I stood at the top of the Astronomy Tower, looking out at the grounds. This was always my favorite place to come to when I was a student at Hogwarts. Nothing changed over the years. Even over the past two years of being back at the school as a professor, this was still my favorite place to come. Nothing would change that year three.
Tonight, I came up to escape the troubles downstairs. Sirius Black got into the castle, and everyone was on high alert. Severus was being a pain, trying to blame it on Remus, and I just had to get away before I snapped at him.
The skies were dark tonight, darker than usual. It was odd, really. I'd seen rain at Hogwarts, I'd even played Quidditch in the rain. But something about this was different… it was odd.
The wind was so strong now that it blew strands of my hair out of the braid I'd put it in. I heard a rumble of thunder so loud it shook me. The skies got increasingly darker and the wind picked up even more. As it did, I couldn't help but notice a strange scent that came with it. I'd been up in the Astronomy Tower many times, even during storms, and I'd never noticed this scent before.
I turned around to see if I could identify the scent, but I was the only one up here. There was nothing here that would've gave off this scent… this scent that seemed so familiar.
I turned back around to look out at the horizon as the heavy rains began to fall. I had to step back a bit from the railing for the wind was blowing the rain onto me and soaking my clothes and making it difficult for me to see through my glasses. I took a dry part of my robes and rubbed the water off of my glasses.
And then it hit me.
I put my glasses back on. I knew where this scent was from now, or at least what it reminded me of. It reminded me of the night James and Lily were murdered. I took my glasses back off and put them in a pocket inside of my robes before stepping back forward towards the railing and looking up.
They were crying. Was it happy tears of relief or angry tears of frustration though? I couldn't tell. This storm had been brewed by them, and there was a strong sense in me to calm it.
I looked up to the sky. "Everything's going to be fine," I said softly. "Harry's fine, his friends are fine, everyone is okay. Remus and I will find the rat that cost you your lives and make sure he pays. We'll find Sirius and clear his name, and Harry will know his godfather. Everything will be okay."
As I spoke, the scent started to fade away. The winds calmed. The rain slowed. It was as if my words reassured James and Lily and calmed their emotions. I was sure they were relieved Harry was okay and also fearful that something would happen to him or his friends.
But everything was going to be okay. Tomorrow was going to be a new day, and I knew that everything would be safe within the walls of Hogwarts, even with this small lapse in security.