Hilton.
It was later in the afternoon when Gemma checked her book out and was heading back to the common room when she collided right into someone.
Harry.
She blinked in surprise, opening her mouth to speak when she saw Professor Snape marching toward them again for the second time that day, but this time his eyes were suspicious and dark and only glued on Harry.
Gemma, spying the map in Harry's hands, grabbed it and stuffed it into her book, thankful that the book was tall enough to hide the parchment before the teacher stopped before them.
Harry turned, and Gemma felt him tense a little bit as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"So..." The professor drew out, his voice hinting with victory. He glanced at Gemma before waving at them, "Come with me..."
Once his back was turned, Gemma and Harry shared a worried look.
The two sat at the teacher's command once they arrived at the office in the dungeons.
Snape stood over both of them and drilled out, "Mr. Malfoy has just been to see me with a strange story, Potter..." When he got no answer, he continued, "He tells me that he was up by the Shrieking Shack when he ran into Weasley — apparently alone."
It was still silent, and Gemma kept her features still and passive, listening to the words of the teacher.
"Mr. Malfoy states that he was standing talking to Weasley, when a large amount of mud hit him in the back of the head. How do you think that could have happened?" The professor asked.
Gemma watched as Harry painted a semi-surprised face onto his features, "I don't know, Professor..."
The mean teacher stared down at Harry harshly, "Mr. Malfoy then saw an extraordinary apparition. Can you imagine what it might have been, Potter?"
"No..." Harry continued, his voice curiously innocent.
"It was your head, Potter. Floating in mid-air."
Gemma cringed internally, and at the stiff silence, she made a slight scoffing noise and replied, "Maybe he'd better go to Madam Pomfrey, if he's seeing things like---"
"What would your head have been doing in Hogsmeade, Potter?" Professor Snape interrupted her, his voice quiet. "Your head is not allowed in Hogsmeade. No part of your body has permission to be in Hogsmeade."
"I know that," Harry replied, his voice a tad strained. "It sounds like Malfoy's having hallucin---"
"Malfoy is not having hallucinations," Professor Snape knelt down so fast in front of Harry that Gemma flinched. Her eyes widened at the snarl on his lips as he spat, "If your head was in Hogsmeade, so was the rest of you."
"I've been up in Gryffindor Tower," Harry shook his head fervently. "Like you told---"
"Can anyone confirm that?" He looked at Gemma pointedly, "And do not lie, Hilton. I was told you were in the library for most of the day."
Gemma did not answer, just stared him down with a glare.
And when neither of them responded, Snape stood, grinning wickedly, "Sooo...Everyone from the Minister of Magic downward has been trying to keep famous Harry Potter safe from Sirius Black. But famous Harry Potter is a law unto himself. Let the ordinary people worry about his safety! Famous Harry Potter goes where he wants to, with no thought for the consequences."
Gemma's jaw slackened a little bit, heat rushing to her cheeks at the teacher's accusations.
"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter," Professor Snape taunted. "He too was exceedingly arrogant. A small amount of talent on the Quidditch field made him think he was a cut above the rest of us too. Strutting around the place with his friends and admirers... The resemblance between you is uncanny."
Gemma's hand clenched around her book, her knuckles going white from the pressure.
"My dad didn't strut," Harry shot back haughtily. "And neither do I."
"Your father didn't set much store by rules either...Rules were for lesser mortals, not Quidditch Cup-winners. His head was so swollen---"
Out of the two of them, Gemma would have been the one to lose her mind quicker, but when Harry stood and shouted, "SHUT UP!!!!"
Gemma's eyes bugged from her head.
"What did you say to me, Potter?" Professor Snape growled as he stared at Harry.
"I told you to shut up about my dad!" Harry yelled, his eyes blazing. "I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me!" He waved a hand at Gemma, "Told us! You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my dad!"
Gemma knew that was the wrong move to make in this situation.
She slowly stood as Professor Snape's face turned an odd color as he whispered dangerously, "And did the headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life? Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter's delicate ears?" He gave Gemma a slightly snide look, "And how about for Miss Hilton?"
The redhead gritted her teeth and stayed silent as the professor continued to taunt, "I would hate for you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter. Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you — your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn't got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts."
Gemma pinched her lips, trying to comprehend this news.
Was this true? Was Professor Lupin in on it if he really was best friends with James and Sirius? Was Violet a part of this prank?
She fiddled with her book, praying and wishing with all her might that he was not a part of that.
"Both of you, turn out your pockets!" Professor Snape ordered abruptly.
His loud voice startled her so much that she dropped the book and out slid the Marauder's Map.
Gemma wanted to die right there as Snape knelt down and picked up the piece of parchment, and took a bag from Harry.
"Ron gave them to me," Harry explained about the bag. "He brought them back from Hogsmeade last time —"
"Indeed?" Snape raised an unbelieving brow. "And you've been carrying them around ever since? How very touching..." The potions teacher turned to Gemma, "And what is this, Miss Hilton?"
"A spare bit of parchment," She responded, her voice flat.
He did not remove his burning gaze from her as he turned it over in his thin hands, "Surely you don't need such a very old piece of parchment?" he said. "Why don't I just--throw this away?"
In unison, Harry and Gemma cried, "NO!"
"So!" Professor Snape raised his voice. "Is this treasured gift from Mr. Weasley?" He gave Gemma a vaguely disgusted look. "Or is it...something else? A letter, perhaps, written in invisible ink? Or...instructions to get into Hogsmeade without passing the Dementors?"
Gemma suddenly realised that the professor had seen the exchange of the map between the two, and if he thought Harry was sneaking out, then he probably thought that Gemma was helping.
But in a way, she kinda was because she was hiding the map in her trunk.
So she did not deny it.
The teacher's eyes glowed maliciously as he opened the map, his wand at the ready, and declared, "Reveal your secret!"
Nothing happened.
Snape started to tap on the page repeatedly, "Show yourself!"
Still, nothing happened.
"Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!"
Gemma frowned as the ink started to show on the surface.
And then she had to stifle a smirk as the ink swirled into something she was not expecting.
"Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."
She lifted her hand to her mouth as the map continued to spout out insults.
"Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Mooney and would like to add that Professor Snape is an ugly git."
"Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like that ever became a professor."
"Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball."
"Mademoiselle Fox would like to add that Professor Snape needs to be nice to the students of Hogwarts, or horrible circumstances will befall him."
Gemma's face was bright red now as she stared at the map, trying not to explode with laughter.
The Marauders, whoever they were, were amazing, and she wanted to be best friends with them.
But when she raised her eyes to the professor, his gaze was on her and Harry, and there was a storm brewing in his eyes.
"So..." He murmured quietly, throwing the parchment onto the table. "We'll see about this..." He moved to the fire again, grabbed a handful of a glittering powder from a jar on the mantel, and tossed it into the flames before shouting, "Lupin! I want a word!"
Gemma and Harry watched in shock as something appeared in the flames, spinning quickly, and out walked Professor Lupin.
He was brushing the ash off of his clothes when he spied Gemma and Harry.
A panicked flash of emotion flew across his features before he very calmly said, "You called, Severus?"
"I certainly did," Snape marched back over the desk and pointed at the map furiously. "I have just asked Potter and Miss Hilton to empty their pockets. She was carrying this."
Professor Lupin walked over, and Gemma watched his face morph into an emotionless state.
"Well?" Professor Snape pushed.
Gemma pinched her lips as Professor Lupin kept staring at the map, probably trying to figure out what to say?"
"Well?" Professor Snape repeated, his dark eyes glittering madly. "This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Hilton got such a thing?"
With the briefest glance, Professor Lupin told Gemma to stay silent, and when she realised this, she tapped Harry's hand and shook her head gently, telling him to stay quiet.
He bobbed his head as Professor Lupin repeated and continued, "Full of Dark Magic? Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who reads it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine someone got it for Gemma at the joke shop---"
"Indeed?" Snape snapped angrily. "You think a joke shop could supply her with such a thing? You don't think it more likely that she got it directly from the manufacturers?"
Gemma blinked, confused at the accusations.
She looked at the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who looked just as bewildered as her.
Then Harry was even more confused than him.
"You mean, by Mr. Wormtail or one of these people?" Professor Lupin said. He looked at Gemma, actual questions and curiosity in his eyes. "Gemma, do you know any of these men?"
"No," Gemma replied quickly.
"You see, Severus?" The professor turned back to Snape. "It looks like a Zonko product to me —"
Ron exploded in from the hallway, all out of breath, "I -- gave -- Harry — and -- Gemma -- that -- stuff," he choked. "Bought -- it... in Zonko's... ages -- ago..."
"Well!" Professor Lupin clapped his hands together and cheerfully cried. "That seems to clear that up! Severus, I'll take this back, shall I?" The professor nodded at the map, "Gemma, grab that for me, and then all of you, come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay..."
Gemma grabbed the map but flinched noticeably when it was torn from her hands, pain erupting as warm blood started to bead from a paper cut on her palm. She was abruptly swept into a deja vu moment as she recoiled from the sudden jerk.
If Snape saw her reaction, he did not show it because instead, he held out to only Professor Lupin, "I would rather only you take it...and even then..."
Professor Lupin stepped forward and wrapped a protective arm around Gemma's shoulders, and guided her into the hall, Ron and Harry in tow.
She clutched her stinging hand to her chest and was so still that one could have mistaken her for a statue.
The teacher moved away from her as they reached the entrance hall, and Harry started to say, "Professor, I---"
"I don't want to hear explanations," Professor Lupin scolded quietly, his jade eyes flashing. "I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago." Gemma lifted her eyes to him and stared at him in question. "Yes, I know it's a map...I don't want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you didn't hand it in." He glanced between the three of them. "Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around..." He sighed and shook his head, "And I can't let you have it back."
Gemma was not surprised by this but, in a quiet, shaky voice, asked, "Why did Snape think I'd got it from the manufacturers?"
"Because..." The teacher suddenly hesitated and would not look at her. "Because these mapmakers would have wanted to lure you out of school. They'd think it extremely entertaining."
"Do you know them?" Harry asked curiously.
"We've met," Lupin replied sharply. He kept his eyes on Harry and Ron, "Don't expect me to cover up for you again, Harry. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have heard when the Dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on you. Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them — gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks."
The way he said this was almost condescending.
But Gemma could hear something lying behind his words.
There was guilt and sorrow.
So as he walked away, Gemma could not help but wonder what more was plaguing the werewolf teacher.
Harry lit up his wand and looked down at Gemma's hands. One long, slightly swollen, and bloodied gash ran from the space between her thumb and forefinger to the bottom right corner of her hand.
Harry's green eyes lit in anger, "Sometimes I wish I was Dumbledore...I would fire Snape."
Ron growled dryly, "You and me both."
Gemma sighed, "Come on. Let's get back to the common room."
The three of them stopped by the old witch statue and grabbed the Invisibility Cloak, and continued on.
"It's my fault," Ron suddenly exclaimed. "I persuaded you to go. Lupin's right, it was stupid, we shouldn't've done it..." He looked at Gemma, his eyes regretful, "I am so sorry, Gem."
"I forgive you, Ron...But I think there is someone else you need to apologise to..." She nodded ahead of them.
Ignoring the patrol trolls that had been issued after the dorm incident, Hermione hurried to them, her face pale and set in a sorrowful expression.
Ron, obviously ignoring what Gemma had just said, snapped at their bushy-haired friend, "Come to have a good gloat? Or have you just been to tell on us?"
"No," Hermione said in a broken voice. She was holding an open letter in her shaking hands. "I just thought you ought to know... Hagrid lost his case. Buckbeak is going to be executed."