14.

Minerva McGonagall was furious. This was the third time this night she had been called to the Gryffindor Common Room because of the noise. But this one took the cake.

She paced up and down in front of her House occupants, Severus, Dumbledore, Flitwick and Sprout arrayed behind her.

"Who was the – unfortunate – dung beetled brained student who left this scrap of parchment lying around for anyone to confiscate and use?" She yelled, causing the other professors to glower at the ranks of shame-faced and confused Gryffindors ranged in front of them. She shook the parchment in her hand, face red in anger.

Neville's face went red as well, as he timidly raised a hand half way up.

"Longbottom! I somehow knew this was your handwriting!" she stormed over to stand in front of him, as his hand flopped back down and he cringed in the face of her fury. His fellow classmates all took a step or two away from him, letting him face their Head of House on his own – the Weasley twins humming a dirge under their breath; all except Harry. He stepped up ignoring the looks he was getting from his housemates, father and McGonagall.

"Um, ma'am – it wasn't entirely Neville's fault," he asserted on his friend's behalf.

She snapped her head over to him. "What are you on about, Mr Potter-Snape! He admits he wrote the passwords down and left them where they could be stolen. What is not entirely at fault there?" She tightened the sash on her dressing gown and folded her arms over her chest, clearly so she wouldn't be tempted to strangle Neville.

Harry let a little of his anger through, "The portrait is a head-case, Professor! He is constantly changing the password – sometimes twice or three times a day! I'm sure Neville isn't the only one who was writing them down!" Some murmuring went on behind him and he could hear some people agreeing with him. But he could see his dad giving him a glare for his rudeness. "I'm just saying it's not all Nev's fault, ma'am," he retreated a bit.

Minerva harumphed as she gave Harry a look-over. Then she turned to Neville. "Fifty points off, Longbottom, and until Black is caught, you are not to be trusted with the passwords. You will need to have someone let you in each evening. I am also notifying your Grandmother of this deplorable lack of thought on your part!" Neville gulped, loudly, and there was some muttering in the background.

Snape let out with a sharp "Quiet!" and the room became as silent as a tomb. He graciously turned them back over to Minerva with a flourish. She quickly schooled the twitch of her lips into a severe look when she turned back to her yawning students.

"For your sake, Mr Longbottom, I hope you have some very good friends who won't let you freeze out in the corridors!" she berated. "Now, everyone," she clapped her hands together to get their attention, "head back up to your dorms; I expect you will all be sleeping in, aren't you lucky it's Sunday morning. Mr Longbottom – my office at ten o'clock to go over your detentions."

"Yes, ma'am," he said resignedly, turning to head up to the dorm. Harry gave him a squeeze on the shoulder as he passed by, and Neville gave him a quiet thanks before mumbling, "My gran is going to kill me!" His friend agreed, he'd heard her Howlers before and they were not pleasant. After saying goodnight to his friends, Harry headed over to where Ron was being looked at by Madame Pomfrey.

"I'm fine!" Ron was insisting to the tut-tutting Medi-witch. "He didn't touch me – not that he wasn't getting ready to; really, I was just startled, is all. What do you expect when you wake up to a Mass Murderer standing over you with this reaaallllly big knife, poised as if he's about to plunge it into your heart!" he said dramatically, while acting out the descent of the knife - quite graphically.

"Really, Mr Weasley, there is no need to exaggerate!" the nurse huffed as she waved a wand over him.

"I'm not! Harry, tell them I'm not!" he urged his best friend.

Harry nodded his head in agreement. Dumbledore came over to stand near them, Severus right behind him. Sprout and Flitwick had left, but Lupin had joined the party in the meantime, a dull grey dressing gown wrapped around his shabby nightshirt.

"Mr Snape, why don't you tell us what you saw," The Headmaster prompted.

"Well, I woke up to Ron yelling and looked over to see what appeared to be Sirius Black standing over him with a knife; only he was yelling, too. Then he turned and ran out of the room," he stated, trying to hold back a yawn and failing miserably. McGonagall had been right to complain; this was the third time she'd shown up. The first two were because of the party and now Black had actually managed to enter their tower.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "I woke up because there was all this noise around my bed and I woke up to him tearing at my bed hangings with his knife, I thought I was dreaming! Then I realised I wasn't. I looked at him... and he looked at me – really spooky like, his eyes got really big and wide – and I screamed, and he screamed... Then he took off! I must've scared him!" Ron looked surprised at this thought, then he grinned to himself.

"Yes, my boy, that must have been the reason for him to flee," Albus said, his eyes twinkling madly. Harry never trusted that look, but Ron just soaked in the praise while Snape snorted and rolled his eyes behind Dumbledore's back. "I'm sure he is long gone for now," the old wizard continued. Harry looked up at his father, but Severus just gave a small shake of his head, and passed some reassurance down the bond. Harry understood this to mean they would talk later, when everyone else wasn't around.

"But Harry," Ron asked quietly while the Headmaster was conferring with the other adults, "I thought he was after you; why'd he attack my bed?"

"A very good question, Mr Weasley," Severus interjected, startling Ron so bad he jumped in his seat, and murmured 'Blimey!' under his breath after his heart slowed down. "Harry, it's up to you: do you wish to stay here tonight, or come down to your room?"

Harry gave it some thought, but eventually decided on staying in the dorm. "It's like the Headmaster said, Dad, he's long gone from now – it's nearly dawn, he's not going to come back tonight. No, I'll just stay here and try to get some sleep. But I'll join you and Draco tonight, if you don't mind?"

Severus laid his hand at the back of Harry's head in silent acquiescence then turned as Albus spoke up.

"Gentlemen – and Ladies – let's leave these children to their well-deserved slumber. I'm sure we all could use some as well. Just as at Hallowe'en, we will find him long gone from the castle. Let's return to our warm beds for the remainder of this night and bring some fresh perspective to this in the morning. Mr Weasley, I'll be up later in the morning to fix your bed curtains." Ron looked startled for a moment, but said thank you before dragging his tired body back up the stairs. The adrenaline had left his system, and he just wanted to sleep.

"My dears," Albus indicated that Minerva and Poppy should precede him out the portrait hole as the boys headed back to their dorm room to try and catch some sleep.

"All right, so we are agreed: the Fat Lady is willing to return to her portrait as long as there is live security in front of her. Filius knows of a business that hires out Security Trolls and will contact them today so that they are in place by tomorrow morning. We've added more wards to the doors and secret passages to warn us of any intruders... Other than locking Mr Potter-Snape up in a Rapunzel tower, I don't know how we can secure his safety any further. Severus, do you have anything to add?"

"No. Harry is aware of the protections in place, he also has a Portkey to my quarters that he wears at all times. I can not sanction any further restrictions. He already knows not to travel anywhere alone, and he has given up visiting Hagrid due to the Dementors proximity to the cottage." He thought about telling the Headmaster about the map that Remus had confiscated prior to the holidays, but he could not see how it would aid them if they couldn't constantly monitor it. The sheer number of names that flitted around the corridors and the grounds of the school were mind numbing. The little flags were constantly overlapping each other, so it was really hard to look for one specific person unless you knew where to look in the first place.

"If that is all, then we shall adjourn for lunch. Severus, walk with me," Albus asked quietly as the rest of the staff left the conference room.

Snape gathered his notes neatly together, rolling them up with a practiced twist of the wrist, tucking them under his arm as he paced down the stairs to the Great Hall next to his employer.

"How is Harry handling this?"

Raising an eyebrow, Severus asked, "How should he be handling it? He is aware Black is a dangerous escaped convict who appears to be out for Harry's death in order to complete the task he started twelve years ago. He has been aware of this since August. But Mr Weasley brought up an interesting point, Albus. If Black was after Harry, why was he attacking Weasley's bed curtains? Harry told me this morning that his own curtains were open, he rarely closes them. Weasley's were only partially drawn. Black knew which boy was which – so I repeat: Why attack Weasley's curtains and not actually Weasley or Harry?" He eyed Dumbledore as the wizard strolled with him, lost in thought and stroking his beard. "Something to think about, don't you agree, Albus?"

"Quite..."

With all the new security on the Gryffindor corridor, and in fact throughout the entire castle, Crookshanks had a feeling that the rat had run out of the castle. This was proved out when he met up with Sirius and the dog told him he had seen the rat scamper out the window. They both decided that the best thing to do was to keep an eye on the grounds and perhaps they would run across the rodent again. They felt he would stay nearby.

So, every night, the two would meet at the edge of the forest and begin walking their rounds together. Early on, Crookshanks had caught the rat's scent around Hagrid's hut – but all the spring rains had masked its trail so the two were unsure where the rat had gone. They felt that it behoved them to pay especial attention to the area surrounding the gamekeeper's home and concentrated most of their prowling in that area.

As the weather got warmer, and the sun stayed out longer, they began meeting during the twilight time to begin their rounds. The school year was winding down and they still hadn't found the rat – but they persevered in the hopes that he would still show himself.

As the days got longer, the students became more stressed as end of the year exams drew nearer. Hermione had – predictably – created more study guides for her and her friends, which – if they wanted to survive with her in the same room – they adhered to religiously. All except Ron. He refused to still speak to the girl, still blaming her cat for Scabbers demise. When she had given him a guide, he'd chucked it into the fireplace when her back was turned.

Hermione tried not to let it get to her, she had enough on her plate, and told Harry so a week before the tests began, in the library.

"He's still being a prat, but I just can't apologise, Harry. It wasn't Crookshank's fault; he was just doing what comes naturally."

"I know, 'Mione. I hate being the one stuck in the middle, is all."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I don't mean to place you in the middle..." she sniffed, wiping tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I understand – but this really needs to stop. Let's just concentrate on Runes – we have that first thing Monday morning."

She nodded and pulled out the thick book as Harry pulled out parchment and sharpened his quill.

Lupin paced back and forth in front of Severus Snape's office before finally getting the courage up to knock on the door. A faint "Enter" was heard and he took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Lupin, what are you doing here? I was going to bring the potion in an hour," Severus asked, looking up for a moment then returning his attention to a pile of exams in front of him. "Besides, don't you have exams to mark, or did you just run them through that maze of yours and that was it?" he sneered.

Remus chuckled, "No, there was a written exam as well, but not nearly as long as yours, I dare say. No, I wanted to see if you had any luck with the map?"

"The map? Why?" He looked up and stared for a moment at the professor before narrowing his eyes. "What do you know, Lupin?"

Remus shuffled a bit, fiddling with a piece of shiral glass on Snapes's desk. Severus moved swiftly, snatching the ball out of his colleague's hand and slamming it down on the wood, causing the man to jump.

"Out with it, wolf," he demanded.

"All right; the night James saved you from me – how did he do it? What did you see?"

Severus leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers in front of him. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Humour me; what did you see?" he asked again.

"I did not see you, although I heard you. Potter came running down the tunnel, shoving me behind him – telling me to run back to the tunnel entrance." He closed his eyes, remembering back to that fateful night so many years ago. "I ran, but before I reached the turn, I heard a sound behind me – so I stopped and turned. You had broken through the door and Potter – Potter turned into a huge stag, blocking the way..." His eyes snapped open to stare at Lily's friend. "He was an Animagus – I didn't even realise it till now!"

Remus nodded his head. "They all were – all the marauders. They did it to accompany me on my nights."

"The fools!" Severus spat.

"Yes, and we were teenagers. It was dangerous and thrilling at the same time." He shrugged his shoulders. "What I'm trying to say is that I think I know how Black has been getting in – in his Animagus form."

"Which is?"

"A big black dog – it looks like a classic..."

"Grim."

"Why, yes – how did you know?" he asked, startled.

"Harry's been seeing it constantly! Hell, we all even played catch with it at before Christmas! Merlin!" He stormed from around the desk, heading over to Salazar's portrait, snapping "Follow me!" at Lupin as he nearly ran through the short corridor to the other end. Remus sped after him, entering the teacher's quarters and watching as he unlocked a desk drawer, snatching a piece of parchment from inside and taking it over to the dining table to spread it out.

Touching his wand to the centre of the sheet, ink began to rise to the surface, fanning out from the point of the wand and filling all edges. Once the map was complete, Severus fashioned a ball of light and positioned it over the table, waving Lupin over.

"Help me search. Is there any way we can get it to show the grounds as well?"

"Yes there is, but I'm going to have to recharm it. Turn it over – we'll leave the castle on this side." Severus flipped the map and watched as Remus drew his wand and began incanting in long strings of Latin, while weaving his wand in complicated patterns. Finally he asked Severus for a bottle of India ink. Summoning the requested object, he handed it to Remus who pulled out the stopper and then used his wand to lift a stream of the black liquid and spell it directly into the parchment. Severus watched as the parchment absorbed the ink like a sponge.

A few more wand passes and low mutterings, and then a bright flash of light finished the spell work and the two gazed at the lines that began filling in the back of the parchment surrounding a small representation of the castle.

"It insisted I set the password to be the same, so I did. I've also added a little nuance that is keyed only to me – and now you: you can ask for specific individuals to show themselves in a different colour." At the look of sheer incredulity on Severus' face, he qualified, "It's something I've picked up since then."

"Let's just get on with this. Don't believe for an instant that I'm letting go of the fact you didn't tell me any of this seven months ago when you gave me the map – you knew he was an Animagus then! But, I'm not going to say anything right now – let's just catch him and have done with it. Here..." He split the ball of light in half, raising the map up between them. "You check the grounds, and I'll check the castle. What's the incantation?"

"Just say 'Show me' and the name of the person you want to follow. If they are on the map they appear in red flags."

"Marvellous," he deadpanned. "Show me..."

"Look, Harry, I'm telling you, that is what she said! She went all spooky-like, her voice didn't even sound like her normal voice. It was really creepy!" Ron said at dinner. Draco had joined them along with his friend, Luna Lovegood. Hermione was pretending to read as she picked at her sandwich, pinching off bits of the crust and rolling them into little dough balls.

"C'mon, Ron – you know Trelawney is daft, 'His servant shall join him tonight'," Harry imitated eerily, making even Hermione grin a bit. "Clearly off her rocker."

"I don't know, mate, it just made my hair crawl," Ron commented. He shot a glance at Hermione, then blushed. Harry noticed and nudged him in the shoulder. They'd had a conversation earlier in the day about how Hermione was not at fault for what her cat chose to do, and Harry had made Ron promise him he would apologise, somehow, at dinner.

Ron coughed a bit then cleared his throat, "Erm, Hermione... You know Hagrid lost the trial with Buckbeak and tonight's the execution? We were all going to go down to Hagrid's after dinner – Harry's willing to go as long as the rest of us come along – you know, to give moral support, but it won't be the same if you don't join us, you and Draco did all the research and all."

Hermione looked up. "And what about Crookshanks?" she asked pointedly.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't've blamed you for your cat," he glanced at Harry, "erm, acting like a cat." He gave her his puppy-eyed look that he had perfected on his mum years ago – guaranteed to work. "Please join us?" She took one look at his hang-dog face, then sighed once, giggled a bit and finally gave in.

"Alright, I'll come along – but only because I need the exercise. I'm so glad your Dad talked me into giving up those extra classes," she commented to Harry and Draco. "I hate to think what state I'd be in if I had continued; probably stretched six ways from Sunday and flat on my back with exhaustion in Madam Pomfrey's lair!"

Draco pushed back from the table, grabbing the back of his brother's shirt to haul him up as well. "C'mon, there is only so much light left right now – let's go!" He'd wanted to get down to Hagrid's for days, especially with his brother. He wasn't about to waste any time now!

Handing her book to Ginny Weasley to return it to the tower for her, Hermione joined the group as they trooped down to the Gamekeeper's hut.