The School Of Wolf

The cat moved. That was the only thing that Harry could get through his brain as he tried to fall asleep that night. Crookshanks had somehow known that his Person needed him, and had snuck into the infirmary. Hermione had spent the last few minutes trying to get him to go back to Gryffindor tower but he must have sensed that she was upset and wouldn't leave her side. Finally the girl had given up and fallen asleep but harry himself was having a harder time. Madam Pomfrey had tried to get him to drink a sedative, claiming he needed his sleep in order to heal, but he had just shrugged it off. How could he sleep when his godfather might be a soulless wraith at any moment? Dumbledore had tried to assure him that Sirius would be getting the trial that he had deserved for 12 years, but Harry wasn't very confident in the Ministry's ability to do the right think. Besides, Sirius wasn't the only one he was worried about.

What was going to happen to Professor Lupin?

As he, Ron, Sirius, Hermione and Lupin had tried to get both Pettigrew and Snape back up to the castle relatively unharmed the werewolf had started to transform. Sirius tried to transform into Padfoot and fight the Wolf away from the humans but before he could the three students and the Hogwarts professor had all been mauled rather badly, and the rat animagus had gotten away. The screams of all four people had alerted the castle and many people had witnessed what transpired through the windows of the castle.

To Harry this was a mixed blessing. On one hand enough witnesses had come forward about Pettigrew for Sirius to get his trial, on the other and those same witnesses, more even, came forward about their DADA teacher turning into a werewolf and almost killing four people. Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't hold it against the man of course; he had been distracted by the confrontation of his friends. The rest of the world didn't see it the same way, however, and the three were also certain that the Potion's Master would delight in pressing charges against the man for almost killing him, and transmitting to all of them the curse of the lycanthrope.

Privately the thirteen year old didn't much care about this supposed curse. Maybe this way he wouldn't… couldn't go back to the Dursley house this summer. Then again Sirius would be freed and Harry could go to live with him like he had been supposed to.

His godfather would be freed right? He wasn't positive even though he knew the man was telling the truth. If the Ministry could lock him in a cell surrounded by Dementors for 12 years without a trial they probably wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

Desperately the boy wished that he could run up to the Headmaster's office and see what was going on for himself, even add his own testimony to the hearing but Pomfrey had finally resorted to locking the door to the infirmary with magic, and confiscating their wands so that the teens would stay still and rest while their bodies heal. Ron took very little time accepting this as his injuries had been the worst of them all having had a broken leg already before Moony had even gotten to him. He had also accepted the sleeping potion that the mediwitch had offered. Hermione had stayed up long enough to scold Crookshanks for a few minutes until she too had succumbed to sleep. Harry himself was still to wound up, to worried to even think about sleeping. They didn't realize what these two men meant to him, could mean to him. They were the last few personal connections to his parents that he had left. Sirius might even be able to offer him a real home for the first time since his parents died those twelve years ago. The two men were also very close friends who had just re-found each other. The dog animagus would be devastated if anything happened to the other man, and would blame it on himself. Harry had not known his godfather very long but he saw much of his own self there. Sirius would see the whole night as his fault because Remus wouldn't have forgotten his potion without the distraction he caused and none of them would have been out there at all if not for him. Harry preferred to think that Pettigrew had more blame there, since he was the betrayer and liar that had framed Sirius and been hiding in the school in the first place.

Of course he could say none of this to the man, who was hopefully only being interrogated in the Headmaster's office and not being kissed into soullessness by a black wraithlike Dementor.

He really really hoped.

For now though all he could do was wait and pray that for once since Harry had ever had dealings with them that the Ministry of Magic would be reasonable. Somehow he very much doubted it.

There would be no sleep for him tonight.

Or so he had thought until he woke up the next morning. Pomfrey must have spelled him asleep because harry knew that he was much too anxious to fall to sleep naturally. Either that or he had been a lot more injured than he had realized. That was always a possibility; he generally handled being hurt better than most people. It came with the neglectful household and madmen after his life. It took a lot to make Harry Potter slowdown. He was never quite sure whether to be proud of that fact or ashamed. Neither he guessed, it was just a fact of him life just like being destined to get attention he didn't deserve and being neglected at home.

That last thought reminded him of his worry the previous night and he quickly sat up to go and find out about Sirius and Professor Lupin.

"Hey slow down there kiddo. I know you're worried about me but Madam Pomfrey will have my hide if she sees you up and running around in the state you're in…" came an amused voice from beside his bed.

"Sirius? What are you doing here? What if someone sees you I mean...they didn't let you off yet…wait did they?" Was Harry's excited reply as he turned around and realized who was talking. As he looked over, however, he got quite the shock. His godfather was sitting on a wooden chair at the side of his bed. His eyes were puffy and red as if he had been crying although his voice sounded perfectly cheerful his face told another story altogether. With a gasp escaping his lips at the sight he waited for the man to explain.

"Yes Harry, I'm a free man again. There will be an official session of the Wizengamot to make it public, but the minister and MLE Head declared me free to go…" the young boy now noticed a strain in the man's voice and now knew for sure that something was causing him a lot of pain. The wizard in question must have read the look his godson's face because the mask in his voice slipped. "They…they're going to execute Remus…" and suddenly, he dropped his head into his hands, quietly sobbing at the thought of losing his last friend so soon after finding him again. Harry himself was stunned.

"How…why…but he…he didn't mean to attack us! He just forgot his potion, it was a mistake!" At that point the other two children in the room had awoken as well and were adding their protests to their friend's.

"Surely they can't just…kill him? He can't control the wolf and none of our families are pressing charges…" Hermione said with utter confusion and desperation in her voice.

"The law is the law Ms. Granger…" Sirius said with an audible struggle in his voice not to start sobbing again. "Any werewolf that attacks and turns a wizard and is caught must be put to death. It doesn't matter if you press charges or not…they see it light putting down a rabid dog." The last he spat angrily as he stood. "I'm sorry Harry but I…I c-c- I have to go…say goodbye…" Directly after a large black dog could be seen careening down the hallway and howling at the top of his lungs. The trio simply sat there, quite stunned at the news. They couldn't believe that the world would be so harsh on a man whose life had been horrible enough due to prejudice. This wasn't likely to help anything. It was hard for them to think that their beloved DADA teacher was going to be…killed. Harry was going to lose one of the few remaining ties to his father, and Sirius would be the last of the Mauraders.

"We have to do something." Harry said at last, not yet willing to give in to the dispare that was clawing at his chest.

"Like what? It's not like we can change anyone's mind, this is…legal" Hermione said with evident distaste "We had a chance with Buckbeak but we couldn't even help him!"

"There…there has to be something mate," Ron said finally "They won't… well… it… won't happen for a few days at least. We'll figure something out."

"There…might be something that you can do now Mr. Weasley," the calm and grandfatherly voice of the Headmaster stated. The trio looked up at him, first with automatic guilty expressions from three years of trouble following them, then with looks of hope and desperation.

"How can we help Professor? Do you think that the Minister will really let him off if we ask nicely?" Harry asked, sounding skeptical.

"No Harry what I am about to say might save two lives tonight, but it would all be under the table, as the muggles say. What we need, Ms. Granger is more time," he said enigmatically and smiled as her eyes widened in understanding. The elder wizard then stood and walked over to the door that separated their section of the infirmary from the rest "I am going to lock the door now, it is half past 10 AM, remember you must not be seen."

After he left both young men were looking at their friend with great curiosity. They weren't sure what just happened between her and the Headmaster but somehow they knew it had to do with the secret that she had been keeping from them from the past year.

"'Mione…what did he mean by more time?" Ron half asked and half demanded. Silently her hand went to her neck, grasping a small gold chain. She pulled it from under her shirt and revealed the pendant to be a small hourglass inside golden wire spheres.

AN: Hello again, sorry about the new story, and not an update for Clan Evens, but the plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone, and since I'm doing a chapter a day for NaNoWriMo, I figured you wouldn't be to upset. Expect regular updates on both until the end of November! That is…If I can stay motivated this year… anyway. The story is simple, and you shall see more of it…next time!