A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Once again all the lions stayed up almost all night. The thought that a mass murderer almost killed one of your fellow housemates was enough to keep anyone up.
The entire school was being searched once more, not that Harry thought it would do any good. Black seemed to be able to vanish right after he appeared. Many people once brought up the theory that he disapparated, only for Hermione to once again shoot down the theory.
"Nobody can apparate or disapparate inside of Hogwarts. Not even the headmaster. There are wards preventing this." Hermione rolled her eyes as she heard Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown discussing this theory once more. "It says so in..."
"Hogwarts: A History." Harry finished, smirking as he snuck up behind her.
Hermione blushed as she felt Harry's arms around her. She couldn't help but wish it was just them two, alone by the fire. Maybe she read too many romantic books, but Harry was such a stereotypical prince, and she couldn't help but wish she was Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
In the morning, it was clear the staff were tightening down security even more. The Fat Lady was returned, as it was clear Sir Cadogan was useless at protecting the Gryffindors. However, because she was still nervous about being attacked again, Two security trolls now guarded the tower entrance.
Despite this, Harry could not have been happier. Now that Ron was getting the attention for having seen Black, he and Hermione spent a lot of time studying together in the library in order to prepare Buckbeak's defense. Luna joined them whenever she could, and it was clear that the new Golden Trio were stronger than ever.
It was breakfast a few days later when Harry received a letter from Hagrid, asking him and Hermione to come over for afternoon tea. They sent back a reply saying yes. The two of them met up with Luna, and walked down to the entrance hall to meet up with him. Hagrid sent them a questioning glance as he saw Luna, but Harry nodded to him, wordlessly saying that she knows, and that yes she can be trusted and will help.
When they got down to the cabin, they saw Hagrid's suit he picked out for the trial, which was set on that Friday. Harry let out a sigh. They could not find one thing that would help. Sure they could prove Buckbeak was just acting in nature, but with Lucius Malfoy pulling the strings, it would take no less than a miracle to save Buckbeak.
Once they returned to the common room, and Luna went back to hers, they saw a notice on the noticeboard that the next weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend. Harry glanced at Hermione, who sighed and led him to a quiet corner of the common room.
"No Harry." Hermione shot him down immediately. "Black is close, there is no doubt about that. You can't go."
"What if I bring my cloak?" Harry brought up. "He could never see me then."
"Maybe so," Hermione agreed. "But I didn't plan on going anyway. We have a bigger problem. Luna."
"What's wrong with her?" Harry asked.
"It's not her, more like Ravenclaw in general." Hermione told him, her eyes serious. "Notice how she rarely has shoes on? How she seems to hate her own house?"
Harry nodded. "You think she is being bullied by them."
"Remember how she said that people call her Loony?" Hermione reminds him. "My guess is that because she believes in these creatures like Nargles and Wrackspurts, the others bully her."
Harry's eyes darkened. The Dursley's had made Harry hate bullies, and if Luna was being bullied, he had to rescue her from the Ravens.
"Nargles?" Ron asked, crossing the room to them. "Those are one of Loony's made up creatures. Why are you talking about them?"
Hermione clenched her fists as the candles in the room flickered. Harry put a hand on her back, calming her.
"None of your business, Weasley." Harry told him.
"What?" Ron asked. "Are we not friends?"
Harry looked at him in disbelief as Hermione stepped up. "Friends? How on Earth do you think we are still friends? You called me a Mudblood, insulted me time and time again, tried to sabotage Harry in Quidditch, and now insulted our friend."
Ron's face turned as red as his hair as he was about to take out his wand, only for a voice from behind Ron to call out the full body binding spell.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Neville shouted, causing Ron's arms and legs to snap together as he fell backwards.
"Thanks Neville." Harry and Hermione grin. They exchanged looks before asking Neville if he wanted to come help Luna with them. The usually nervous boy's face hardened as he knew Luna, and the fact that she was being bullied made him angry.
The day before the Hogsmeade trip, Harry and Hermione knew they had to discuss what to do with the map and their knowledge of the passageways.
"For all we know, Black is using the one behind the One-Eyed Witch to get in and out." Hermione told Harry, who nodded in agreement.
"While I would love to watch the map all day and look out for him, we don't have the time to always watch it." Harry commented. "We should give it to a teacher, that way they can keep an eye on it."
"Really?" Hermione looked at him, wide eyed. "You'd do that? Even if it meant not ever having the map again?"
"Yes Hermione." Harry grimly stated. "It is helpful, but as long as we don't need to sneak out, we will be fine."
The two friends agreed that Professor Lupin would be the best teacher to give it to, as he was the DADA teacher.
Harry, Hermione, and Neville approached the Great Hall the next morning, determination on their face. They brought Luna over to their table, and they all engaged her in conversation. Hermione even asked about the creatures Luna sees, as even though she doesn't quite believe that they exist, there was no evidence denying their existence.
Slowly over breakfast they trio became a quartet, as Neville grew closer to them. They had yet to tell Luna their plan, as they did not want her to feel guilty if the rest of the Ravens got punished.
As the mail arrived, Hedwig flew over to Professor Flitwick, who was the head of the Ravenclaws. They watched him as he read the letter from them. They saw his head jump up as he glanced at Luna at their table and back to his Ravens. Despite being small, he could still frighten most as his demeanor took on a defensive look. He quickly whispered to McGonagall, who's face darkened as well.
Flitwick stood on his chair as McGonagall clinked her fork on her glass.
"Attention everyone." Flitwick spoke up. "If we could have your attention please."
"It has come to our attention that certain people have been bullying others for being different. This must end now." McGonagall stated, her eyes constantly looking at the Claws.
"Don't deny it, because we know it is true." Flitwick stated. "If you have stolen anything or borrowed something without permission, see that it is returned by the end of today. If it is not, and it is discovered you have that item, you will lose 25 points for your house per item, and a detention for each item as well."
Nobody missed that the two heads of house were looking directly at the Ravenclaws as they said this, though it was clear this message was for everyone.
Luna got up and dragged the others into an empty classroom, her face full of tears. She embraced them, shaking as she sobbed against her friends.
"Thank you." She whispered. "I don't know how you did it, or how you knew, but thank you."
Later that day, Harry and Hermione knocked on the door to Professor Lupin's office. Almost immediately, he answered, the door swinging open.
"Oh, hey you two." He smiles at them. "Was today one of our lessons? I must have forgotten."
"No, it's not that." Harry tells him. "It's about Black."
"What about him?" Lupin asked, his face taking on a funny expression as he lets them into his office.
"We found something that may help in finding him." Hermione explained. "As well as show us how he gets into the castle."
"Really?" Lupin sat down in his seat, his eyes ablaze in interest. "What is it?"
Harry pulled the Marauders Map out of his pocket, and Lupin's jaw dropped.
"Where did you find that map?" he asked. "Yes I know it is a map."
"We just found it." Hermione shrugged, not wanting to get the twins in trouble.
Lupin nodded, clearly not believing them, but letting it go. "Thank you for turning it in." Lupin nodded. "If Black somehow got a hold of this..."
"How did you know it was a map, sir?" Harry asked.
"I am familiar with those who created it." Lupin gave them a small smile. "I'll tell you more on a later date."
Harry nodded as they left Lupin's office. Harry and Hermione walked hand in hand along the corridors, unaware of the whispers and pointing that others were doing.
Luna ran up to them, grinning. "All my stuff is back!" she grinned, as she showed them her shoes.
"That is brilliant Luna." they grinned at her. The three walked towards the Great Hall for Dinner as they passed Neville, who was shaking.
"What's wrong Nev?" Luna questioned, taking the note he was holding in his hands. She read it and her eyes filled with tears. She turned to face the others, her mouth seemingly unable to make a sound.
"We Lost." Neville said, his eyes wide. "Buckbeak's going to be executed."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other in horror, as Ron came up to them, a similar note in his hand.
"Maybe if you would have continued being my friend, Hagrid could have won." Ron told them. "I could have done something."
"Do you not care?" Hermione yelled at him. "An innocent creature is about to die, and that is all you care about?"
"Of course not!" Ron shouted back. "I thought that Malfoy would tell his dad to back off, and that is why I started talking to him. Clearly that did not work."
"So you were pretending to not like us?" Harry questioned.
"You wish Potter." Ron spat. "I may not like Malfoy but I hate you. You get whatever you want. Money, girls, fame. I get nothing."
Harry rolled his eyes as the foursome walked away, unable to focus on arguing.
"There will be an appeal." Hermione told the others. "There always is. I can not see anything else that will help, but we can look."
"Whatever it is, we will find it." Neville told them.
"Agreed." Luna nodded. "We will free Buckbeak."
"The four of us." Harry stated. "Together."
"The Fantastic Four." Hermione grinned, as Harry rolled his eyes at her.