Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling does.
Harry plunked himself down on the seat and gently placed an irritated Hedwig next to him. He watched as Ron fell down in the seat in front of him, immediately taking up most of the room in the small compartment as he stretched his long legs out in front of him. Ginny sat down once she put her trunk away and slide the compartment door closed; she sat besides Hedwig's cage and immediately slumped over on her seat.
They sat in silence as the train started slowly, soon gaining speed, along the track, snow covered land quickly starting to speed past their window. Just as the quiet started it soon ended as the trio's heads snapped up as they watched the compartment door slide open.
"Is it alright if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."
"Sure Neville," Harry said, focusing his attention of the scenery outside the window. Neville smiled and put his trunk on the shelf above him and then sat down next to Ron with some kind of plant with purple leaves sitting on his lap, its leaves sometimes swaying back and forth.
"So Neville, how was your Christmas?" Ginny spoke awkwardly, eyeing his place curiously.
"It was great. Me and gran went to visit my parents on Christmas Eve. And I got this from gran," he said smiling, holding out his plant.
"That's great Neville," Harry said, a fake smile on his face, his eyes now glued to the plant, eyeing it curiously. "What is it?
"Oh, this is a Screechsnap. Its leaves have healing properties and are used in many potions. It's very rare. The only annoying thing about it is that it screeches when you give it too much water."
"Great," Ron mumbled under his breath, barely audible. Luckily, Neville didn't seem to notice.
"Sounds like you had a great Christmas Neville," Ginny said, giving Ron a quick glare. Harry turned away at this point, not paying any more attention to their continuing conversation. He felt someone's eyes on him and he turned his head slightly away from the window only to see Ron look away quickly.
They sat like that for a little more than a half-an-hour, Ginny and Neville's voice dying in the background half-way through. Ginny suddenly got up and stretched, announcing that she was going to see if she could find the trolley. She left the compartment with a slight click as the compartment door closed.
Just after Ginny left, Neville got up and clutched his plant in his arm.
"Hey guys," he said, breaking the two friends out of their thoughts, "I'm gonna go and see if I can find Dean and Seamus." Harry and Ron both nodded and watched as Neville stepped out and slide the door closed. As soon as Neville was out the door, Ron got up and locked the door.
"Why did you do that?" Harry asked as Ron took his seat again.
"I just didn't feel like having anyone barging in," Ron said simply, staring out of the window. After a few minutes of silence, Ron spoke again.
"It's weird…strange you know?"
"No, I don't actually," Harry said, his eyes narrowing as he continued to look out the window.. "What's strange about Neville's plant?"
"No not the plant Harry. This year! This year has been almost…normal."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it Harry!" Ron said, getting up and pacing. "Nothing has happened at all this year. There had been no attacks at Hogwarts, no threats. We haven't even seen a Death Eater all year! The last attack I heard about was the werewolf attack in Wales. It's just like Voldemort never existed. We haven't heard of him all year."
Ron stopped pacing and looked at Harry, speaking in a quiet and calm voice. "Tell me Harry, how many times has your scar burned because of Voldemort?" Harry looked at Ron and opened his mouth to response but closed it slowly, his eyes widening slightly.
"What do you think Voldemort's doing?" Ron sat down and ran his hand through his ginger locks.
"I don't know Harry."
"It has to be something big… and something that he doesn't want me to know of. I only had a couple dreams this year and it was hardly anything. I don't think he wanted me to see anything, even though what I saw was useless. But whatever he is doing… it must be big." There was silence in the compartment.
"Do you think it has something to do with Hermione?" Ron said quietly, his voice heavy with worry at the mere thought. Harry cradled his head in his hands, digging his palms into his wet eyes and sighed heavily.
"I hope not," he said, his voice cracking.
Remus paced back and forth, over and over again, with both of his hands curled into fists clenched locks of his graying brown hair. His pace was fast, his legs taking long strides as he paced the complete length of the room, his head spinning slightly as he turned around over and over again at this continually fast pace.
It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense anymore. First, there was an attack and Hermione disappears. Next, there were more attacks and even a werewolf attack with three Death Eaters dead. Then there were the Horcruxes. And now there is a mysterious werewolf which is quite possible that only he knows of.
But all of those things had to mean something. They all had to fit together somehow. Could it be possible that Hermione went to look for Horcruxes by herself? No, that was impossible; Harry and Ron would never let her go alone. Maybe they didn't know; maybe she went off without telling anyone. But he knew the Hermione was not that stupid.
But then there was the attack in the summer. If Death Eaters attacked Hermione, then she was probably kidnapped. But he was sure that Harry would have seen something; he was sure that Voldemort would have let something slip if he had Hermione.
But then he was back to square one again. Who were the werewolves who had killed the Death Eaters and the one that had attacked him? Could it be possible that they were the same werewolf? He didn't think that any werewolf on Voldemort's side would kill their own but anything could happen. But it would seem possible that the werewolf who attacked him could take on three Death Eaters, defeat them all, and then was able to run away from the entire area before the Death Eaters were found.
Remus paused in his dizzying pacing and fell into the nearest chair. He let his head fall into his hands and he rubbed his forehead, a dull throbbing ache beginning to pronounce itself from behind his eyes. He growled in frustration as he continued to rub his head.
Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and yet again continued to paced, a bit slower than last time. His one arm was wrapped around his stomach while the other covered his mouth, his elbow resting on his hand.
Could it be possible? Could it be even remotely possible? His eyebrows scrunched together and his eyes narrowed. He remembered hearing about the attack on Hermione and her disappearance after that about two weeks after her attack. His eyes narrowed even more as he pushed his brain even harder, ignoring his pounding head.
The week Hermione was attacked was the week of the full moon, he knew that for sure. But was it possible that the night of the attack was the night of the full moon? It was true that it could have just been a coincidence because he didn't know the exact night the attack occurred.
But if Hermione was attacked by a werewolf on the full moon, was she specifically targeted? The name Greyback flew into his mind. What if he bit Hermione then captured her once she got out of the hospital. Or maybe Hermione just ran away because she was attacked.
Remus shook his head. He was jumping to every conclusion remotely possible and it wasn't getting him anywhere. All it was doing was producing more questions for him to answer. Hermione could have just gotten kidnapped after she left the hospital because she was able to get away the first time.
But then he was back to square one once again. Death Eaters couldn't just slip into a home without a trace, especially when it was Hermione's house. She would most definitely put up a fight. She would never go quietly.
So that meant that she left willingly. The letter she left was explaining that she was leaving but the Death Eaters could have made her write that letter or something to lead the Ministry and the Order off their trail. But then who was the werewolf who attacked him?
He growled, louder this time, and hurled the closest thing in his reach at the wall, which happened to be a lamp. He watched it crack and break apart, his chest heaving as he looked at the smashed lamp now on the ground in many pieces.
Everything answer he came up with came with a question and more uncertainties. He couldn't just jump to conclusions but he didn't really want to face the truth either. He walked backward until he hit the wall, sliding down it and landing on the floor, his legs bend with his head lying on knees.
Questions once again ran through his mind followed by answers and more questions followed by frustration and confusion. Right now, he only had two possible conclusions. One, that Hermione was taken by Death Eaters and, hopefully, was still alive. Two, she was bitten and she had run away, scared and alone.
As much as he didn't like either option, knowing how awful it was being a monster every month and how terrifying it might be to be captured and probably tortured by Death Eaters, he desperately hoped that it was the latter.
Hermione paced the small space that was her current hiding place. She walked in a quick, nervous pace, glancing up every other turn as if she was waiting for someone to just pop out of nowhere and find her. She glanced at her small bag, looking empty just sitting on the moldy table in the middle of the room but in reality, everything she had was in there, ready for her to make a quick escape if she needed to.
She quickened her paced, her heart beating so hard she thought that someone would be able to see it through her shirt. She was terrified to say the least. She was sure that someone would have found her. Maybe the Death Eaters couldn't find her here. Maybe Remus didn't tell anyone.
But it didn't make sense. The Death Eaters have always found her. Maybe they were concocting a plan to get her for sure this time. Even if they were, she wouldn't let them have her. No matter how tired and drained she was, she would never surrender in a fight; she would never give up hope.
But what about Remus. She knew he was the werewolf, there was no doubt in that. And she was sure he was alive. If he never returned from the full moon, there would be a full blown search and if they search in the area where she was, she knew that they would have found her. The Order wasn't stupid.
But sense they didn't find her, that meant he was alive and hadn't told anyone. She didn't even know if he knew she was the silver werewolf. Then another thought hit her. Maybe he didn't remember anything. Maybe it was possible that she hit him hard enough to make him not remember anything. She knew that he took the potion; she still saw the familiar eyes beneath the anger and fear. But maybe it was possible that he didn't remember.
Hermione sighed angrily and slid down the wall that was behind her. She let her pounding head fall into her knees and she put her arms around her legs, hugging them to her like they were a long-lost friend. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to contain the hot, salty tears from falling from her eyes.
She sniffed and sat there, huddled to the wall as if she was trying to become a part of it. She wondered what would happen if the Death Eaters found her. Would they try to capture her or just kill her? As much as she despised both choices, she didn't want to die.
Voldemort would probably just kill me anyway, Hermione thought pessimistically. Suddenly, her head was up so quickly that her neck popped. She had forgotten about the horcrux hunt. She wondered how Harry and Ron were dealing with it. Did they find any yet? Did they destroy any? Did they manage to find out what the mystery horcruxes were?
Her heart seemed to crack into a million tiny pieces when she thought about them. She wanted to go back to them so badly it physically hurt. She wanted to just hug them and tell them she was fine. She wanted to tell everyone that everything was okay. She just wanted to see their faces again. Her parents, the Weasley's, her friends at Hogwarts and the teachers. And Harry.
She closed her eyes and let her head hit the wall, quiet sobs shaking her body and hot tears leaking out of her eyes and leaving wet streaks down her face as they slowly slid down her cheeks.
She just wanted to feel his arms around her, shielding her from everything happening around her, wrapping her up in his warmth. She just wanted him to take the place of the cold that surrounded her. She just wanted him to chase away the blackness.
She just wanted to feel safe again.
A/N: Hello everyone! I'm trying to get the chapters out as fast as possible. Next weekend I'll be going on vacation for a few days and I just want to get as many chapters out as possible. I also wanted to say thank you to everyone reading this story and for waiting patiently for each chapter. You guys are awesome!