The Punker and the Prisoner

Chapter 3

Jack Black vs. the Trio

Jackie looked round at the group. She knew Remus, of course, and the other three adults had been introduced as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, Tonks, and Mrs. Molly Weasley. She now turned her gaze to the four teenagers, standing slightly behind the rest: two boys and two girls. Two of them, both with bright red hair and blue eyes, were clearly siblings. From the other two, a pretty girl with thick brown hair and a boy with long and unruly black hair and bright green eyes, she deduced that the dark haired boy was Harry Potter.

"Call me Jackie," she said.

"Jackie," said Remus. "This is Ron and Ginny Weasley" - he indicated the redheads - "Hermione Granger" - the brown haired girl inclined her head - "and Harry Potter." Potter too inclined his head. For a fleeting moment, Jackie found him attractive, but she banished the thought, inwardly scolding herself.

"And this is Crookshanks," added the redhead called Ginny, reaching up to scratch the ears of the large ginger cat perched on her shoulder.

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, rubbing her hands together. "Why don't you kids show Jackie to her room, and then we'll have a bit of late lunch, alright?" She bustled off toward the kitchen, Mad-Eye and Tonks following behind her, but Lupin paused first.

"You'll be alright, Jackie?" he said.

She nodded. "Course."

He smiled, and disappeared down to kitchen.

The five remaining stood in silence for a moment before Ginny spoke.

"Well then," she said brightly. "Shall we show you your room?" She began down the hall towards the stairs.

"Need a hand?" asked Harry with a smile, indicating toward her suitcase.

"Already got one, but thanks," Jackie replied picking it up.

He shrugged and followed Ginny.

"So where are you from?" asked the other redhead, as they began to climb the stairs.

"Otsego, Minnesota," Jackie said, looking at the pictures along the wall. "It's a really small town that no one's ever heard of."

They neared a long row of what appeared to be shrunken heads, but when they passed them, Jackie discovered that they were the heads of house elves.

"Is that customary in Britain?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, only in the Black family," said Harry, brushing dust off of one of the nameplates. "'Spect dear old Kreacher'll be up here soon."

"Who?"

"Kreacher," said Ron, with a smirk. "Your new pleasantness-not-included servant."

"He's a house elf," explained Hermione, throwing Ron an irritated glance.

"I have a house elf?" Jackie said in disbelief. This wasn't so bad.

"Yeah, but don't expect much service," said Harry. "He never makes much of an appearance and he's useless anyway. Besides, he won't take orders from anyone, including you. Even though you're his rightful master, there's a good chance he'll hate you."

"Why?" Jackie asked. "I haven't done anything to him."

"Cause you're Sirius's kid," Ron said wisely. "He didn't like Sirius much."

"That's an understatement," said Ginny.

"Why? Was he the black sheep of the family or something?"

"More like the white sheep," muttered Harry.

"He was just about the only one who wasn't a Voldemort supporter. Everyone who wasn't was chucked out," said Ron.

"What a pleasant family," Jackie said sarcastically.

"Just you wait," smirked Ginny. Jackie wasn't quite sure what she meant by this, but everyone else must have, because they all chuckled.

"I suppose you play the guitar," said Harry, indicating the guitar case on her back.

She nodded. "Bass. My friends and I have a band, Twice Lost Souls."

"Wicked awesome," said Ginny, obviously impressed. "I'd like to have a band."

"What would you play?" scoffed Ron.

"The Didgeridoo," Ginny replied promptly. "I find them fascinating."

"I don't think you have enough lung capacity to play a Didgeridoo," said Harry.

"You'd be surprised," said Ron, raising his eyebrows. "Right." He poked his head inside a room. "I think this is you."

Jackie looked around at the dark room as she entered. The only articles of furniture were a bed, nightstand, a wooden chair and a large looming bureau. There were a few pictures on the wall, but it was so dark that she could only clearly make out one: the portrait of a man with short black hair and a beard sitting nobly in a chair, who had her eyes. It gave her the creeps.

"Who is that?" she asked, quietly, as she set her guitar down on the quilt-laden bed.

"Who am I?" the man retorted, sternly. "The question is who are you? For you are in my house, and I demand identification!"

"Lay off, Phineas," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, this is my house now," Jackie corrected him. "And my name is Jackie Moran."

"Ah, so it's true then?" Phineas said, stroking his beard. "You're the last one?"

"The last what?"

"The last Black, of course," he said. "We were sure your father was the last, and then when the scoundrel got himself killed, we didn't know what would -"

"That's enough, Phineas," said Harry loudly. "We're going downstairs now."

Phineas nodded curtly, as the five trooped through the door and began back down the stairs.

"He's your great-great-great grandfather, just so you know," said Harry, looking round at Jackie. "He used to hang in our room, but he wouldn't stop talking about Sirius, so we had to move him. We can take him down if he starts to bug you."

The doorbell sounded from downstairs.

"Not again!" Hermione moaned, and the other three groaned.

"What's wrong?" Jackie asked.

"Just you wait."

As soon as Ginny had said this, and piercing scream followed by several indefinable screeches floated up the stairs. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny began to pelt down the stairs, Jackie hurrying after them. As they entered the hallway, the screaming became louder than ever, and words were identifiable.

"Filth! Putrescence! Blood-traitors! Be gone from the house of my fathers! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks!"

They came even with the source of the noise. It was a horrible looking portrait of an old woman in a black cap, shrieking at the top of her voice. Remus came tearing up from the kitchen, Moody close behind, and seized the velvet curtains on either side of the portrait, causing the woman to increase the magnitude of her screeches. His efforts were fruitless, however, and when Jackie tried to sneak around Remus and follow the other four towards the kitchen, the mad old woman turned her rolling eyes on her.

"Yooou!" she howled, her eyes popping madly. "How dare you! How dare you enter this house! Blood-traitor! Daughter of my shame! Just as filthy as he!"

Jackie just stared at her in amazement. What in the crap was she talking about?

Remus and Moody finally managed to wrench the curtains shut.

"Sorry about that," Remus said, slightly out of breath. Jackie noticed that Moody had opened the door and let in a hunched little wizard surrounded by a cloud of faint green smoke. He muttered something to Moody and scuttled downstairs.

Jackie turned back to the others and Remus. "What was that?" she asked, indicating the now silent portrait.

"Meet dear old Grandmummsy," said Ron sarcastically.

Jackie looked incredulously back at the red curtains. "No way."

"He's right," Remus said rather apologetically. "That's Sirius's mother, Lady Victoria Black. She didn't like Sirius too much after he ran away."

"He ran away? When? Where'd he go?" Jackie asked.

"When he was sixteen. Kipped at James Potter's. Mr. and Mrs. Potter sort of adopted him." The line in Remus's brow became more defined.

"Right," growled Moody. "Best get down to lunch." He led the group down the stone steps and into the kitchen, which was a bit of a shock to the eyes, being much brighter than the floors above. When her eyes adjusted, Jackie noticed that there were about ten people in the room.

"Right, Jackie, this is Mundungus Fletcher," Remus said, gesturing to the hunched wizard who had rang the doorbell.

"Pleasure to meet yeh," he grunted.

"And Charlie Weasley." Remus indicated another red haired sibling, though Charlie must have been at least twenty-four.

"Good to have you here," Charlie said with a jovial grin.

"Shame to hear 'bout old Sirius. Bloody good man, 'e was," mumbled Mundungus.

"Thanks," said Jackie. She found that she wanted to talk about her father.

"Yeah," Harry agreed softly. "Yeah he was." He looked down at the loaf of bread he was supposed to be cutting.

Jackie looked at him. "You knew him. What was he like?"

Harry hesitated, apparently unsure of how to reply. "Sirius was the closest thing I ever had to a father. He always knew what to do."

"Always had a plan," added Tonks.

"Even if it got us into loads of trouble," said Remus.

"Sort of like Harry," put in Ginny. Harry glanced over at her with a small smile.

Mrs. Weasly bustled over with a large plate heaped with sandwiches. Jackie dug in, surprised at how hungry she suddenly was. She ate four sandwiches and guzzled down three butterbeers. Ron looked up at her, an impressed look on his face.

"Well, it's good to have someone who can really eat," he said jovially. Jackie chuckled.

"This is nothing. I've got friends who can eat a whole large pizza in fifteen minutes by themselves."

"I didn't know that was even possible," Hermione said, looking like she wanted to laugh.

"It is," Jackie assured her, nodding. "And these guys are really in shape. Quodpot and Quidditch players, so they have to be."

"Do you play Quidditch or Quodpot?" Harry asked sounding interested.

Jackie nodded. "Both."

"What position do you play?" Ron asked.

"Wing in Quodpot and Beater in Quidditch," she replied, opening another butterbeer.

Ron just looked at her. "No really, what position in Quidditch?"

She looked up. He and Harry were both smiling dubiously. "Beater."

"Seriously?" Harry seemed surprised. "I've never heard of a female beater before."

"Is it a problem?" Jackie asked coolly, raising her pierced eyebrow. People always seemed to be intimidated when she did that. It was funny to watch their reactions.

"Well, no," Harry said, shrugging. "It's just, well, like I said, I've never heard of a female beater before."

"Well now you have," Jackie said, taking a swig of her butterbeer.

"I think that's cool," Ginny said, nodding and smiling.

"Thanks. You play too?"

"Yeah, Ron is Keeper and I'm the reserve Seeker. I'll won't be Seeker until we get rid of Harry." She grinned and winked at him. "He's the best in the business."

"I don't know about that, Gin," Harry said, trying not to look too embarrassed. "I think Charlie's still better than me."

"But Charlie didn't get considered for the National Team when he was sixteen, did he?" called Charlie, grinning.

"Like Charlie said, you're being seriously considered for the British National Team," Ginny protested. "I'd have to say that kind of suggests that you're really good."

"Careful, Gin, you don't want to give him a big head," Ron said, grinning.

"Is that true?" Jackie asked Harry. "You're really being considered for the National Team?"

"Well, er," Harry mumbled, now looking sufficiently embarrassed.

"Of course it is," Hermione finished for him, smiling broadly. "He just too humble to go around telling people. I mean he could beat Viktor Krum any old day."

Ron scowled, and Hermione gave him a sidelong smile. Ginny giggled and Ron cast her a reproving look, which only made her laugh harder. Harry rolled his eyes. Jackie didn't want to know.

"So, what model broom have you got?" Harry asked, glancing over at Ginny, who was still laughing hysterically.

"A Firebolt," Jackie answered, also glancing at the howling Ginny. "I just got it a couple months ago."

"Really? Me too, except I got mine in my third year," said Harry.

"Sweet, how long have you been playing?" Jackie asked. A Firebolt at thirteen was a considerable accomplishment.

"Since first year," Harry said simply.

"He was the only first year to get on the team in a century," Ron added.

"Wow, you must really be good," said Jackie, impressed.

Ginny sat back up on her chair, still biting her lip to keep her laughter under control.

"You quite done?" Ron asked with his eyebrows raised.

She started to laugh again, but calmed herself. "I'm sorry, Ron. It's just so funny, because, you - you were - and the Krum thing -" But she had started to laugh again, and couldn't finish her sentence.

"I'm not even going to ask," Jackie said, shaking her head.

"I'll tell you later," Ginny managed to squeeze between her laughs.

"Oh no you won't," Ron corrected her.

"Yes I will," Ginny giggled. Ron just rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Ginny said, now capable of speech. She leaned in, and so did the other four. "I've got this idea, see. I've figured out a way to practice Quidditch without going outside."

"How's that?" Harry asked, clearly dubious of the plan.

"Remember the huge drawing room we cleaned out last summer?" Ginny asked.

Harry, Ron and Hermione groaned. "How could we forget?"

"Well, it's huge, so maybe, if we don't get caught, we can fly around in there."

"Gin, you're mad," Ron said bluntly.

"No, really, I'm not," Ginny assured him. "It's got such a high ceiling that I think we could actually pull it off."

"Well, let's go have a look, shall we?" Hermione suggested.

They excused themselves from the table, and Remus gave Jackie a warm smile. Finally something was going right. The five of them trooped up the stairs until they came to the drawing room. Just as Ginny had said, it was quite large, and did have a very high ceiling. Jackie thought it just might be able to hold five people on brooms.

"There, you see. I told you it was big enough," Ginny declared proudly.

"Right, well, since we've really got nothing else to do," said Harry, shrugging. "Fancy a ride, Jackie?"

"Sure," Jackie replied, thinking it would feel good to get back on her broomstick. "Just a sec, I'll get my broom."

"You brought your broom with you?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Of course!" Jackie said. "My guitar and my broom are two most prized possessions. I never go without them."

"I want to see your guitar," Ginny said excitedly.

They trekked up the stairs farther, the guys and Ginny stopping to get their broomsticks out of their respective rooms, and then up to Jackie's room. She took a small box out from her suitcase, opened the lid and withdrew a tiny Firebolt, about a foot long, that her mother had bewitched for her.

"What the -" said Ron, confusedly.

Jackie tapped the miniature broom with her wand, and it grew slowly back into full size. The other four were impressed.

"Don't you get yelled at for doing magic during the holidays?" Harry asked.

"I don't really consider tapping magic," said Jackie, tossing the box back into her suitcase. "We'll take the guitar out afterwards," she added to Ginny.

They went back to the drawing room, checking around every corner so as not to be caught. Ron was the first to kick off after they had shut the drawing room door, and he flew up to the chandelier in the center of the room and plucked a shoe from it.

"Finally!" he cried in triumph. "Fred and George put it up there last week. My older twin brothers," he added to Jackie.

They zoomed around the room for a while taking swipes at each other, and doing tricks. Ron tried to coax Hermione into getting on his broom, but she wouldn't do it.

"Come on, you don't have go fast or anything," he said encouragingly. "Just hover, or something."

"No, I really don't want to," Hermione refused. "I don't like heights, you know that."

Harry caught Jackie's eye and they both grinned. They both knew that Ron would convince her in the end. He always did. Sure enough, Ron talked her into climbing on behind him, and she held on to him for dear life.

When Ron set Hermione free, he started throwing things for Harry to catch. He really was good, from what Jackie could tell. He dived and swerved with excellent precision, and he caught a golf ball by flipping over and hanging upside down on his broomstick with only his knees wrapped around it. Show off, Jackie thought, but smiled nonetheless. The thought that he was attractive bobbed back up into her mind.

She was flipping pointlessly around in circles when something caught her eye. A large burgundy tapestry, embroidered in gold thread, bearing a large family tree, dating back to the Middle Ages. She glided down to it, and dismounted her broom. As she gazed at the massive tapestry, names jumped out at her: Araminta Meliflua, Stephen Nerisusl, and Phineas Nigellus, her great-great-great grandfather, but one name in particular caught her attention. Bellatrix Black, linked by a gold double bar with Rodolphus Lestrange.

"I'm related to the Lestranges?" she said quietly. She had heard her mother talk about them before, and knew that they had killed her mother's brother. They had been in Azkaban until a few months ago when the prison had been broken into. This was something she was not proud of.

"Yeah, nice, huh?" said Harry from behind her. She had not heard him land.

Her eyes moved to the name next to Bellatrix, but there wasn't one, only a round burn mark, apparently left from a wand. She pointed at it.

"What happened there?"

"Oh, that was your cousin Andromeda, but your grandmum blasted her off after she married a Muggleborn. Tonks is her daughter, your second cousin. She's not on there either," Harry explained.

"Huh, weird," Jackie murmured, looking back to the tapestry. The name next to the burn mark was Narcissa Black, linked with Lucius Malfoy, and underneath their names, linked by a vertical bar, was Draco Malfoy. Jackie recognized the name Malfoy as well, but she couldn't remember where from. Her mother or Remus, perhaps. She pointed to the Malfoys' name.

"What about them?" she asked.

"Ah," said Harry, his voice sour. "The Malfoys, everybody's least favorite family. Well, here anyway. Draco is our age and goes to school with us." He indicated the other three. "Let's just say he's not very pleasant. His parents are well-known Death Eaters."

"Slimy Slytherin git," added Ron from above. "Shouldn't be so cocky after that night at the Ministry, when his dad was caught with all those Death Eaters and You-Know-Who, should he?"

"Ooo, I hope not," Hermione agreed, nodding fervently. "I would hope they'd just chuck him out of school. But Dumbledore wouldn't -"

"Or how about we just have Jackie give him a good whack with her Beater's club," Ginny suggested, swinging an imaginary club hard through the air.

"Family privileges, after all," added Ron.

Jackie chuckled and continued to peruse the tapestry. She looked down near the very bottom to where she thought her father must be, but he wasn't there. Beneath Bartholomew and Victoria Black, were a name and a burn mark. Regulus Black, followed by the date of death (some sixteen years before), and what must have been Sirius Black.

"He got blasted off too?"

"Yep, after he ran away," said Harry.

"Do you know who was there?" Jackie asked, pointing at another burn mark.

"Probably my grandfather," said Ron. "We're related, you know. You and my mother are first cousins once removed by marriage, and you and I are something like third cousins on my father's side."

"So you could be related to the Malfoys too," Jackie said.

"Yuck, but I guess you're right. Ugh, I don't want them as relatives!"

"I don't think I do either. They don't sound too pleasant. Not this Draco kid, anyway."

"Oh, he's just a bundle of joy, that one," Ron said sarcastically. "Dunno why his parents didn't just give him up for adoption."

After an hour or so, the group headed back upstairs to replace their brooms before Mrs. Weasley came looking for them.

"Can we see your guitar now?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"Uh, okay," Jackie replied, shrugging as she picked up the case. She unzipped it, and pulled out her prize possession.

"Wicked!" Ginny exclaimed in awe. "Rock star and female beater; it doesn't get any better than that."

Jackie chuckled.

There was a sudden knock on the door and Remus poked his head in.

"There you are, Jackie. Mad-Eye wants a word, if you've got a minute."

"Sure, just a sec," Jackie replied, turning back to Ginny. "Just put it back when you're done. I'll be back in a sec."

She disappeared through the door after Remus.

"Odd character, isn't she?" Ron said conversationally when she had gone.

"I think she's cool," Ginny said, plucking at the guitar strings. "And pretty, in an odd sort of way."

"She's certainly interesting," Harry agreed. Secretly, he thought she was very pretty, too. "It's almost creepy, though. I mean she's identical to Sirius. Minus the red hair, of course."

"Yes, I did notice that," Hermione said, nodding.

"You know, I think I'd like to pierce my eyebrow," Ginny said thoughtfully.

"Good luck getting away with it with Mum," Ron said.

"As long as it's not a tattoo I think I could," Ginny said, and then added as an after thought, "I wonder if Jackie has any tattoos?"

"Jack Black? I wouldn't put it past her."

"Ron! Quit calling her that," Hermione scolded. "Wouldn't like it if we called you Ronald McDonald, would you?"