Chapter 10: Unnoticed

It bothered Severus Snape immensely that he had to give Anna Green a perfect score on her potions final, as that placed Ravenclaw ahead of Slytherins in house rank, academically speaking. It frustrated him nearly that much that she still refused to speak. It somewhat irked him that her peers still seemed to abandon her, after what had happened to her family. What really ate away at him, however, like a hungry gnome, was that he had had an elf send her some sweet for her birthday. He had done such a thing for Slytherins, of course, if the occasion called for it, but for this little thing? What was she to him?

A pathetic creature on whom he took pity and nothing more, he told himself. But Severus Snape knew himself for what he was: a liar.

So how could he believe a word he said?

So, logical as ever, he attempted to dismantle her by the facts that he did recognize, much as he would a strange potion.

What did he know?

Clever, she was that. Even he had to give her that. Quiet, she was certainly that as well. Small, yes of course. She was an orphan, or what was it Dumbledore had said? Her family had been murdered. Not unique at Hogwarts, but it was worthy of note. That had to have an effect on a person.

There was something else. Strange. There was just something about her. Lupin noticed it. It put him ill at ease.

Snape smirked with satisfaction. That was his pity towards her, the fact that whatever the thing was about her it bothered Remus Lupin more.

Remus Lupin continued to watch the girl closely during the holiday as she remained behind. He noted she did not receive many gifts, but the arrival of Harry's Firebolt made them all set that aside. Was Black taunting the boy? Or was there a chance…

He noticed her again when she played in the choir and smiled, but she did not sing.

She was a bright student and seemed to have a kind heart, that he saw something else, something in those golden eyes, in her slight smile that was always a tad uneven. He smelled when she had been crying, and picked up the scent of a few friends, a Hufflepuff first year, Hagrid, and that Lovegood girl who called her birdy. Once, he thought he caught a whiff of Weasley. He picked up the scents of the woods and the kitchens sometimes clinging to her wool coat.

But once school rejoined, he could not follow her too closely, for in addition to his classes, he had to watch closely for Harry as well, who was as reckless as his father had been. His heart ached to see it, happy and sad at once, but mostly worried.

Remus also had to watch his back for Snape, which he felt was a bit ridiculous now that they were all on the same side supposedly. Snape seemed to loathe Harry more than Remus thought fair as well.

And always, always, his eyes were peeled and ear perked for signs of Sirius. He longed to catch just a glimpse of his old friend again, ask him just something before they carted him off to Azkaban. He had not gone to see him though, for the same reason he dreaded being the one to come upon him now. How would it feel seeing the face he'd watched so often in the moonlight suddenly before him, older, fiercer, the face that betrayed James and Lily.

If he betrayed them.

There was nothing to make him believe otherwise.

"You need to stay away from that dog." He warned, making her whip around. "He's dangerous." He collected papers on his desk.

She shrugged, unintimidated by his warning. What more could he say? He certainly could not tell her he was more than a dog. "You need to stay in the castle anyway. Dementors aren't merciful creatures."

She should know that. His latest lessons had been on these beings, how to recognize signs they were near and escape if they could not conjure a patronus. They were all too young of course, but she still did not seem afraid, not as afraid as she seemed of being locked away by her classmates.

"I mean it." He warned her. "Oh I see, not afraid of anything."

She shook her head as if the thought offended her. Asking her what it was that did frighten her was as inappropriate as it was pointless. He returned to his papers and thoughts with every intention of speaking with her head of house about her wandering habit.

Had it been on the board, the letters left behind once the room was empty. Had he missed them when erasing it, or had she left them for him? What could she mean by that? R-A-T.

They might as well. Priceless as it was to see someone coming before they arrived, they had also seen more than one odd thing on that old map. It was a complex form of magic, and an hilarious one at that, but after what happened to their sister the last year, they weren't as keen to chat with anonymous parchment. Besides, poor Harry was seeming to always be locked up- guarded by mean muggles or guarded by dementors. He needed to get out before he went crazy. Anna was correct, the twins decided. It was Harry he who needed the map now. With that cloak, he would be the king of the castle, and he's see Black coming too, if it came to it. But Black wouldn't see him.

Aloysius Grant was following Anna, though no one else seemed to notice her. Aloysius was not very talented in many areas. He was not what one would call nimble or quick witted. He was a keen observer, especially of things others seemed to ignore. He was keen observer of Anna Green.

Anna Green never minded Aly's company. Or if she did, she never mentioned it. Of course, she did not mention anything, not even that she had been feeding a dog in the woods. It looked like a Grim to Aly, but it was kind to her. He figured, like many of Hagrid's creatures, it meant no harm. Besides, it might warn them if the escaped murderer, Sirius Black, was nearby.

They sometimes wandered the forest and munched on the spoils of their kitchen raid. Aly would talk about being an only child, and about how hard he thought transfiguration was, and how much he liked Professor Sprout. And Anna would listen. You could tell she was listening.

Aly did all the talking and Anna did all the leading. And then one day when it grew warmer and the lake finally began to melt, Anna walked out to the dock, and really could not have known it was a bad idea. He could not have known how quickly it was going to become dangerous. But honestly, even if he had known, he probably would have just followed her anyway.

A/N: Long hiatus I know, but I'm dying to wrap up this story. As always, reviews are welcome. Let me know your thoughts and if you're up for more. Elsie