I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR DRACULA! PLEASE REVIEW!

LADY OF THE NIGHT: YEAR THREE:

CHAPTER TEN:

"He sent me this." She held out the parchment, and we looked down at it. Large tears blotted the parchment, making it hard to read.

"Dear Hermione,

We lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts.

Execution date to be fixed.

Beaky has enjoyed London.

I won't forget all the help you gave us.

Hagrid."

"They can't do this," Harry said angrily. "They can't. Buckbeak isn't dangerous." Hermione sniffled, wiping her eyes. "Malfoy's dad's scared the Committee into doing it. You know what he's like. They're a bunch of doddery old fools, and they were scared. There will be an appeal, though, there always is. Only I can't see any hope...nothing will have changed."

"Yeah, it will," Ron said. "You won't have to do all the work alone this time, Hermione. I'll help." Hermione's lip trembled, and she threw her arms around Ron's neck. He looked startled, then patted her awkwardly on the back before she let go. "Ron, I'm really, really sorry about Scabbers-"

"Oh, well, he was old. And he was useless. You never know, Mum and Dad might get me an owl now."

The new safety precautions installed since Black's latest break-in made it impossible for us to go visit Hagrid in the evening. The only time we could talk to him was during Care of Magical Creatures classes. He seemed to have gone numb from the verdict. "'S all my fault. Got all tongue-tied. They was all sittin' there in black robes an' I kept droppin' me notes an forgettin' all them dates yeh looked up fer me, Hermione. An' then Lucius Malfoy got up an' said his bit, an' the Committee jus' did exac'ly what he told 'em..."

"There's still the appeal," Ron said. "Don't give up, we're working on it!" I nodded. "I'm going to ask Drake if he's found anything that might help Buckbeak in the appeal."

We walked back up to the castle with the rest of the castle, and I could see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle glancing back at us and laughing.

"'S no good. That Committee's in Lucius Malfoy's pocket. I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the best he's ever had. I owe him that..." He hurried back to his cabin, his face in his handkerchief.

"Look at him blubber!" We looked over to see Malfoy standing there. "He's pathetic! And he's supposed to be our teacher?" The four of us started towards Malfoy, and Hermione got there first, smacking him so hard across the face he stumbled backwards and fell onto the ground. She was about to start kicking him when we grabbed her, dragging her backward away from him. "Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul-you evil-"

"Hermione!"

"Let me go!" She pulled out her wand, her eyes on fire as Malfoy stood up. "C'mon," he muttered to Crabbe and Goyle. I stared at Hermione, both shocked and impressed. "Harry, you'd better beat him in the Quidditch Final! You just better had, because I can't stand it if Slytherin wins!"

"We're due in Charms," Ron said, staring at Hermione. "We'd better go."

The four of us ran up the staircase, and Harry, Ron, and I entered Flitwick's classroom. "You're late, you three! Come along, quickly now, wands out! We're experimenting with Cheering Charms-let's divided into pairs, now..." Just then, I glanced around and saw Hermione wasn't there. "Where's Hermione?"

"That's weird. I mean, she was right beside us when we entered the classroom." Ron shrugged. "Maybe she went to the bathroom or something." I snorted. "And she got there in two seconds? I don't think so."

Hermione didn't turn up always lesson, though.

"She could've done with a Cheering Charms on her too," said Ron as we headed for lunch, the entire Charms class grinning widely. But she didn't show up for lunch either. "You don't think Malfoy did something to her, do you?" Ron asked me and Harry as we headed for Gryffindor Tower. We passed the trolls, gave the Fat Lady the password, and entered the portrait hole.

Hermione sat at a table, her head on her arms, fast asleep, her head on her open Arithmancy book. We sat down beside her, and I shook her awake. "W-what? Is it time to go? Which lesson do we have now?"

"Divination, but not for another twenty minutes. Where were you? Why weren't you in Charms?"

"What? Oh, no! I forgot to go to Charms!" I stared at her. "How could you forget to go to Charms? You were right outside the door with us!"

"I don't believe it! Was Professor Flitwick angry? Oh, it was Malfoy, I was thinking about him and I lost track of things!" Ron glanced around at the books and homework spread all over three tables. "You know what, Hermione? I think you're cracking up. You're trying to do too much." She brushed her hair out of her eyes, showing the bags under her eyes. "No, I'm not! I just made a mistake, that's all! I'd better go see Professor Flitwick and say sorry! I'll see you in Divination!" She threw her bag over her shoulder and headed out of the common room.

Twenty minutes later, she joined us in the Divination classroom, looked extremely upset. "I can't believe I missed Charms! And I bet they'll come up in our exams; Professor Flitwick hinted that they might!"

On every table was a crystal ball. The four of us sat down around the same table. "I thought we weren't starting crystal balls until next term."

"Don't complain," Harry muttered. "This means we've finished with palmistry. I was getting sick of her flinching every time she looked at my hands."

"Good day to you!" said Professor Trelawney, coming out of the shadows. "I have decided to introduce the crystal ball earlier than planned. The fates have informed me that your exam in June will concern the Orb, and I am anxious to to give you sufficient practice." Hermione snorted loudly at this. "Well, honestly! 'The fates have informed her'...who sets the exam? She does! What an amazing prediction!" She didn't even bother to keep her voice down, and Harry, Ron, and I stifled our laughter.

I couldn't tell whether Professor Trelawney had heard her, but she continued on. "Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art. I do not expect any of you to See when you first look into the Orb's infinite depths. We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and external eyes"-I heard Ron snickering next to me-"so as to clear the Inner Eye and the superconscious. Perhaps, if we are lucky, some of you will See before the end of class today."

I stared into the crystal ball, my eyes glazing over. I was somewhat distracted by Ron's silent giggling and Hermione's constant tutting beside me. "Seen anything yet?" Harry muttered to me and Ron. "Yeah, there's a burn on this table," Ron said, pointing. "Somebody spilled a candle." I snorted.

"This is such a waste of time," Hermione muttered. "I could be practicing something useful, like Cheering Charms." Professor Trelawney came over. "Would anyone like me to help interpret the shadowy portents within their Orb?"

"I don't need any interpretation," I smirked. "It's obvious what this means. There's going to be lots of fog tonight." Half the class burst into laughter. "Now, really! You are disturbing the clairvoyant vibrations!" She walked over to our table, and I heard Harry groan. "There is something here! Something moving...but what? My dear...it is here, stalking towards you, growing ever closer...the Gr-"

"Oh, for heavens' sake!" Hermione snapped. "Not that ridiculous Grim again!" Professor Trelawney looked up at Hermione with anger in her eyes. "I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class, my dear, it has been apparent that you do not have what the noble art of Divination requires. I don't ever before remember meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane." Silence reigned for a moment, and then Hermione stood up. "Fine!" She stuffed Unfogging the Future back into her bag, and swung it around, nearly knocking Ron out of his seat. "I give up! I'm leaving!"

We all stared as she went over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and vanished from sight. It took a while for us to settle down again. Professor Trelawney turned away from our table, tugging her shawl around her. "Oooh!" Lavender Brown suddenly squealed, making us jump. "Professor Trelawney, I just remembered! You Saw her leaving, didn't you? Didn't you, Professor? 'Around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever!' You said it ages ago!" Professor Trelawney smiled at her. "Yes, I did indeed See that Miss Granger would be leaving us. One hopes, however, that one might have mistaken the Signs...the Inner Eye can be a burden, you know..."

"Some day Hermione's having, huh?" Ron muttered to me and Harry out of the edge of his mouth.

The Easter holidays were driving everybody crazy. Neville seemed about to faint from the stress constantly, and he wasn't the only one. "They call this a holiday!?" Seamus Finnigan yelled, slamming a book down on a desk. "The exams are ages away, what are they playing at?!" None of us had as much to do as Hermione, though. Even though she'd dropped Divination, she was still taking more classes than the rest of us. She was last to leave the common room at night and first to arrive at the library in the morning, and she constantly seemed close to tears.

Ron and I had taken over responsibility for Buckbeak's appeal. When we weren't working, we were going through books with names such as The Handbook of Hippogriff Psychology and Fowl or Foul? A Study of Hippogriff Brutality. Ron had gotten so involved, he forgot to be mean to Crookshanks. I had contacted Dracula, and he told that he couldn't find anything that could possibly help with Buckbeak's appeal.

The final Quidditch match of the year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, was coming with a highly charged atmosphere. Harry had barely any time to fit his homework in around his Quidditch practices, and Wood kept coming up to him, talking about the match. Slytherin was leading by two hundred points, and Wood kept reminding Harry that they needed to win by more than that if Gryffindor was going to get the Quidditch Cup this year.

"So you must catch it only if we're more than fifty points up. Only if we're more than fifty points up, Harry, or we win the match but lose the Cup. You've got that, haven't you? You must catch the Snitch only if we're-"

"I KNOW, OLIVER!"

The night before the match, noise filled the common room, and Hermione had even put down her books, saying that she couldn't concentrate. Wood was sitting in a corner, prodding little figures across a model of a Quidditch pitch and muttering under his breath. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were laughing at the twin's jokes.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I sat in a corner, feeling worried about tomorrow's match. "You'll be fine," Hermione said, but she looked scared.

"You've got a Firebolt!" Ron said.

"Yeah..." Harry said.

Wood suddenly stood up and yelled, "Team! Bed!"

The next morning, me, Ron, and Hermione headed down to the Quidditch Pitch, wearing red carnations and carrying red flags with the Gryffindor lion on them. Not long after, the teams arrived on the Pitch, and Lee Jordan began his commentary. "And here are the Gryffindors! Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good many years-" Lee was cut off by the "boos" from the Slytherins.

"And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill-" More "boos" issued from the Slytherins. Despite that, Lee did have a point. Malfoy was obviously the smallest person on the team.

The two Captains shook hands, but it looked more to me as though each was trying to break the others' fingers. Madam Hooch blew her whistle, and both teams kicked off into the air.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor wins the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goalposts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no-Quaffle intercepted by Warrington-Warrington of Slytherin tearing up the field-WHAM!-nice Bludger work by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by-Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina-nice swerve around Montague-duck, Angelina, that's a Bludger!-SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Angelina punched the air, and we roared our approval, but then Flint went slamming into her. A second later, Fred chucked his Beater's bat at the back of Flint's head. Madam Hooch awarded a penalty each to Gryffindor and Slytherin. "Come on, Alicia! YES! SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Flint flew forward, and Lee continued. "'Course, Wood's a superb Keeper! Superb! Very difficult to pass-very difficult indeed-YES! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! HE'S SAVED IT!" Harry flew around the field, looking for the Snitch, and I continued to listen to the commentary. "Gryffindor in possession, no, Slytherin in possession-no-Gryffindor back in possession, and it's Katie Bell, Katie Bell for Gryffindor with the Quaffle, she's streaking up the field-THAT WAS DELIBERATE!" Montague had flown in front of Katie, and grabbed her head instead of the Quaffle.

A minute later, Katie got another penalty past the Slytherin Keeper. "THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING-!"

"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased way-!"

"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!"

A Bludger went past Harry's ear, and then the other grazed his elbow. Both of the Slytherin Beaters were flying straight at him, but he flew upward at the last second, and both Beaters collided. "Too bad, boys! You'll need to get up earlier than that to beat a Firebolt! And it's Gryffindor in possession again as Johnson takes the Quaffle-Flint alongside her-poke him in the eye, Angelina!-it's a joke, Professor, it's a joke-oh, no-Flint in possession, Flint flying toward the Gryffindor goalposts, come on now, Wood, save-!"

The Slytherins cheered and the rest of the stadium rang with "boos". Lee swore so violently that McGonagall tried to pull the megaphone away from him. "Sorry, Professor, sorry! Won't happen again! So, Gryffindor in the lead, thirty points to ten, and Gryffindor in possession-"

Bole hit Alicia with his club, and George elbowed his face in retaliation. Madam Hooch awarded a penalty each to Gryffindor and Slytherin. Wood saved the goal, making the score forty-ten for Gryffindor.

Katie scored again, making it fifty-ten, and Fred and George flew around her, clubs raised in case the Slytherin team tried another attack. Bole and Derrick took advantage of this, and sent both of the Bludgers at Wood. They both hit him in the stomach, and he rolled over in the air. Madam Hooch awarded Gryffindor another penalty, making it sixty-ten in our favor. Fred sent a Bludger at Warrington and knocking the Quaffle out of his hands. Alicia grabbed and put it through the Slytherin goalposts, making it seventy-ten.

I saw Harry speed up, and suddenly began slowing down. Malfoy had grabbed the tail of his Firebolt and was jerking it back. Madam Hooch awarded Gryffindor another penalty.

"YOU CHEATING SCUM! YOU FILTHY, CHEATING BASTARD!" McGonagall wasn't even telling him off. Instead, she was shaking her finger in Malfoy's direction, her hat had fallen off, and she was shouting at Malfoy too.

"Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for the goal-Montague scores-seventy-twenty to Gryffindor." Lee groaned, then continued. "Angelina Johnson gets the Quaffle for Gryffindor, come on, Angelina, come on!" Every Slytherin player, even the Keeper, were flying up the field toward Angelina. Harry turned his Firebolt, and flew at the players, who scattered, making a clear path for Angelina. "SHE SCORES! Gryffindor leads eighty points to twenty!"

Harry turned again, and then zoomed downward after Malfoy, who had spotted the Snitch. He knocked Malfoy's arm out of the way and pulled out of the dive, clutching the Snitch in his hand. The rest of the Gryffindor team flew towards him, hugging him in midair, and I could hear them shouting "We've won the Cup! We've won the Cup!" at the top of their lungs. Ron, Hermione, and I ran down onto the field with the other Gryffindor supporters, and we all lifted the team onto our shoulders.

Hagrid was cheering. "Yeh beat 'em, Harry, yeh beat 'em! Wait 'till I tell Buckbeak!"

Percy was jumping up and down like a maniac, and McGonagall was wiping her eyes on a giant Gryffindor flag. Ron, Hermione, and I finally made it through to Harry, and he had a grin spreading from ear to ear on his face. Wood sobbed with joy as he passed Harry the Quidditch Cup, and Harry lifted it into the air, grinning even more. "Hey, Harry, c'mon! Party in the common room in half an hour!"