Ebb and Flow

Hogwarts, June 1976

***

"Oh! You received another letter!" Jane said excitedly, reaching for the opened letter. "Let me read it!"

Althea held the letter high above her head so Jane could not reach it. The three girls rested at the edge of the lake and watched the sun as it sank lower in the sky. Althea sat down, opened the letter again, and slowly reread every word. Her secrecy was torture for Jane and she relished it. It was the tenth letter she had received from her mystery admirer. This was the longest letter so far, and the most intimate. Althea blushed at the mention of her soft skin. With every word, she longed to know who was the author of the letter she held in her hands; however, her admirer kept changing the school owls for each letter.

"I wish you'd tell us what it says," Lily said eagerly, sitting closer to Althea. "Is it like the others?"

Althea nodded her head, but before she could answer, their friend had returned. It was a gigantic black dog that the girls affectionately and humorously called Snuffles--after a dog Lily had when she was small. However, Lily's dog was a Bichon Frise, a cute and fluffy sort of dog--a dog suitable for the name Snuffles. Snuffles took his usual place next to Althea--much to the envy of Jane and Lily. Althea began to scratch Snuffles behind his ears, causing his tail to wag happily.

"The letter," Althea muttered in a far away voice as she scratched Snuffles behind his ears. "The letter, well, it was--er--very passionate."

Lily and Jane gasped and then began to giggle.

"Althea, do you mean it talked about--" Jane began, but could not finish and blushed.

"Jane, what are these types of letters designed to talk about?" she teased and she flashed a playful smile. The three girls started to giggle again.

Jane sighed. "But it must be wonderful having a secret admirer." Jane said and looked longingly at Althea and the letter.

Snuffles stretched and rested his head and paws on Althea's lap. Althea stopped scratching Snuffles behind his ears and rested her hands on his neck. She thought about her secret admirer. It was nice to have someone who felt that way writing her those letters. Every time she received another letter from a school owl, her heart leapt with excitement. She desperately wanted to meet her admirer--even more so that the school year was ending soon.

"Does it say who it is from?" Lily asked, leaning close to take a peak at the letter.

Althea quickly flashed the bottom of the letter. "No," she sighed and refolded the letter.

Lily continued to look at the folded letter thoughtfully. "Who do you think it's from?"

Althea knew Lily was concerned with who the letter writer was. She had mentioned previous times to Althea that these letters might be a joke--a joke performed by one of the Slytherin girls in retaliation, or worse, a large practical joke performed by Sirius and his friends. Lily was almost convinced Sirius initiated this cruel joke and sought to confront him. It was only Althea's insistence that Lily relented.

"I don't know," she replied and shrugged. "He seems older, I think."

"A seventh-year?"

"Possibly."

"Ew--maybe it's a Slytherin," Jane said and made a disgusted face. "Ew, maybe Snape."

Althea made a retching noise and Snuffles growled. "See, even Snuffles doesn't like that idea," she said and kissed Snuffles on the top of his head.

Snuffles barked happily and wagged his tail.

"I reckon if Snape would send me post, it would be post with some sort of hex enclosed."

"Does he fancy girls even?" Jane asked, wrinkling her nose.

"No, just books. He fancies books," Althea remarked mischievously. "That's why he has all those paper cuts."

"I'd hate to be his books," Jane replied and pulled a face. The two girls laughed once more and Lily shot Althea a warning look.

"Maybe it's that Ravenclaw seventh-year--you know--Paul Summers," Lily said.

"He's so handsome!" Jane squealed.

"He is, but his hair is too perfect. I've never seen it move," Lily replied, resting her hands behind her. "I like hair--"

"That looks a bit wind-swept," Althea interrupted and smiled teasingly.

Lily's eyes narrowed as she fought her own smile. "What are you getting at, Althea?" she asked slyly, pulling up a few blades of grass and throwing them at Althea.

"Nothing, nothing," she replied with mock innocence. "Anyway, he can't be. He's dating Katherine Merriman--the Ravenclaw Keeper."

Lily looked at Althea and cleared her throat. "Maybe it's Lupin."

Althea took her hand off Snuffles and stroked away a long black curl that fell in her face. A little part of her had questioned if it was Remus writing those letters, but she remembered what Remus had whispered to her, 'there is someone who loves you more than I do.' Althea wondered if Remus knew who wrote the letters, but she knew he would never tell her if he did.

"No," replied Althea and placed her hand back on Snuffles. "It's--it's--not Lupin. It doesn't sound like him."

Jane gasped and covered her mouth. "You still fancy him. Oh poor, Althea," she said and placed her hand on Althea's shoulder.

"Jane, he's just a friend," she said absently stroking the dog's back. "It wasn't anything serious, anyway."

Jane sighed disappointedly and frowned. Althea watched as Jane tried to think of another who would write those letters. Suddenly, Jane's eyes grew wide and she spoke, "Althea, maybe it's Sirius Black!"

Althea lifted her head and Snuffles did the same. A small jolt of adrenaline coursed through her body. "Don't be silly. He wouldn't go for me," she mumbled, flustered, and stroked Snuffles who was now whimpering. "I'm just Morrigan."

"I'm serious," Jane said, leaning forward and resting her palms against the grass. "I've seen him stare at you before. He was doing it in Charms class yesterday--"

"Maybe he was trying to find something wrong with me."

Jane stared dreamily over Althea's shoulder. "He's so gorgeous and clever and--"

"And rich," Althea finished and winked. "Come of it. Don't look at me like that, Jane! Unlike you, dear Jane, the majority of girls fancy him for his Galleons."

"Don't forget the snogging," Lily said with mock thoughtfulness.

"Indeed, the snogging," Althea said and nodded. "Oh, and the brilliant conversation."

Jane narrowed her eyes at Althea. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Althea's head jolted back. She felt slightly panicked. "What are you talking about?"

Jane looked to Lily as she spoke, "I heard from Bertha Jorkins that just today she saw Althea and Sirius Black in the library (she paused for dramatic effect) together."

"So?" Althea said, aware that Snuffles had lifted his head. "He borrowed one of my father's books--that's all."

"That's all?" Jane repeated, her eyes widening. "He transfigured your hair slide into a hollyhock," she said and pointed to Althea's hair. "You're still wearing it."

Althea felt her face flush with warmth. She lifted her hand to her hair--her fingertips grazed the hollyhock petals. Damn, she thought as the two girls stared at her--Jane with a triumphant jealousy and Lily very much bemused.

"I--I hadn't noticed," she lied, resting her palm atop Snuffles' head.

"How could you not notice something like that?" Jane asked, looking curiously at Althea. "I would've noticed!"

Althea's cheeks were very hot. "I was reading, probably."

Jane's eyes narrowed. "Bertha said that you giggled when he transfigured your hair slide and that if those second-years hadn't interrupted, you two would've--"

"Good Lord, Bertha Jorkins is an absolute idiot!" she blurted out, sitting up. "So bored by the lack of excitement in her stupid life, she has to create absurd fantasies about other, more interesting people!"

The other two girls were quiet. Highly embarrassed, Althea pulled her knees to chest.

"Sorry," Althea murmured and rested her chin against her folded arms.

"Black can't be the writer of those letters," said Lily, scratching her arm.

Althea shot Lily a grateful look.

"He's more forward than that. He would have probably cornered Althea and asked her to go out with him by now." Lily picked up a blade of grass and twirled it with her delicate fingers. "He hates to lose at anything."

Jane perked up and a smile widened across her face. "Exactly! He doesn't want to lose! That's why he's writing the letters!" Jane smiled proudly at her deduction.

Lily dropped the blade of grass. "Let's hope not. He's just so bigheaded and cruel."

Althea felt an overwhelming urge to tell the girls how good Sirius had been to her and how she began to enjoy his company (he always seemed to find her at those perfect times when she was alone), but she stopped. She kept quiet and continued to scratch Snuffles behind the ears.

"Lily, please," Jane said, rolling her eyes, "Althea would say no to him anyway because she knows I fancy him--remember Divination class in November?"

"Heavens, how could we forget?" Althea mumbled, lying down and resting her head against Snuffles' back.

Althea was happy she did not take Divination, or else she would have to hear Jane's predictions of her subsequent, celestially divined marriage to Sirius Black. However, she might as well have because Jane reveled in informing Althea of her predictions after every Divination class period. At least once a week, Jane would squeal as she examined her tealeaves at dinner. Somehow, to Jane, a large blob of wet tealeaves represented her destined marriage to Sirius, but to Althea, all she observed was a large blob of wet tealeaves in the bottom of Jane's cup.

"Althea, how can you do that? He might have fleas!" Jane exclaimed forgetting her exhausting explanation of the fateful Divination class.

"He doesn't have fleas!" Althea defended and scratched Snuffles behind the ear. "Look, he didn't like that at all. He's growling at you, Jane--see--he doesn't like you at all."

Jane folded her arms. "I'm just glad you don't take that thing up to our room."

Althea laughed. "Maybe I should. He could sleep in my bed."

Snuffles barked cheerfully.

"See, Snuffles likes that idea," giggled Althea.

"If you'd do that, I--I'd tell McGonagall," Jane threatened.

Althea looked at Lily and winked. Lily was biting her bottom lip to hide her laughter.

"Go ahead and tell her," she said with mock indifference. "It's just that--well--Black really likes dogs," she added and smiled.

Jane unfolded her arms and eagerly looked at Althea. "He does? How--how do you know?"

Althea glanced at Lily. Lily returned her gaze with a raised eyebrow. Althea winked--she hoped Lily would allow her a little fun at Jane's expense. Lily winked in approval and Althea smiled.

"At Quidditch practice a while ago, he had mentioned that he had a dog," Althea explained, and scratched Snuffles behind the ears. "Actually, it sort of looked like Snuffles here."

"Really?" Jane asked, wide-eyed.

Lily covered her mouth as she snickered.

"I reckon that it would be to your benefit to be nice to Snuffles. You never know when Black might show up," Althea said, impressed that she could hide her own laughter.

Jane reached to pet Snuffles, but he let out a ferocious growl. "That mongrel tried to bite me!" she shouted and held her hand to her chest.

Althea sat up. "He wasn't going to bite you!" she said fiercely. "And don't call him a mongrel," she added and scratched the whimpering Snuffles. "What would Black say if he heard you call Snuffles a mongrel?"

Jane wrinkled her nose. "He'd probably agree," she said curtly. "I don't like dogs."

"Then maybe you better start fancying his brother. I don't think he likes dogs," Althea said and winked.

"Althea, if you only had taken Divination," Jane said dreamily.

Althea rolled her eyes.

"Professor Cassandra said his true love would be made known in the upcoming months," she continued. "And who did he take to the Winter Fête?"

Althea rolled her eyes again. "You, Jane, he took you to the Winter Fête," she answered, exasperated. "Yes, it's you Jane, you who will be the future Mrs. Sirius Black. Lucky, lucky you. I will be envious as I will die an old spinster."

"Oh, you'll find someone, someday," Jane responded cheerfully.

"Maybe a nice Muggle," Althea replied drolly, imitating Jane.

Jane gasped. "A Muggle? Why would you want to marry a Muggle for?"

Althea frowned as she observed Jane. "Why wouldn't I?"

Althea, exhausted by Jane, looked at Lily. She obviously had enough of the conversation, and Althea couldn't agree more.

"Well, I'm going back inside. I need to revise more for the O.W.L.s," Lily said, standing. "I've put it off long enough."

"Me too. I'm so nervous about Transfiguration." Jane stood up as well.

Good, Althea thought, that girl still can't transfigure a tortoise into a teapot. She would finally have quiet, but she wished Lily had remained.

Althea did not stand. "I'll sit out here a bit more," she said and patted Snuffles on the head.

Althea watched as Jane and Lily returned to the castle. The sun was lower on the horizon and stars became visible in the upper stratosphere of the purple and orange sky. Althea removed the letter from the envelope. She reread the letter for the fourth time. What if what Jane said was true? Was Sirius writing those letters? How could she let him know she felt the same way? How could she tell Jane that she, too, fancied Sirius Black? She never wanted Lily in the middle.

Once more, her hand reached for the hollyhock in her hair. How could I have been so stupid to leave this damn flower in my hair? She closed her eyes and wondered the meaning behind his gesture. It was very clever though, she mused, smiling to herself. Oh, but that bloody Jorkins! She must've been lurking about. Can't keep quiet about anything.

Althea opened her eyes. "Why did he have to do this when Jorkins was round?" she said aloud and frowned. "Why was she watching anyway?"

Snuffles growled.

"Oh, stop it, you silly dog," she said and kissed the top of his head. "I'm glad he didn't kiss me, Snuffles. You saw what happened...just imagine trying to get out of that one. Lily would never forgive me for doing that to Jane. Although...." Althea sighed. "Somehow, I do wish that it is Black writing those letters," she said aloud and scratched Snuffles behind the ears.

Snuffles barked happily and wagged his tail.

"Actually, I don't wish it. I want it to be him."

Althea sighed longingly and stretched out her arms. Snuffles stood on all fours and began to jump around and chase his tail--much to the delight of Althea.

"You are a silly dog," she laughed, as Snuffles licked her face.