-1The halls were a sea of red, gold, yellow, and black as every student prepared for that afternoon's Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. It was the first match of the season, so spirits were very high. Members of both teams were being cheered and jeered in the halls by their classmates, but no one paid them any mind.
Josie and Kayla took their usual seats in the teacher's box to watch the match. They often wished they could be students again, sitting in the stands, able to shout their support for their favorite team. As teachers, however, they weren't aloud to show any open bias and took to small gestures to each other when Gryffindor scored or was scored upon.
They had settled in and were greeting the other teachers around them when Kayla noticed that the seat on her left was no longer empty. She turned from her conversation with Professor Sprout to see Remus sitting next to her. For a moment she was reminded of their school years together at Quidditch matches. Only instead of watching James as Chaser, they were watching Harry as Seeker, and Sirius, who was the loudest and most raucous of all when it came to Quidditch, was nowhere to be found.
"I've been told Harry has a knack for Quidditch." Remus said conversationally.
"He does, might be the best Seeker Gryffindor has ever seen." Kayla answered, trying to sound indifferent to his presence.
Madam Hooch walked out onto the pitch after all the names of each member of both teams had been called. The teams kicked off into the air, Harry and Cedric Diggory flying a little farther off than the rest. Madam Hooch blew her whistle, releasing the quaffle, bludgers, and the snitch into the air. Immediately the match sprang into action, every move being commentated by Lee Jordan in the announcer's box.
"How are Harry's lessons going, Remus?" Josie called over the din and around Kayla, who was determined to look more interested in the game.
"Very well, actually. He's picking up very quickly." He answered.
"Does it have a form yet?" Josie yelled back, Gryffindor having scored their team's first point.
"Yes. Well, half of one, anyways." He then realized that he hadn't shared with either of them what Harry's Patronous was. "He produced the front half of a stag in our last lesson." he added. Kayla turned to him.
"A stag?" she couldn't help but feel a little saddened by this, and a little aggravated that they couldn't tell him the truth behind it.
"Incredible. I guess he inherited a lot from his father." Josie said.
The conversation died as the three began to focus their attention on the match, Hufflepuff had taken the lead by one goal. The weather began to take a turn for the worse. The pitch grew darker as heavy gray clouds rolled in. There were cracks of thunder and flashes of lightning that momentarily lit up the field.
Suddenly, both Harry and Cedric shot straight up into the air both chasing after some invisible object. In a flash of light, Kayla saw the tiny golden snitch zooming high above the crowds. The two Seekers were swallowed by the clouds, causing everyone in the stands to hold their breath. A collective yell of fear rang out through the stadium as everyone saw a tiny black speck falling from the sky. As soon as Harry had cleared the clouds, they all saw the cause of his decent. A hooded black figure was swooping down after him as Harry hurdled toward the ground.
Just as Harry was only 20 feet from the ground, everyone saw his body begin to slow, the dementor, however, seemed to be gaining speed. Kayla jumped up, her wand drawn, and shouted just as Harry floated safely to the ground and the dementor was closing in.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!!" she yelled and a bright silver, four legged creature erupted from the tip of her wand and charged the dementor. The hooded creature flew off into the distance at the sight of Kayla's Patronous. Her charmed animal took one lap around Harry's body, just long enough to be sure there were no more dementors, and for a few people to realize what the animal was. Remus turned to say something, but Kayla was already shoving her way past teachers who were all beginning to rush onto the field.
She reached Harry's limp body, attempting to shove her way through the mass of students who had reached the pitch before her. Madam Hooch had managed to break the ranks first and was shouting at everyone to move back.
"I'll take him to see Madam Pomfrey straight away." Kayla said, kneeling down to check Harry's pulse. Though he was unconscious, his heart was racing.
"Yes, you both better take him, just in case there's another attack." Madam Hooch agreed. Kayla was slightly confused by this, but then realized that Remus had joined them on the pitch. He raised his wand and Harry raised a few feet into the air. The two hurried off back toward the school as Professor McGonagall's voice could be heard over the noise calling for order.
Josie had stopped halfway down the stairs to the pitch. Though she couldn't seem to bring herself to move, her heart was beating frantically. Had she really seen it? Off in the distance, at the far end of the pitch near the Forest, Josie had seen something small and black running back into mess of trees. Had that been Sirius? She was certain it was a black, four legged creature of some sort, though it was too far off to make out any certain details. The shoves of teacher's running past her broke Josie from her trance and she began to hurry down the steps and toward the castle, taking one last look at the Forest.
Kayla threw the doors to the Hospital Wing open and hurried inside, Harry floating a foot behind her. Remus settled him down on a bed as Madam Pomfrey came hurrying from her office.
"Another Quidditch injury?" She asked, checking Harry's arms and legs for broken bones.
"No, it was a dementor attack." Remus said. Madam Pomfrey stood up straight and turned to the two teachers.
"Thank you for bringing him here. I don't think there's much I can do now except wait for him to come to." Kayla and Remus nodded their understanding and at Madam Pomfrey's stern look, turned to leave the Hospital. Kayla leaned up against the heavy door of the Wing and ran a hand through her hair.
"This is ridiculous. We can't have dementors attacking our students every way we turn. They can't be kept at the castle!" she said. Remus got the impression she wasn't speaking to anyone in particular. After a few minutes of silence, he decided it was safe to ask what he had been wondering since seeing her Patronous.
"Kayla, your Patronous. Was it a-" his words were cut off when Kayla looked up at him. She knew what he was about to ask and silently nodded, looking back down at her feet. "Since when?" he asked. Kayla shrugged.
"A few years after you left, I suppose. Around the time I realized you weren't coming back." There was a moment of silence, but before Remus could respond, they heard hurried footsteps coming up the corridor. Josie wheeled around a corner and ran up to them.
"I think…I've just seen…In the Forest…" Josie attempted. She was so out of breath that the words were hardly forming.
"Calm down, Josie. You saw what?" Kayla asked. Josie took a few settling breaths and tried again.
"I think I saw Sirius running back into the Forest after the match." she said. Kayla couldn't help but look sadly at her friend.
"Josie, that's impossible. Are you sure it was him? It could have been Hagrid's dog, you know. Or something else. There was so much going on." Josie thought about this and began to feel rather stupid for jumping to conclusions like that. It really could have been Fang she saw bounding back toward Hagrid's hut.
"It could have been him. We never found him after he attacked the Fat Lady." Kayla noticed a hint of hopefulness in Josie's voice. Remus seemed to pick up on it, too.
"Josie, even if it was him. What do you think he was doing there? Enjoying the match? What are the odds that the man responsible for the death of Harry's parents would show up at the same time as Harry is attacked by a dementor." Josie didn't respond to him. Kayla put a hand on her arm. Josie seemed unconvinced.
"Would you like me to go down to the Forest with you? Just to ease your mind a bit? I don't think we'll see anything, but if it will make you feel better." Kayla offered. Josie shook her head.
"No. You're right. I think I over reacted. I'm sure it was just Fang." And with an unconvincing smile, she turned and left just as Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and the Weasley twins hurried toward them.
"Is he alright?" Hermione asked, her eyes filled with worry.
"He's fine. Madam Pomfrey's waiting for him to wake up. You can see if she will let you stay." Kayla offered. Hermione and the rest didn't need telling twice and hurried into the Hospital Wing, leaving Remus and Kayla alone again.
"Can you meet me tonight? In my office." Remus asked timidly. Kayla looked up at him. "I have another lesson with Harry, but you can come before." Kayla considered it for a moment, but didn't see the harm and nodded.
"I'll be there around five." she said, her voice as steady as she could make it, and turned to leave.
"Did he say what he wanted to talk about?" Josie asked later on in Kayla's office. She seemed to have forced Sirius from her mind for a few moments. Kayla shook her head. "Maybe he wants to explain where he went."
"What's there to explain, Jos? He left. That's all there is to it. Nothing he can say can change the way I feel now." she said. Josie didn't seem convinced.
"You honestly mean to tell me that you have no feelings for him anymore other than hate?" Kayla nodded, but didn't mean Josie's gaze. "Oh come on, Kayla! I don't care what he did, when you saw him on the Hogwarts Express that night, I know you were excited!" Josie sounded almost accusatory. Kayla sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"Alright, maybe I was a little glad to see him. That doesn't change what he did, though." she said, determined to not allow herself to feel anything but anger towards him.
"He didn't do anything, Kayla. He left to protect you. That's what he said, isn't it? That's much better than killing your two best friends, right?" Kayla looked up at her at this last part and felt guilty for being angry at Remus for something that now seemed so small. Josie had lost Sirius to murder. She had lost Remus to protection.
"I'm sorry, Josie. I know losing Sirius was hard. I wish, for your sake, that he was innocent, really."
"We're not talking about me, Kayla. Consider what he did. Was leaving really that horrible?" Josie asked. Kayla was starting to feel annoyed.
"He didn't just leave, Josie. He went 12 years without a single letter! For all I knew, he could have been dead." Kayla said.
"He was trying to protect you!" Josie argued.
"He abandoned me!" Kayla shouted. She hadn't told Josie how she felt before. It seemed to take her by surprise. Josie stood up from her chair and headed for the door. There didn't seem to be anything she could say.
"When you go to see him tonight, listen to what he has to say." Josie said, apparently angry that Kayla had shouted at her. Kayla felt ashamed at her reaction, and worse that she knew that compared to Josie, her own situation wasn't nearly as bad.