a/n: Enjoy, the review
Part Five: Stranded
"Harry?" A voice called as soon as the madness stopped.
"I'm okay," Harry called back. "Gretchen?"
"I'm fine. Where are you Harry?" Gretchen shouted.
"Over here," he called back. "By the door."
"Okay, I'm coming to you…Harry! Come! Quick!"
"Where are you?" Harry asked.
"Harry, hurry." The answer wasn't very helpful. Harry started trekking though the battered and derailed train. He thanked…something…that the train was relatively small and had carried relatively few people. He saw a man wearing a lime green business suit stand up and dust himself off.
"What happen?" the man asked him. Harry didn't respond. He saw Gretchen. She was sitting next to a lifeless body. She was using her winter cloak to compress a wound on the body's head. Then he realized that it wasn't a body. It was Remas Lupin.
"Lupin!" Harry ran over to them. "What happened? Is he dead? Oh god, please don't let him be dead."
"He's alive," Gretchen answered calmly. "He's unconscious and he has a rather nasty bump on his head. It's bleeding." Harry nodded.
"What should we do?" Harry asked her. Gretchen took a deep breath.
"Find a door or a window or something and try to figure out were we are. If you see anyone get help! If you don't…if there's nobody here, wherever we are, then send up red sparks and get back here." Harry nodded and ran to the door. The windows were useless. The train was lying on its side. It was a miracle that Harry was still standing, a miracle that Lupin was the only on hurt.
Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and used a quick spell to force the door open. He stuck his head outside. They were in the middle of nowhere, a forest. On the desperate chance that someone could see them Harry shoot up red sparks from his wand. Then he went back to Gretchen. "We're all alone."
Gretchen nodded. She looked down at Lupin's pale face. "Hey you," she called to the man in the suit. He turned around. "What's your name?"
"Rudyard Rocks," he answered.
"Get to the other carts. Make sure no one else is hurt." The man scattered in the opposite direction of what Harry had just traveled. They were on the last cart of the train. The door Harry had used wasn't connected to anything. The other one was. "Do you think we have any water or alcohol or anything?" Gretchen asked.
"Well I sure didn't bring any," Harry sputtered. Gretchen frowned.
"We need to clean off his wound," she explained, referring to Lupin, "and we should probably wake him up and get him to eat something, or at least drink something. That is, if we can wake him up."
Rudyard Rocks came back from his endeavor. "This cart," he declared. "It appears to have broken off from the rest of the train."
"You mean we're alone here?" Harry demanded. Rudyard nodded. Gretchen seemed to be ignoring them.
"Do you have anything to eat or drink?" she asked Rudyard. The man seemed puzzled.
"I have some brandy…"
"Get it." The man, again, dashed off.
"Gretchen," Harry whispered grimly, "I don't think this was an accident." She looked up at him for a moment, and then nodded.
"Do you suppose that we'll be attacked?" she asked softly.
"It could happen." Gretchen sighed.
"We should stay here, in the train, for as long as possible," she muttered. "I really do want to get Mr. Lupin to a hospital, but, you see they…they might have been hoping to kill us with the train wreck as opposed to after. If there's anyone after us."
"Gretchen, do you honestly think that this was just a coincidence?" Harry asked flatly. Gretchen looked away. Harry put his hand on her shoulder, then leaned over and kissed her cheek. "We'll stay in here for as long as possible. But keep your wand in hand just the same. Just in case." Gretchen nodded. She took her wand from her pocket and held it between two fingers.
"Here's the brandy," Rudyard said. Gretchen took it out of his hands and poured it onto her cloak. Then she put in onto Lupin's wound and pressed firmly. Harry looked down at Lupin for a moment, and then he looked up at Rudy.
"Sir, are you any good with battle charms?" Harry asked.
The man raised an eyebrow. "Why would that matter?" he demanded softly.
"Well…you see…I'm Harry Potter, and this is Gretchen Locus and he's Remas Lupin and I'm afraid that neither of us is no Voldemort's good side." The man was silent.
"In other words," Gretchen said, looking up from Lupin. "Harry and me are the first to names on Voldemort's hit list, and Lupin here is somewhere in the top ten."
"You think that you-know-who-"
"Yes," Harry said, cutting him off. "We think that there's a very good chance that Voldemort is responsible for this train accident." Rudyard nodded. He pulled out his want from his coat pocket, then went over and sat by himself, as far away from Gretchen and Harry as possible.
"I really wish we had stopped to eat something before we caught the train, I'm starved," Gretchen muttered. "But oh well. At least the moon will beautiful tonight?"
"Really?" Harry questioned.
"Yes. It's full."
"What!"
"There's a full moon tonight."
"Gretchen," Harry said in a mock-calm voice. "There's something you should know about Lupin. He's a werewolf." Gretchen's jaw dropped. She closed it quickly and took a few deep breaths.
"Well," she sputtered. "That makes things a little more complicated." Harry nodded.
"Just a bit," he added. "Gretchen, how long can you hold your animagi shift?" Harry asked. Over the years, the class of students learning how to become animagi had become smaller and smaller. In fact, Harry, Hermione, and Gretchen were the only three people who were still enrolled. And Hermione, a genius with all forms of magic, wasn't doing all that well. Harry was having trouble, too, but Hermione was just doing horribly. Had she been anyone else she would have dropped the class. But being Hermione, she was still there.
Gretchen was definitely doing best. She could perform almost everything with ease. Harry was doing all right. He had inherited part of his father's transfiguration talent, but not as much as he would have liked. "Well?"
"Harry, there's something I need to tell you," Gretchen said meekly.
"What?"
"Well you see, when I was in Mungo's the first time there was the tradition that said…"
"Yes, I know about that. Dumbledore told me. He said that you taught yourself how to be an animagus and escaped and that shortly after that they let you come to Hogwarts."
"Yes. That's exactly what happened. I'm so relieved that you know that. So, to answer your question I'm having trouble holding the crane for more then an hour, but I can be a cat for as long as I please."
"Cat?" Harry questioned.
"I thought you said that Dumbledore told you," Gretchen answered.
"He never mentioned that you were a cat," Harry said.
"Oh." Gretchen lifted her now-ruined cloak to see his Lupin was still bleeding. He wasn't. She set her cloak off to the side and the shifted into a cat. As a cat she was a bit strange looking. She had a short, black coat with a silver stripe going from its ears all the way to the tip of her tail. She also had silver markings at the bottom of she hind legs, almost like boots, and a star-like mark on her left hip, similar to her markings as a crane. She looked oddly familiar, like her had seen her life this before…
Gretchen shifted back into her normal form. She waited quietly for Harry's reaction. "If only you were a bigger animal," he said at last. "Then you could keep the werewolf calm. Or at least keep him from eating us."
"We should try to wake up Lupin," Gretchen said. "He might know something we don't." Harry nodded. They tried shaking his shoulders and calling his name, but gave up after a few minutes. Harry sighed.
"He's still out cold."
"Maybe he'll just sleep though the whole werewolf thing," Gretchen suggested.
"Well, I guess he wouldn't eat us then. But if he's still unconscious, even after so long, then it would mean that he's seriously hurt, and I don't want to think about that." Gretchen sighed.
"We may have to," she said. "How long have we been in here?"
Harry looked at his watch. "An hour, I suppose."
"When was the train supposed to pull in at Hogsmede?"
"A half an hour ago." Gretchen nodded.
"Do you think they've noticed that we're gone yet?" Harry shrugged.
"I hope they have. I think our only way out of this one is being rescued," Harry told her. "Unless," he added, "we leave and try to make it to Hogsmede on foot."
"Do you think it's safe?" Gretchen asked.
"Of course not," Harry answered her. "I mean, we could be attacked by Voldemort, or just a creature in the forest, or we could get miserable lost and never find our way. Not to mention the fact that we're going to have to carry Lupin, which will make everything more complicated. But, things aren't going to be much better if we stay here. I mean, eventually we'd starve to death."
"Yes, we would," Gretchen agreed. "We don't have to worry about getting lost, though. All we have to do is follow the train tracks. They should lead us back to hogsmede, and we'll be able to get to Hogwarts from there."
"So we go?" Harry asked her. Gretchen nodded.
"We go," she replied. "But what do we do about him?" Gretchen gestured toward
Rudyard.
"He's bound to notice us leaving. If he wants to come he's welcome." Harry and Gretchen stood up and then lifted Lupin. They were quickly able to balance the man between them. The door of the over turned cart was still open. Harry went though first, and then they got Lupin out, and then Gretchen. After that they were on their way.
For the first hour the walk on the train tracks was surprisingly uneventful. Aside from both being tired and hungry and worried about Lupin Harry and Gretchen were all right. "We should take a brake," Harry said. They were taking brakes once every hour. It was cold out, and there shoulders hurt because of Lupin's extra weight. They both sat down.
"What time is it?" Gretchen asked.
"It's almost two o'clock. We were supposed to be back at Hogwarts Two hours ago. They must have noticed that something's wrong by now." Gretchen held up her hand to silence him. "What is it?" he asked.
"Do you hear that?" she asked. Harry shook his head no. They both grabbed Lupin and started walking forward. Gretchen was silent, still trying to figure out what she heard. "Oh my gosh," she said suddenly. "Harry, get off the tracks."
"What?"
"I said get off the tracks."
"But why…" Gretchen wasn't listening. She used all her strength to shove Harry and Lupin around. Everyone started tumbling away from the train tracks. All of the sudden Harry heard a loud noise. He saw the leaves of the trees move as if a train was passing, he heard the train passing, but he couldn't see a thing. Then everything calmed down. "What was that?" he asked.
"It was a train," Gretchen responded. "An invisible class. They use it when the person they're transporting doesn't want much publicity."
"Oh," Harry responded. "How did you know it was coming?"
"I could hear it," Gretchen said. Harry nodded.
"Well, thanks for saving us." Gretchen nodded.
"No problem." The to got up again, lifted Lupin, and continued walking. After a while the sun began to set. They were both worried. Dragging Lupin back to Hogsmede was hard enough. Dragging a werewolf back to hogsmede would be even harder. Then again, it would be better then going back to hogsmede while being chased by a werewolf, Harry assumed. Luckily for them it was a cloudy night. They never caught sight of the moon. Even so, Lupin started making some weird howling noises around eight, which cause Gretchen to become so frightened that she dropped him and started running away. Finally, around eleven thirty, two figures, carrying a third, every battered and belittled figures walked into a silent village of Hogsmede. And they both collapsed, exhausted.
~~~
"Harry," someone whispered. "Harry wake up." Harry decided to ignore it. Every muscle in his body told him that he was too tired to move. The owner of the voice, however, would not settle for this response. Harry was kicked in the shins.
"Hey," he said, opening his eyes. "Who did that?"
"Me," Gretchen whispered. "I thought it would be more effective then a kiss from princess charming." Harry thought for a moment.
"Can I have a kiss from princess charming anyway?" he asked. Gretchen blushed and kissed him. Harry kissed her back. They she broke away. Harry sat up. "How long were we asleep?"
"An hour," Gretchen told him. "We need to get moving. I really, really, really want to go home."
"Gretchen," Harry admitted, "I don't know how to get to Hogwarts from here." She frowned at him.
"If we can't get to Hogwarts," she said, "then we simply must make hogwarts come to us." Harry blinked at her.
"How?"
"We'll owl Dumbledore." She helped Harry to his feet. Then they steadied Lupin and walked to the owl post. They quietly slid in and set Lupin down in a chair and started rubbing their arms together. Harry and Gretchen were both freezing. Neither had been waring a winter cloak. Gretchen's had been ruined with blood, Harry had put his on Lupin, figuring that he needed it more. Lupin groaned. "I think he's waking up," Gretchen whispered. And sure enough he was. Lupin blinked a few times, trying to get the world into focus.
"What…"
"Save your strength," Harry said. "It will all be okay, soon." Harry and Gretchen walked up to tired looking man at the desk. "We need one speedy delivery owl," Harry said.
"That will be three gantets," The man said.
"Err…we don't have any money. This is an emergency. You see, we…"
"Look kid," he said. "If you have no money you have no owl."
"But you see…" Harry began, but the man turned away. He and Gretchen exchanged a desperate look. She walked up to the front desk. She grabbed a page of the Daily Prophet.
"Will we be charged if we barrow a quill?" The man wasn't amused. He handed her a quill and some purple ink. Gretchen quickly scribbled a message in the margins of the paper.
Dumbledore-
This is Gretchen and Harry. Train accident. We're all right. Lupin's hurt. Has a nasty bump on the head. Just woke up. We're at the owl post office in Hogsmede. Please help. We're stranded. Help. Hurry.-Gretchen Locus
Gretchen folded up the rushed note in her hands. She walked over to the owl cages. "Hey, I already told you, you can't use the owls unless you can pay," the wizard said.
"I'm just looking." Gretchen walked over to the cage of a fast looking owl. She tapped the cage, opened it, grabbed the owl, and put her not onto it's leg in what seemed like a matter of seconds.
"Hey!" the wizard shouted, running over to him. Harry grabbed his arm and tried to keep him away.
"Get to Hogwarts! Get to Dumbledore!" Gretchen told the owl as she released it. It sped away. Harry fell onto the floor as the wizard became free from his grip. The wizard grabbed Gretchen's wrist with one hand and slapped her with the other.
"Hey!" Harry called.
"How dare you! Now you're in trouble." He grabbed Harry's wrist and threw both he and Gretchen into chairs by Lupin. "I'm calling the police," he declared. He walked over and started writing a small note.
"We'll be all right," Gretchen assured Harry. "Dumbledore is coming." She turned her attention to Lupin. "How are you feeling?" she asked. Lupin looked at he strangely.
"Who are you?" he asked. Harry's jaw dropped.
"You don't remember her?"
"No. Harry what's going on? My head, it feels like it's on fire," Lupin complained.
"Don't worry, Lupin. We're okay. What's the last thing you remember?" Harry asked.
"I had just taken a small draft of my potion. The full moon was two days away so I had to start preparing. I went to bed. I was going to meet you on the train the next day…it's the next day isn't it?" Lupin said.
"Yes," Harry told him. "It's the next day. You met me at the train this morning. This is Gretchen we picked her up from Mungo's. They we were on the train, coming back to hogsmede, when it crashed. You took a nasty bump to the head and you've been unconscious all day. We were worried sick about you."
"Where are we?" Lupin asked.
"We're at the owl post in Hogsmede," Gretchen told him. "Harry and I carried you here. We just sent Dumbledore a letter. He should be here soon." Lupin nodded, then stopped because it obviously hurt.
"Oh my!" he said suddenly. "Tonight's the full moon!"
"There's not a sat in the sky tonight," Harry told him. "It's too cloudy." Lupin closed his eyes and rested his head on the wall behind him. Harry turned his head as the door opened. "Dumbledore!"
"Not Dumbledore," the man at the desk said. Two wizards warring navy blue robes walked in. The chatted with the man at the counter for a moment, then walked over to Gretchen, Lupin, and Harry.
"Could you please stand up, miss, and hold you hands up." Gretchen did as she was asked. She shott Harry a desperate look. He didn't know what to do. One of the wizards ran his hands over her robes, taking her wand out from her pocket. When he stood up the other grabbed her hands and put them behind her back before placing them in cuffs. "All right, miss. You're under arrest for stealing the services of The Hogsmede Owl Post. You are to be silent. We'll be taking you to the station. Do you understand?" Gretchen nodded. "All right, lets…"
"What's going on here?" Dumbledore pocked his head though the doorway. Harry jumped to his feet and Lupin opened his eyes. "Harry, Gretchen, are you all right? Officer, what's going on?"
"That girl," the man behind the desk said, "took my owl. Didn't pay me a Knut. She stole from me and now she's going to pay." Dumbledore stared at the man in disbelief.
"And you hadn't the heart to let them use it anyway? Didn't you understand what was happening? Didn't you know this was a desperate situation?" Dumbledore demanded.
"No money, no service." Dumbledore sighed.
"How much do you need?" The man told Dumbledore the price and he quickly handed over the money. The wizard police released Gretchen. Dumbledore walked over to Lupin. "How are you feeling?"
"A little confused," Lupin said. Dumbledore patted him on the shoulder.
"Hagrid is bringing a carriage from the school. He'll be here momentarily," Dumbledore said. He turned to Harry and Gretchen. "Are you both all right?" They nodded. "Remas, do you think you can walk. I believe it would be best if we waited outside."
"I think so," Lupin said. He got up from his chair and took a step, nearly falling flat on his face. Dumbledore caught him. Harry walked up to Lupin and put the man's arm over his shoulder so that he could support his weight. Dumbledore did the same. He handed his broom, which he had been holding and had probably used to fly over to Hogsmede, to Gretchen. She held open the door and they all walked outside.
The carriage came. Harry and Dumbledore helped Lupin into the carriage before they and Gretchen climbed in themselves. "Harry, what happened?" Hagrid asked immediately. "You scared 'da who 'chool half ta death!"
"All in good time Hagrid," Dumbledore said, sensing that both Harry and Gretchen were exhausted. "Let us get back to Hogwarts and make sure Lupin is all right before we start with any of that."
"And eat," Gretchen put in. "It don't think any of us have had a bite since this morning." Dumbledore nodded. The carriage drove off into the night.
Part Five: Stranded
"Harry?" A voice called as soon as the madness stopped.
"I'm okay," Harry called back. "Gretchen?"
"I'm fine. Where are you Harry?" Gretchen shouted.
"Over here," he called back. "By the door."
"Okay, I'm coming to you…Harry! Come! Quick!"
"Where are you?" Harry asked.
"Harry, hurry." The answer wasn't very helpful. Harry started trekking though the battered and derailed train. He thanked…something…that the train was relatively small and had carried relatively few people. He saw a man wearing a lime green business suit stand up and dust himself off.
"What happen?" the man asked him. Harry didn't respond. He saw Gretchen. She was sitting next to a lifeless body. She was using her winter cloak to compress a wound on the body's head. Then he realized that it wasn't a body. It was Remas Lupin.
"Lupin!" Harry ran over to them. "What happened? Is he dead? Oh god, please don't let him be dead."
"He's alive," Gretchen answered calmly. "He's unconscious and he has a rather nasty bump on his head. It's bleeding." Harry nodded.
"What should we do?" Harry asked her. Gretchen took a deep breath.
"Find a door or a window or something and try to figure out were we are. If you see anyone get help! If you don't…if there's nobody here, wherever we are, then send up red sparks and get back here." Harry nodded and ran to the door. The windows were useless. The train was lying on its side. It was a miracle that Harry was still standing, a miracle that Lupin was the only on hurt.
Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and used a quick spell to force the door open. He stuck his head outside. They were in the middle of nowhere, a forest. On the desperate chance that someone could see them Harry shoot up red sparks from his wand. Then he went back to Gretchen. "We're all alone."
Gretchen nodded. She looked down at Lupin's pale face. "Hey you," she called to the man in the suit. He turned around. "What's your name?"
"Rudyard Rocks," he answered.
"Get to the other carts. Make sure no one else is hurt." The man scattered in the opposite direction of what Harry had just traveled. They were on the last cart of the train. The door Harry had used wasn't connected to anything. The other one was. "Do you think we have any water or alcohol or anything?" Gretchen asked.
"Well I sure didn't bring any," Harry sputtered. Gretchen frowned.
"We need to clean off his wound," she explained, referring to Lupin, "and we should probably wake him up and get him to eat something, or at least drink something. That is, if we can wake him up."
Rudyard Rocks came back from his endeavor. "This cart," he declared. "It appears to have broken off from the rest of the train."
"You mean we're alone here?" Harry demanded. Rudyard nodded. Gretchen seemed to be ignoring them.
"Do you have anything to eat or drink?" she asked Rudyard. The man seemed puzzled.
"I have some brandy…"
"Get it." The man, again, dashed off.
"Gretchen," Harry whispered grimly, "I don't think this was an accident." She looked up at him for a moment, and then nodded.
"Do you suppose that we'll be attacked?" she asked softly.
"It could happen." Gretchen sighed.
"We should stay here, in the train, for as long as possible," she muttered. "I really do want to get Mr. Lupin to a hospital, but, you see they…they might have been hoping to kill us with the train wreck as opposed to after. If there's anyone after us."
"Gretchen, do you honestly think that this was just a coincidence?" Harry asked flatly. Gretchen looked away. Harry put his hand on her shoulder, then leaned over and kissed her cheek. "We'll stay in here for as long as possible. But keep your wand in hand just the same. Just in case." Gretchen nodded. She took her wand from her pocket and held it between two fingers.
"Here's the brandy," Rudyard said. Gretchen took it out of his hands and poured it onto her cloak. Then she put in onto Lupin's wound and pressed firmly. Harry looked down at Lupin for a moment, and then he looked up at Rudy.
"Sir, are you any good with battle charms?" Harry asked.
The man raised an eyebrow. "Why would that matter?" he demanded softly.
"Well…you see…I'm Harry Potter, and this is Gretchen Locus and he's Remas Lupin and I'm afraid that neither of us is no Voldemort's good side." The man was silent.
"In other words," Gretchen said, looking up from Lupin. "Harry and me are the first to names on Voldemort's hit list, and Lupin here is somewhere in the top ten."
"You think that you-know-who-"
"Yes," Harry said, cutting him off. "We think that there's a very good chance that Voldemort is responsible for this train accident." Rudyard nodded. He pulled out his want from his coat pocket, then went over and sat by himself, as far away from Gretchen and Harry as possible.
"I really wish we had stopped to eat something before we caught the train, I'm starved," Gretchen muttered. "But oh well. At least the moon will beautiful tonight?"
"Really?" Harry questioned.
"Yes. It's full."
"What!"
"There's a full moon tonight."
"Gretchen," Harry said in a mock-calm voice. "There's something you should know about Lupin. He's a werewolf." Gretchen's jaw dropped. She closed it quickly and took a few deep breaths.
"Well," she sputtered. "That makes things a little more complicated." Harry nodded.
"Just a bit," he added. "Gretchen, how long can you hold your animagi shift?" Harry asked. Over the years, the class of students learning how to become animagi had become smaller and smaller. In fact, Harry, Hermione, and Gretchen were the only three people who were still enrolled. And Hermione, a genius with all forms of magic, wasn't doing all that well. Harry was having trouble, too, but Hermione was just doing horribly. Had she been anyone else she would have dropped the class. But being Hermione, she was still there.
Gretchen was definitely doing best. She could perform almost everything with ease. Harry was doing all right. He had inherited part of his father's transfiguration talent, but not as much as he would have liked. "Well?"
"Harry, there's something I need to tell you," Gretchen said meekly.
"What?"
"Well you see, when I was in Mungo's the first time there was the tradition that said…"
"Yes, I know about that. Dumbledore told me. He said that you taught yourself how to be an animagus and escaped and that shortly after that they let you come to Hogwarts."
"Yes. That's exactly what happened. I'm so relieved that you know that. So, to answer your question I'm having trouble holding the crane for more then an hour, but I can be a cat for as long as I please."
"Cat?" Harry questioned.
"I thought you said that Dumbledore told you," Gretchen answered.
"He never mentioned that you were a cat," Harry said.
"Oh." Gretchen lifted her now-ruined cloak to see his Lupin was still bleeding. He wasn't. She set her cloak off to the side and the shifted into a cat. As a cat she was a bit strange looking. She had a short, black coat with a silver stripe going from its ears all the way to the tip of her tail. She also had silver markings at the bottom of she hind legs, almost like boots, and a star-like mark on her left hip, similar to her markings as a crane. She looked oddly familiar, like her had seen her life this before…
Gretchen shifted back into her normal form. She waited quietly for Harry's reaction. "If only you were a bigger animal," he said at last. "Then you could keep the werewolf calm. Or at least keep him from eating us."
"We should try to wake up Lupin," Gretchen said. "He might know something we don't." Harry nodded. They tried shaking his shoulders and calling his name, but gave up after a few minutes. Harry sighed.
"He's still out cold."
"Maybe he'll just sleep though the whole werewolf thing," Gretchen suggested.
"Well, I guess he wouldn't eat us then. But if he's still unconscious, even after so long, then it would mean that he's seriously hurt, and I don't want to think about that." Gretchen sighed.
"We may have to," she said. "How long have we been in here?"
Harry looked at his watch. "An hour, I suppose."
"When was the train supposed to pull in at Hogsmede?"
"A half an hour ago." Gretchen nodded.
"Do you think they've noticed that we're gone yet?" Harry shrugged.
"I hope they have. I think our only way out of this one is being rescued," Harry told her. "Unless," he added, "we leave and try to make it to Hogsmede on foot."
"Do you think it's safe?" Gretchen asked.
"Of course not," Harry answered her. "I mean, we could be attacked by Voldemort, or just a creature in the forest, or we could get miserable lost and never find our way. Not to mention the fact that we're going to have to carry Lupin, which will make everything more complicated. But, things aren't going to be much better if we stay here. I mean, eventually we'd starve to death."
"Yes, we would," Gretchen agreed. "We don't have to worry about getting lost, though. All we have to do is follow the train tracks. They should lead us back to hogsmede, and we'll be able to get to Hogwarts from there."
"So we go?" Harry asked her. Gretchen nodded.
"We go," she replied. "But what do we do about him?" Gretchen gestured toward
Rudyard.
"He's bound to notice us leaving. If he wants to come he's welcome." Harry and Gretchen stood up and then lifted Lupin. They were quickly able to balance the man between them. The door of the over turned cart was still open. Harry went though first, and then they got Lupin out, and then Gretchen. After that they were on their way.
For the first hour the walk on the train tracks was surprisingly uneventful. Aside from both being tired and hungry and worried about Lupin Harry and Gretchen were all right. "We should take a brake," Harry said. They were taking brakes once every hour. It was cold out, and there shoulders hurt because of Lupin's extra weight. They both sat down.
"What time is it?" Gretchen asked.
"It's almost two o'clock. We were supposed to be back at Hogwarts Two hours ago. They must have noticed that something's wrong by now." Gretchen held up her hand to silence him. "What is it?" he asked.
"Do you hear that?" she asked. Harry shook his head no. They both grabbed Lupin and started walking forward. Gretchen was silent, still trying to figure out what she heard. "Oh my gosh," she said suddenly. "Harry, get off the tracks."
"What?"
"I said get off the tracks."
"But why…" Gretchen wasn't listening. She used all her strength to shove Harry and Lupin around. Everyone started tumbling away from the train tracks. All of the sudden Harry heard a loud noise. He saw the leaves of the trees move as if a train was passing, he heard the train passing, but he couldn't see a thing. Then everything calmed down. "What was that?" he asked.
"It was a train," Gretchen responded. "An invisible class. They use it when the person they're transporting doesn't want much publicity."
"Oh," Harry responded. "How did you know it was coming?"
"I could hear it," Gretchen said. Harry nodded.
"Well, thanks for saving us." Gretchen nodded.
"No problem." The to got up again, lifted Lupin, and continued walking. After a while the sun began to set. They were both worried. Dragging Lupin back to Hogsmede was hard enough. Dragging a werewolf back to hogsmede would be even harder. Then again, it would be better then going back to hogsmede while being chased by a werewolf, Harry assumed. Luckily for them it was a cloudy night. They never caught sight of the moon. Even so, Lupin started making some weird howling noises around eight, which cause Gretchen to become so frightened that she dropped him and started running away. Finally, around eleven thirty, two figures, carrying a third, every battered and belittled figures walked into a silent village of Hogsmede. And they both collapsed, exhausted.
~~~
"Harry," someone whispered. "Harry wake up." Harry decided to ignore it. Every muscle in his body told him that he was too tired to move. The owner of the voice, however, would not settle for this response. Harry was kicked in the shins.
"Hey," he said, opening his eyes. "Who did that?"
"Me," Gretchen whispered. "I thought it would be more effective then a kiss from princess charming." Harry thought for a moment.
"Can I have a kiss from princess charming anyway?" he asked. Gretchen blushed and kissed him. Harry kissed her back. They she broke away. Harry sat up. "How long were we asleep?"
"An hour," Gretchen told him. "We need to get moving. I really, really, really want to go home."
"Gretchen," Harry admitted, "I don't know how to get to Hogwarts from here." She frowned at him.
"If we can't get to Hogwarts," she said, "then we simply must make hogwarts come to us." Harry blinked at her.
"How?"
"We'll owl Dumbledore." She helped Harry to his feet. Then they steadied Lupin and walked to the owl post. They quietly slid in and set Lupin down in a chair and started rubbing their arms together. Harry and Gretchen were both freezing. Neither had been waring a winter cloak. Gretchen's had been ruined with blood, Harry had put his on Lupin, figuring that he needed it more. Lupin groaned. "I think he's waking up," Gretchen whispered. And sure enough he was. Lupin blinked a few times, trying to get the world into focus.
"What…"
"Save your strength," Harry said. "It will all be okay, soon." Harry and Gretchen walked up to tired looking man at the desk. "We need one speedy delivery owl," Harry said.
"That will be three gantets," The man said.
"Err…we don't have any money. This is an emergency. You see, we…"
"Look kid," he said. "If you have no money you have no owl."
"But you see…" Harry began, but the man turned away. He and Gretchen exchanged a desperate look. She walked up to the front desk. She grabbed a page of the Daily Prophet.
"Will we be charged if we barrow a quill?" The man wasn't amused. He handed her a quill and some purple ink. Gretchen quickly scribbled a message in the margins of the paper.
Dumbledore-
This is Gretchen and Harry. Train accident. We're all right. Lupin's hurt. Has a nasty bump on the head. Just woke up. We're at the owl post office in Hogsmede. Please help. We're stranded. Help. Hurry.-Gretchen Locus
Gretchen folded up the rushed note in her hands. She walked over to the owl cages. "Hey, I already told you, you can't use the owls unless you can pay," the wizard said.
"I'm just looking." Gretchen walked over to the cage of a fast looking owl. She tapped the cage, opened it, grabbed the owl, and put her not onto it's leg in what seemed like a matter of seconds.
"Hey!" the wizard shouted, running over to him. Harry grabbed his arm and tried to keep him away.
"Get to Hogwarts! Get to Dumbledore!" Gretchen told the owl as she released it. It sped away. Harry fell onto the floor as the wizard became free from his grip. The wizard grabbed Gretchen's wrist with one hand and slapped her with the other.
"Hey!" Harry called.
"How dare you! Now you're in trouble." He grabbed Harry's wrist and threw both he and Gretchen into chairs by Lupin. "I'm calling the police," he declared. He walked over and started writing a small note.
"We'll be all right," Gretchen assured Harry. "Dumbledore is coming." She turned her attention to Lupin. "How are you feeling?" she asked. Lupin looked at he strangely.
"Who are you?" he asked. Harry's jaw dropped.
"You don't remember her?"
"No. Harry what's going on? My head, it feels like it's on fire," Lupin complained.
"Don't worry, Lupin. We're okay. What's the last thing you remember?" Harry asked.
"I had just taken a small draft of my potion. The full moon was two days away so I had to start preparing. I went to bed. I was going to meet you on the train the next day…it's the next day isn't it?" Lupin said.
"Yes," Harry told him. "It's the next day. You met me at the train this morning. This is Gretchen we picked her up from Mungo's. They we were on the train, coming back to hogsmede, when it crashed. You took a nasty bump to the head and you've been unconscious all day. We were worried sick about you."
"Where are we?" Lupin asked.
"We're at the owl post in Hogsmede," Gretchen told him. "Harry and I carried you here. We just sent Dumbledore a letter. He should be here soon." Lupin nodded, then stopped because it obviously hurt.
"Oh my!" he said suddenly. "Tonight's the full moon!"
"There's not a sat in the sky tonight," Harry told him. "It's too cloudy." Lupin closed his eyes and rested his head on the wall behind him. Harry turned his head as the door opened. "Dumbledore!"
"Not Dumbledore," the man at the desk said. Two wizards warring navy blue robes walked in. The chatted with the man at the counter for a moment, then walked over to Gretchen, Lupin, and Harry.
"Could you please stand up, miss, and hold you hands up." Gretchen did as she was asked. She shott Harry a desperate look. He didn't know what to do. One of the wizards ran his hands over her robes, taking her wand out from her pocket. When he stood up the other grabbed her hands and put them behind her back before placing them in cuffs. "All right, miss. You're under arrest for stealing the services of The Hogsmede Owl Post. You are to be silent. We'll be taking you to the station. Do you understand?" Gretchen nodded. "All right, lets…"
"What's going on here?" Dumbledore pocked his head though the doorway. Harry jumped to his feet and Lupin opened his eyes. "Harry, Gretchen, are you all right? Officer, what's going on?"
"That girl," the man behind the desk said, "took my owl. Didn't pay me a Knut. She stole from me and now she's going to pay." Dumbledore stared at the man in disbelief.
"And you hadn't the heart to let them use it anyway? Didn't you understand what was happening? Didn't you know this was a desperate situation?" Dumbledore demanded.
"No money, no service." Dumbledore sighed.
"How much do you need?" The man told Dumbledore the price and he quickly handed over the money. The wizard police released Gretchen. Dumbledore walked over to Lupin. "How are you feeling?"
"A little confused," Lupin said. Dumbledore patted him on the shoulder.
"Hagrid is bringing a carriage from the school. He'll be here momentarily," Dumbledore said. He turned to Harry and Gretchen. "Are you both all right?" They nodded. "Remas, do you think you can walk. I believe it would be best if we waited outside."
"I think so," Lupin said. He got up from his chair and took a step, nearly falling flat on his face. Dumbledore caught him. Harry walked up to Lupin and put the man's arm over his shoulder so that he could support his weight. Dumbledore did the same. He handed his broom, which he had been holding and had probably used to fly over to Hogsmede, to Gretchen. She held open the door and they all walked outside.
The carriage came. Harry and Dumbledore helped Lupin into the carriage before they and Gretchen climbed in themselves. "Harry, what happened?" Hagrid asked immediately. "You scared 'da who 'chool half ta death!"
"All in good time Hagrid," Dumbledore said, sensing that both Harry and Gretchen were exhausted. "Let us get back to Hogwarts and make sure Lupin is all right before we start with any of that."
"And eat," Gretchen put in. "It don't think any of us have had a bite since this morning." Dumbledore nodded. The carriage drove off into the night.