It was nearing 7 o'clock when Freddie used the fireplace in her office to floo to Hogwarts. Snape wasn't in his office and she knew he must still be in the Great Hall at the end-of-term feast. Thinking of all the food up there made Freddie's stomach growl and she realized she hadn't eaten since going to the Three Broomsticks with Ada earlier. She wished she could attend the feast and, for once, she was curious about Dumbledore's speech. It was never something she had paid attention to in her years at Hogwarts, but she imagined this year would be different. A student had died, was murdered, and the Dark Lord had returned. Would Dumbledore talk about it? Was he allowed to? The Ministry was keeping the news out of the Prophet, but they couldn't control the school, could they? But Freddie knew she couldn't join the students and teachers in the Great Hall...not as herself anyway. An idea struck her and she quickly left Snape's office. She placed the wards on his office door with her wand, then shifted into her Animagus form and headed for the Great Hall.

Usually the noise from any Hogwarts feast could be heard before you ever left the dungeon, but even as Freddie reached the Entrance Hall she didn't hear the usual rambunctious sounds of students eating and talking. She slipped into the Great Hall and saw that everyone seemed subdued. The banners behind the staff table, which usually boated the colors of whichever House had the most points at the Leaving Feast, were black this time. In honor of Cedric Diggory, Freddie realized as she looked around. Most of the school appeared to be in mourning, especially the Hufflepuff table. Most of them were pale-faced and barely eating and several of them were crying silently. The Slytherin table were the least affected, though she still saw a few faces that looked nervous and uncertain. She spotted Draco Malfoy, the spitting image of his father, laughing with two large boys who didn't look too bright.

Snape was still seated at the staff table, eating, and she felt pleased with herself that he hadn't noticed her in her kneazle form. She recognized almost everyone at the staff table, except for a very tall, large woman seated next to Hagrid she figured must be Ada's Headmistress, Madame Maxime. There was also a grizzly-looking wizard with a scarred face sitting next to Dumbledore. He seemed nervous and jumpy, and one of his eyes looked strange. It moved independently of the other, whizzing around the room quickly. That must be Mad-Eye Moody, she realized. The real one. No wonder he looks so jumpy, he's been locked in a trunk all year.

Just then Moody's magical eye froze and he seemed to be staring directly at her. Freddie tried to act natural, like she was just any other cat hanging around the Great Hall, and sat down on her haunches to groom her paws. But still Moody's eye didn't move from her and her fur prickled uncomfortably. Severus told me his eye can see through Disillusionment Charms, but surely he can't tell I'm human, can he? She wondered. She was considering leaving when Dumbledore followed Moody's gaze and smiled. The headmaster leaned over, whispered something to him, and Moody seemed to relax. His eye resumed its whizzing around the room and Freddie stopped licking her paw.

She spied Ada sitting among the other Beauxbatons students at the Ravenclaw table and smiled to herself. She made her way stealthily towards her, unnoticed by the other students, and slipped beneath the table. She wound her way past dozens of pairs of legs, avoiding attention. She could hear the whispered conversations of the students above her and they all seemed to be talking about Dumbledore's speech, which she had clearly missed. 'Do you really think You-Know-Who is back?' 'Of course He is, what else would have happened to Diggory?' 'But there's been nothing in the paper, surely if it were true-' 'Well Dumbledore just said it himself and I believe him.' 'Dumbledore's mad saying You-Know-Who's name like that, don't you think?' 'He just believes Potter, you know he'll do anything for attention.' It reminded Freddie of the whispers about her when Daniel first disappeared, how even people who she had thought were her friends seemed to think she'd killed him. She continued her way down the table until she saw the pale blue heels that were part of the Beauxbatons uniform. She found Ada by scent and patted her leg with one paw. Startled, Ada looked beneath the table and gasped.

"Freddie?" she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

Freddie put her paw to her mouth in a 'be quiet' motion and sat down by her friend's feet. Ada nodded and smiled before looking back up at the table. A moment later Ada's hand appeared beneath the table, dropping several pieces of shrimp onto the floor. Freddie's mouth watered and she quickly devoured the shrimp, not even caring that she was eating off the ground. After the shrimp came a piece of chicken, then ham, and Ada kept dropping food for kneazle-Freddie to eat until she was full. She draped herself over Ada's shoes and began to purr, feeling full and sleepy.

The noise of students pushing back from the table startled her awake. Soft chatter filled the Great Hall as students started making their way to bed.

"Tu viens au lit, Ada?" she heard one of the other girls ask in French.

"In a bit," Ada responded. "You don't have to wait for me."

The other girls left and Ada waited a minute before pushing back from the table. She reached down and scooped Freddie up, carrying her from the table in her arms. Freddie let out an amused purr and looked over Ada's shoulder to see Snape staring at her from the staff table. Well he caught me now, she thought to herself, wondering if he would be mad. She couldn't tell from his expressionless face.

Freddie let Ada carry her out on the grounds, wondering if this were how Ziggy felt when she carried him, all the way to the Beauxbatons carriage. She leapt from her arms and transformed as she did, landing on her human feet facing her friend.

"Thanks for dinner," she said with a grin and Ada chuckled, leading her behind the carriage.

"I was glad to see you," she said. "Did you hear Professor Dumbledore's speech?"

"No, I hoped to but I was late," she admitted. "I had to brew an antidote for an Acromantula bite at work. I heard some of the students talking about it though. I gathered Dumbledore told them about the Dark Lord killing Diggory?"

"Yes, he- an Acromantula bite, really?" she asked, intrigued, and Freddie nodded. "You must tell me about that later. Yes, Dumbledore told them all about You-Know-Who's return. I'm not sure how many of them believed him, even some girls from my school seemed skeptical."

"What else did he say?"

"He talked about how brave Harry Potter was in facing You-Know-Who and the whole room toasted him – well, most of the whole room. He looked most uncomfortable with the attention," she said. "Dumbledore also talked about how important it is to remain united, no matter where we are from or how different we may seem. Ties between nations, bonds of friendship, that sort of thing."

Freddie nodded thoughtfully and Ada sat down on the ground in the shadows of the Beauxbatons. She patted the grass next to her and Freddie glanced around skeptically.

"Shouldn't you go inside?" she asked. "I don't want to get you in trouble."

"Madame Maxime will not even notice. Look," she said, pointing to where two large figures were making their way towards Hagrid's hut, arm-in-arm.

"Alright," Freddie chuckled, sitting down in the grass beside her.

"Tell me about the Acromantula bite," Ada insisted. "Don't most people die from that?"

Freddie spent the next half hour telling her friend about the patient on the first floor and about the antidote she'd brewed. During a lull in the conversation she noticed Ada was leaned back against the carriage, looking up at the full moon that was rising over the Forbidden Forest.

"Did Monsieur Lupin come for the last dose of his potion?" she asked curiously.

"Uh-huh. Only this time Severus showed up," she said, rolling her eyes. She had told Ada about her conversations with Lupin, how they had hung out every day this week while waiting for his potion to settle.

"I thought he didn't like him?" Ada asked, confused.

"He doesn't. I guess he thought he was protecting me or something," she said, shaking her head. "He didn't want me to be alone with him on the night of the full moon."

"That's ridiculous. He's perfectly safe with the potion in his system – and you're a brilliant potion-maker so I know you did it right."

"That's what I said. But he wanted to keep an eye on me regardless. He wasn't rude to him at least, not to his face anyway."

"That's good."

"He thinks Remus likes me," she said with another eye roll. "Like he likes me, like me."

"Does he?" she asked interestedly.

"Of course not," Freddie scoffed. "He's just nice to me because I brew the Wolfsbane for him. He's never done or said anything inappropriate."

"He is kind of cute though, don't you think?" Ada asked with a grin.

"If you say so."

"I know, I know – you only go for the dark and brooding type."

"Actually only one dark and brooding type in particular," Freddie responded, smirking slightly. "Speaking of Severus, I should go soon. I know he's waiting for me."

"Is he talking to you with Legilimency again?"

"No, I don't think he's in my head right now," she said thoughtfully. If he was she couldn't feel him. "But when he visited earlier I told him I'd see him soon. Plus he saw you carrying me out of the hall."

Ada chuckled slightly and got to her feet.

"Alright Freddie. I hope I get to see you before we leave tomorrow. Madame Maxime says we'll depart right after breakfast."

"I'll try my best," she promised. "I'm meeting Tonks at the station at 9."

"I know. I like her, by the way. She's really funny and cool."

Freddie grimaced slightly at her best friend making friends with the Hufflepuff, but turned it into a smile instead and embraced her.

"Au revoir, Adalene."

"Dors bien, Winifred."