Frank landed spread eagle and bounced several times uncomfortably, head spinning even worse. Forcing himself to pay attention, he looked quickly at all the accompanying crashes and groans to see everyone was still alright and no worse for wear, Alice had landed on a table so sturdy it hadn't moved an inch and was large enough she was several feet off the ground. So was Frank for that matter, this bed looked comfortable enough it would have fit all eight of them if they'd piled on. The more he looked in fact, everything in here was larger than average, including the giant boarhound having a lovely sniff around the older Black, who was grinning and patting the dog on the head. Then Frank grimaced in unease as it clicked where they were, and he hastily leaped from the bed and wondered if Hagrid was going to come stomping in the door any moment.
They hadn't come across any humans though, not even ghosts according to the Marauders Map, but Hagrid wasn't all the way human he now knew...neither was Lupin, he mentally corrected himself, and he was hopping along just fine.
He was having the roughest go of it though, he acknowledged quietly to himself, as the guy swayed on the spot and looked rather gray as he glanced at the window. Despite the clear sun still bright, he managed to look as if several weeks had passed since the last time they met, and maybe it had. How badly did the full moon affect him even when he wasn't in the body of a monster trying to eat them?
There weren't house-elves about though, but animals a plenty. What was the baseline for who stayed and went then? Intelligence? The missing House-elves from the kitchens all but confirmed this theory the more he thought about it, and despite his ah, brutal nature, Hagrid was most definitely of human intelligence. Then Frank winced at his own analytical thoughts, Hagrid had never been violent to a soul. Neither had Lupin really, before he'd nearly murdered them all. He was the most mild of the Marauders, everyone knew he just laughed along or stayed out of the way, but rarely participated. It was hard to keep what he'd read about beasts and actually knowing of the two in line, how misconstrued were texts then?
"Frank?" He looked up in surprise to see Alice holding his hand and Lily giving him an odd look, he must have been quite spaced out in his own thoughts.
"Sorry darling, what was that?" He asked politely, dragging his eyes away from the door Lupin was still leaning against, watching Potter read with only half his attention about whatever Rita Skeeter's Scope was going to be about, nobody had taken a liking to her articles, most of his attention was focused on messing with Hagrid's pink umbrella he was apparently trying to get to work. The older Black had curled up in Fang's bed with the massive dog, the two cuddling and looking sickeningly adorable for it. Pettigrew and the younger Black were still up at the table, scraping their nails against what were presumed to be the infamous rock cakes.
"I was asking if you were alright, you've got bits of blood all over you," she squeezed his hand and already had her wand drawn, but her face still looked rather pinched. He knew he'd upset her again by having watched Lupin so long, but he just didn't understand why he was the only one who still was. As far as he could tell, nobody had really looked twice at him since the incident had happened, why was he the only one who still seemed aware how dangerous Lupin could be? At least, that's what every book he'd ever read about them said, they were always considered apex predators whether it was a full moon or not.
Maybe just full grown werewolves though, he tried to more clearly define. Lupin was still a teenager, an adolescent. Maybe the older he got the worse it would get, but for now he was still holding it in? Maybe that's why he didn't participate in the Marauders' pranks, he wasn't trying to tempt himself?
They'd heard of him full grown though, he argued back with himself, still unhappy at this clear lack of answers. He'd been a teacher at school for a year with zero problems, and he'd definitely been an adult by then, this was nearly twenty years into their future after all. The night of the full moon he hadn't even murdered anyone while loose on the grounds. Perhaps that wolfsbane potion had some sort of latent effect on him? While he hadn't taken it that night, he had been taking it for months previously, perhaps that had just dulled his senses?
"Frank?" This time he did hear Alice call his name, the concern in her voice evident as she inspected his exposed skin as if looking for something else she could fix.
"What kind of plant did you land in? Can you describe it?" Lily asked clinically, but there was concern in her voice as well.
"I'm alright," he quickly reassured them both. "I'm just, ah, thinking."
Lily didn't look particularly convinced, but Alice gave a soft laugh and a kiss on the cheek, distracting him all the more. "It's alright Lily, he's been known to be in his head for ages." Her eyes were still trained on him though, it was clear she wanted to know what had so caught him up, but he pursed his lips and didn't answer, skin still twitching uncomfortably in the present company. She didn't press him on that, and he loved her all the more for it.
In a very obvious chance to change the subject, he asked them, "Any guesses about that egg then?"
"Maybe, it'll act like a key during the next task?" Alice offered. "It'll, unlock something he has to use for the next part."
"They said it was a clue in itself though," Lily corrected, her eyes sparkling with joy once more, she clearly loved a puzzle. "Also, I don't think it would make noise if that was the case. You might be on the right track though, Harry may have to use it somewhere in particular to make it work."
"You think if he opened it underground, like in the dungeons, it would make a different noise?" Frank nursed the idea.
"Something like that, yes," Lily grinned in delight. "Cedric's clue of taking a bath with it certainly indicates it needs some special circumstances to activate the clue," she finished intensely. Frank wondered, before all this started, how long she'd gone without talking to anyone to be doing so with such enthusiasm now as she propelled off the idea into other avenues, mentioned a few potions she wished she could dunk the egg in to see the properties it housed.
Alice found herself going cross-eyed in moments as the two started bouncing ideas off each other, quickly slipping into plants, potions, and even spells she hadn't heard of. Alice swung their hands together and patiently let herself be ignored in their fun. Frank only had two other dormmates, and while they didn't outright ignore him, she got the feeling they didn't go out of their way to include him either.
She instead began listening to the others chatting around her. Potter had not gotten Hagrid's wand/umbrella to work for him and was now sitting cross-legged on the floor, the book in his lap to more easily flip pages while his hands were tossing a golden apple about, she had no idea where he'd gotten that. Remus Lupin looked like he was falling asleep right against the door, even a new development such as Grubbly-Plank mysteriously taking over the class was only just keeping his eyes open it seemed.
Hagrid was indisposed? What could that mean, Alice wondered on as she looked around more critically in his home for clues, but she'd never been in here to know if anything was out of place. There was no fire going, despite the snow on the windowsill, but he could have been out on the grounds as a gamekeeper was want to do and it interfered with his class for once. His bed was rumpled, but that could have been from Frank landing on it. From what they'd heard of his cooking, the food could have been days old or brand new and they'd never tell the difference. She really hoped Harry went over there to check on him after class. After that, spat, he'd had with Maxime, the poor guy clearly needed a friend.
Potter winced in surprise when he did seem to get to the reason, Skeeter's Scoop indeed.
"-That awful woman," Lily cut off what she'd been saying to scowl at the book in Potter's lap rather than the boy for once, still an odd sight. "How dare she spread his secret like that, Harry's bad enough!"
"You don't think others have a right to know?" Frank asked her in surprise.
"Not in this way," she tossed her hair and didn't even seem to register Frank's odd tone. Alice did, and she frowned up at him once more. "That bloody woman will completely misconstrue Hagrid just like she has been Harry. Even if by some miracle she doesn't, what does it matter as he's no threat to anyone."
Frank was frowning in unease by the end, tugging on his robes and looking very deep in thought once more. Alice sighed as she realized what he'd been debating this time, and she still deeply disapproved of his very black and white stance on this subject. Didn't being around Remus Lupin and Hagrid the past six years prove there was more to this than the stories they'd heard growing up?
Potter was protesting this article as vehemently as Lily was, and Alice got a bit of personal amusement at least those two were agreeing on something with so much vigor neither even seemed to realize it. Their child followed in their footsteps, he seemed in no way ready to let the matter end there about Hagrid and she was not the only one smiling at the kids' reaction to this as well. Sadly, Hagrid was not forthcoming, and Alice did notice the heavy-looking lock on his door was indeed shut tight enough Hagrid himself would have a job of breaking it down.
The passage of time was weighing all of them down as the Hogsmeade trip came and went in a blast of a fashion. Between Ludo Bagman's bizarre interactions and Skeeter all but rubbing in what she'd done, they all would have taken a crack at getting a chance to talk to Hagrid same as Hermione by the end. Of course none of them were expecting Dumbledore of all people to be in here, but trying to picture him sitting at the table with Hagrid and chatting with his friend in this time of need was honestly such a pleasant thing to think about, they were almost smiling again.
A feeling that only increased as Dumbledore took charge of the situation, flat refusing Hagrid's resignation and not allowing him to hide away in shame for something he had no control over. Alice wished she could hug her headmaster right now! She eyed Frank obviously, who was still fidgeting with his robes, but nodding along nonetheless. At least his faith in Dumbledore seemed to have tipped the scales in some regards, and she'd take the slow progress that was.