Chapter 08
• Veritaserum •
They finally came. Harry had been waiting for them since he arrived at school. When they finally did come it was almost a surprise, he thought they might not be, that they might think he wouldn't be useful.
She flew in the window at first, sat there and just watched for a long time. Harry knew it wasn't just an ordinary robin, they didn't just sit and listen while a classroom of students milled around. Even once the lecture started it seemed to listen. After time it hopped off the ledge and disappeared behind the chairs for a few minutes. Harry only half listened to McGonagall, he watched for other signs, something was wrong with the Robin, something was different. She appeared then, just stood up in the rear of the class. Harry was startled to say the least but knew who she was. No one else seemed to even notice her. It was another few minutes until she said anything. Most of the students near her jumped when she cleared her throat softly.
McGonagall, who had been reading from a book, stopped and looked up. "Yes, may I help you?"
"Could I borrow Mr. Potter for a minute professor?" She asked nicely. Harry could tell whom she was, the entrance, her obscurity, the small pendant around her neck, it all led to the same conclusion. The pendant especially, it wasn't an official symbol, but every Auror Harry had ever encountered (accept one) carried a gold pendant with Merlin's staff hanging from it. She wanted to talk to Harry about Sirius, they were still making every attempt to catch him.
McGonagall nodded. "Harry, please go with this lady for a few minutes." She seemed to already know who and why this lady was here.
Harry nodded, wondering how many more there would be waiting and how they would try to question him. He stood and walked to the door near the front of the classroom were the Auror was now waiting. She smiled politely. "Please, follow me, we will go somewhere a bit more private."
Outside the door stood two more Aurors, the same age but looking nothing alike. The first had slick, dark black hair with a clean cut; his clothing was well groomed and fashionable, even for muggles. His eyes gave off a smooth appearance and attitude, he got what he wanted. Harry didn't like him immediately. The second was weary looking, his features worn but tough. He wore simple clothing, clean and but the edges frayed and an occasional mended tear. His eyes were soft but forlorn, he was a quiet person, most likely a loner of sorts. Something was different about him, something Harry liked.
The woman smiled brightly to the second man. "Remus, this is Harry."
Harry looked back to Remus Lupin, taking him in, in a different light. Slowly several features became more pronounced, the tough features held an almost unsurpassable strength, he could snap a man in two without too much of a problem. His hair was gray; he had probably had it since he was a child, a symbol of his lycanthropy. His eyes were waking Harry in, recognition showed, a sniff, probably just taking in his scent. Harry wondered what Remus would be like when they first met, wondered what he would do. His hand reached out slow and he gently shook Harry's hand. "Hello Harry, I am..."
"Remus Lupin, yes I know who you are." Harry said.
Remus didn't look surprised at all. "I suspected you might, Sirius has probably told you much-- about many things."
Harry knew what he was hinting at. "He has told me many secrets, about every Marauder." Harry smiled faintly. He loved skirting issues, being able to talk about things without actually talking about them.
Remus nodded again. "Well, let's get this done with. I would like to speak with you afterwards, alone." His eyes darted to the other two Aurors and both nodded an agreement. Harry noticed as they walked that Remus didn't wear a pendant of Merlin's staff either. Strange, maybe Remus had reasons to not wear the pendant, or maybe he wasn't a normal Auror, maybe he was there for one reason, like Peter was. Though Harry hoped they were there for different reasons. Peter wasn't an official Auror, just granted the position from someone high in the bureaucracy. His contacts were most likely some of the untraceable Death Eaters, they were in all level of governments, they must be, they slipped around so easily.
Harry followed Remus down the hallway, into an empty classroom Harry had not been to yet. A fourth Auror was sitting at the desk in the front of the classroom. As Harry walked in the Auror looked up and Harry stopped, having glanced at the man's eyes. Harry stared at them and shivered, reminded of the evil they had done.
"Peter." Harry hissed while Peter smiled broadly.
"Harry, it's good to finally meet you face to face. I see you don't seem to think highly of me. Sirius must be feeding you lies about me."
Harry nearly jumped at him, he wanted to rip his face off, tear off each of his limbs, to curse him with an unforgivable until he couldn't think right. He calmed himself, there were 3 other Aurors present, and he couldn't do anything now they would stop him before he ever reached Peter. If only they were alone in a room. He would wait, wait until the right time and then Peter would get what he deserved, from him or from another, it was karma.
"No matter what lies you've told others, I know the truth."
Peter smirked. "Harry, Harry, Harry, come now. Sit, rest, and let's talk."
Harry sat down in a chair the woman pulled out for him. "Thank you..."
"Bebe, you can call me Birdie, everyone does." She smiled again, Harry thought she was nice, especially for an Auror. She handed him a drink. "Here, this might take a while."
Harry accepted the drink and took a gulp, it wasn't water, and it tasted bitter and had a lingering taste that continued to get worse. "What... what was that?" His head started to spinning and he closed his eyes trying to keep focus on what was happening. He heard someone, Peter most likely, laugh shortly and say something that sounded like a long humming. Slowly the world came back into focus and Harry heaved a sigh of relief.
Peter was standing. "Well, it seams Harry didn't take well to the Veritaserum."
Remus' head jerked over to Peter. "You didn't have authorization to..."
Peter laughed again. "Remus, you should be one to talk after everything you've done. Besides, you want Black as much as I do. I've just circumvented some steps along the path this time; I'll make sure it's all taken care of later."
Remus shook his head. "Peter, I know we haven't exactly agreed on a lot of things in a long time... since it happened. But this needs to be done properly, through the right channels. We can't just go completely rogue, you especially, you'll loose the chance to be an Auror, you've cut it too close too many times."
Peter glanced over at Birdie. "You two wait outside, we'll keep everything noted and let you know what he said."
Birdie looked back and forth between Remus and Peter for a long time unsure of what to do until Peter spoke again. "As your superior officer I order you to wait outside Birdie. Remus go with her, if anyone gets into trouble about this it'll be me."
Finally Birdie nodded and took Remus' hand, leading him outside, he didn't fight to stay.
Harry sluggishly looked back at Peter who was grinning mischievously. He stood and nodded towards the door as a signal to lock it. The other man walked over and waved his wand over the door. Harry knew they were locking everyone out and probably putting some sort of silencing spell up. He had seen the ritual before because he had performed both before. This man too, although an Auror was undoubtedly either under the influence or was a Death Eater himself.
"Now Harry, it's been a while since I've been this close to you, even on our raids you two always seemed to sneak out before we got there. You didn't have an inside man did you?"
"No." It came out before Harry could even think about it. Harry tried to concentrate on thinking straight, to control himself.
"You know the truth don't you Harry? What I did, how foolish Sirius was for handing your parents right to the Dark Lord without even knowing it?"
The answer started to come again, and Harry fought it but couldn't stop it. "Yes, I know the whole story. It wasn't Sirius's fault that you're a murdering... a murdering bast..."
"Say it Harry, come on, let's here it." Peter seemed to have fun toying with Harry, teasing him about what he did. "You know, when you killed the Dark Lord it got me into a lot of trouble, I've been working on making up for it for the last 10 years. This is going to get me out of trouble too, first I'm going to get all the information I need and then we'll Obliviate you so you won't remember."
Harry slowly tried to force words out of him, try to say something other than an answer. It was so hard, it was like trying to scream above an explosion, he could open his mouth but nothing would come out.
"Cat got your tongue Harry? You should know that under the influence of Veritaserum you can't ask me anything, you shouldn't have any functions. If it had been any other person fighting it's effects I might be surprised, but my master told me you would be able to do many things."
Harry turned and looked at the second Auror. His smile confirmed the worst, he was a Death Eater officially or unofficially- it didn't matter, he served the Dark Lord. Little voices in the back of Harry's mind started to yell at him, some wanted him to run, some wanted him to let Peter get everything he could and one told him to try and take them both, without a wand. He knew it wouldn't matter, he couldn't over power two full grown men without a wand so he wouldn't be able to get out or fight them.
"So...Harry, lets here it. Where have you and Sirius been hiding all this time?"
Harry felt himself start to answer the question and he struggled against it. "We've been... at... all over England." Somehow he was able to tell them the answer without telling them. His head started pounding hard.
"More specific Harry, don't fight it. Where is the last place you hid?" Peter moved around to the front of the desk and sat down in front of Harry.
Harry felt himself starting to give away the answer and struggled against it again. "In a shack at the base of the hill. In..." He closed his eyes and took several quick breaths of air. "In..." The more he fought it the more he wanted to say it, but he couldn't let them know where Sirius was. His head started pounding, the more he fought it the more it hurt. Slowly it got dark and the pain started to disappear but the pounding sounded like someone was drumming on his head. Then there was nothing, he didn't know what happened.
•
He could feel himself laid out. He was on a mattress, a comfortable one. Slowly, unsure where he was now, unsure what was happening, he opened his eyes. He recognized the room, he had been here before but he couldn't really remember where it was. His mind didn't seem to be functioning correctly. Birdie was standing at the end of the table looking overly concerned.
"Are you alright Harry?" She questioned him softly.
He shook his head, trying to let some of the fog in his head dissipate. "I'm just a little dizzy,"
Her look changed to that of relief for a minute, and then to a straight poker face, the sort that you would usually see on an Auror. "Remus, he's ok, you can come in now."
Remus appeared at the doorway of the Infirmary. "Hello Harry, sorry that happened. Peter gets a little too assertive sometimes."
Harry looked at Remus. "Did I tell him? What did I say? I didn't, did I?"
Remus looked down at Harry. "You told them what we needed to know."
Afraid and unsure what was said, what secrets had been revealed Harry almost started to cry. What did Peter know, about himself, what things he had learned and done? Sirius always said Peter had a one-track mind, that was why he was good at doing things he set his mind to. Maybe, just maybe they hadn't asked Harry anything else accept things about Sirius. Maybe, hopefully, Sirius changed spots, got away from where he was.
"I don't remember saying anything. I didn't want to tell Peter, I don't..." Harry felt weird and suddenly everything sped up for a moment then slowed down.
Remus seemed to move like a puppet, very sluggish and a little jerky. Harry shook his head again and then it went away.
Remus looked down at him, almost thoughtful for a moment. "I'm Sorry for what Peter did; we've never had someone react like that to Veritaserum. It may not be the safest substance, but you didn't take enough to even hurt a newborn." He seemed sad, and angry at the same time.
"Remus Sirius didn't do it, I swear. He wasn't the secret keeper. It wasn't him, it was..."
"Shh Harry," Harry was cut off before he could tell them it was Peter, "rest, you need to rest for a while until the effects of the Veritaserum wear off. If Sirius didn't do it, we'll prove it but we have to catch and question him first." Birdie smiled, almost motherly.
Remus, who looked seriously displeased about something, huffed and turned, leaving the room. Birdie watched him go then turned back to Harry.
"Sorry he's acting like this, it's not what he's usually like, well accept for the past month or two."
Harry's eyes turned to the door where Remus had disappeared. If only they would of listened, if only he could tell them the truth. They wouldn't let him though; they wouldn't let him tell the truth.
"Birdie, what's he like? Remus I mean. Sirius couldn't explain it well. He said it was completely dependant on when. That some days he was quiet and docile, some days shy, sometimes he was rowdy and reckless. Is he like that now? I've not had the chance to meet him until now, it was putting too much at stake, for Sirius I mean, I couldn't just let him get caught." Harry breathed deeply.
"You really care for him don't you?" Birdie asked. Harry stared out the window of the infirmary. Maybe she would listen if he told her everything, slowly though. He would have to make sure not to rush her.
"He tried to be the best father possible, provided the circumstances. It wasn't his fault everything happened like it did, he didn't know it would happen like it did. He's sorry for it, for everything he allowed to happen, he told them, my parents to change secret keepers so that it all wouldn't fall to him. I think he was afraid for himself and my parents, he was afraid he might tell, that he might give away there secret, and afraid of what they might do to him to find it out. He did the only logical thing he could, tell them to get someone else, someone not so obvious. It wasn't Remus so it got passed onto..." He didn't say it, he wanted her to think about it, let it sit in her mind, and she would remember it better if it did.
"Well, that's interesting, really." She didn't sound that interested.
Well, he was doing the best he could, if she wasn't going to listen to him then maybe he could make friends with her and get her to believe later. She was detached right now, thinking, maybe he could start there. "What's wrong Birdie?"
Birdie glanced over to Harry and then back to the floor. "Nothing, I... I was just thinking."
Harry looked quizzically at her. Thinking about what?
"You said Remus always acted different, he's never acted like that before, not that I've seen. He's always been so straightforward and cold. I've always tried to imagine him being shy or rambunctious but I never could, it's so hard to see him like that. Earlier, when he disproved of Peter it surprised me, usually he is the one that is doing something like that, breaking the rules. Until recently I've never seen him act at all different, just quiet and emotionless. I didn't know I he even had emotions until two weeks ago when he snapped at me." Birdie was trying to hide something, keeping something hidden away but letting it out without letting Harry know. He could tell she was letting him know something without actually telling him, but what? "He's always been alone, never wanted a friend even if it was offered. Know one even knows what he's like outside of work, he spends most of his time working anyway, he'll disappear every few weeks for personal business, but no one really know why and that's the only time he doesn't work. He's never failed to do anything and won't let anyone, even if it is difficult, it's like he's punishing himself. Maybe he is, but I wish, I wish he would let some in... Let people get close to him..."
That was it, she like him. Her emotions didn't show but from they way she spoke, the way she played with her fingers she liked him. That was certainly interesting. She looked up at him and smiled, changing the conversation immediately. "So tell me, why did you jump out of the window last week? Was it just to save the teacher?"
Harry looked at her surprised, he knew he shouldn't have been but he was. "How did you know?"
She laughed lightly. "Do you really think we haven't been watching you? I've noticed you're quite keen on what's happening around you and wary also. You were the only person that noticed me come into the classroom."
Harry smiled remembering the beautiful Robin that had drifted in and sat at the window, finally hopping down behind the desks and changing into a woman. "That's why they call you Birdie?"
She nodded. "I'm the only Animagus in the department." Harry thought about Peter, obviously she wasn't the only Animagus. That must be why the Aurors didn't know about Sirius being an Animagus either, neither Peter nor Remus had spoken of it. If they had been watching him they must have known about Paka, and he had sent a few letters to Sirius so he knew Sirius knew what was going on, he had failed to mention some of the more dangerous stunts he had already pulled (like jumping out a window) but he had let him know almost everything. He had also been writing Virginia too, getting every single bit of information that he could about Peter and Sirius and his parents. She was investigating the spells that had been performed, incase there might be some after effect that could help them identify Peter as the keeper, something, any tidbit that might point to him.
"Yeah, I had to save him, one of the students did something stupid and that's how he ended up out the window. He lost his wand when he hit me as he flew out the window, so he couldn't save himself. I had to do something, I thought I might be able to summon the brooms from the hill."
"You thought you might be able to summon them? You seem pretty sure of yourself." Birdie looked at him curiously.
Harry looked at her and smiled, she already knew he could do difficult magic if she had been watching him. "I learned a little something here and there. Anyway, you've been here for how long?" Harry asked.
Birdie smiled. "Well, almost since the beginning of the year. You know, we're always watching you."
It chilled Harry, he had felt it occasionally for the last week but thought it might just be getting used to the castle. "You've been watching me all that time?"
"We know what you do before and after class, the letters you write, everyone you are in contact with. We know everything Harry, except the location of Sirius. We can't seem to locate him." Birdie had some mixed emotions about not finding Sirius. Maybe she could be convinced; it would take time and friendship. Harry thought about it, she seemed to know more than just the people he knew at Hogwarts but if they couldn't find Sirius they couldn't follow Paka, which also meant they didn't know everything. He still had a few secrets.
The door opened and Harry looked over surprised to see Ender smiling brightly. Birdie hugged him tightly.
"It's good to see you, I'm sorry I haven't been able to yet, had to keep myself a secret. You would know all about that though." She teased Ender happily.
"Yes," he looked over to Harry. "I know all about secret missions."
"Harry, this wonderful Auror happens to be my daughter." Harry almost choked, it was difficult to see Ender as a father.
"Would you excuse us for a few minutes Harry? We have a few things to talk about then I can leave her to do tortuous things to you." Ender smiled and Birdie hit him.
"Dad!"
Harry smiled and almost laughed Ender seemed to know how to do everything right. He watched the two disappear into the hallway. He laid his head down and stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours until the door opened and a very emotionally distressed Birdie walked into the room. Her face she looked down at Harry and then took a deep breath.
"They caught Sirius, he's dead." Harry took a deep breath and then another. It was impossible, they couldn't have caught Sirius, he was in hiding, he had stayed out of their hands for 10 years, and he couldn't just get caught now.
"NO!" He shook his head, he didn't want to admit it, "They didn't, he's fine."
Birdie shook her head. "I'm sorry Harry, Remus just got the message. Peter and McDaniel went after him; they seemed to have gotten enough information from you while you were under Veritaserum's influence. At least, that's what they alluded too. Remus is headed there now to find out everything, he wasn't even ready for it to happen this quickly.
Harry rolled away from Birdie and pounded his fist on the bed. "He can't be, he just can't. We've gotten away so many times before, it couldn't happen now. Where was he Birdie, where did they catch him?"
"Just above a little village. Otter something-or-other. They weren't too specific, it seemed like he was in a hurry when he reported to Remus."
Ottery St. Catchpole, that was where they had been. They couldn't have just found him. But if they knew about Virginia then they could have figured it out from her being his friend. Why didn't Sirius leave, why did he have to stay? He knew it wouldn't be safe.
Harry rolled again to the side, standing up. "I have to go see him."
Harry started for the door but was blocked by Birdie immediately. "You can't leave, you aren't in the shape to leave this room and I can't let you go anyway, it would be defying my orders." Harry nodded and stepped back, he tried to remember if there was a secret passage that was in the room. If there was then he could sneak out if Birdie would lie for a few minutes. But first she would have to leave the room.
"Birdie, I'm a bit hungry, would you mind getting me something to eat?"
Birdie shook her head. "I'm sorry about it Harry, we were supposed to catch him, not let him die."
Harry closed his eyes, fighting away tears. "Peter didn't want people to know the truth and it was easier to get rid of Sirius in his position. No one believes the guilty."
Birdie turned and looked at Harry with a curiosity for a second and then turned away. "I'll get that food right away. Now don't you go anywhere." She closed the door and most likely locked it from the outside.
Harry rushed over to the corner and counted the bricks, there was a passage here, somewhere. Nine over, five across, push the stone pull the one above. The first stone didn't work, the bottom stone didn't press in, six over perhaps? He tried, nothing, six and eight? No. Closing his eyes, Harry tried to recall Sirius saying something about the passage maybe it was nine over and five up. He pushed and the rock gave way, pushing his hand into the hollowed out portion of the rock above he pulled hard. It also gave way. The rocks flowed inward, slowly shaping a passage, a small passage.
Harry pushed himself into the hole and started crawling. The passage opened up a moment later into a much larger passage, this one wound down the castle. He hurried along, once they found he had disappeared they would look for him. If he could just get off the grounds, into the Forbidden Forest of Hogsmeade, he could apparate away to the shack.
The path almost dropped out from under him, suddenly becoming a nearly sheer drop then slowly leveling out. Harry, unable to see clearly, stumbled and lost his footing, falling down the path. He rolled, unable to stop himself. As he fell something snapped, he cried out in pain but in the deserted tunnel no one would hear him. His body continued rolling for several more meters and Harry whimpered again. The tunnel finally leveled off and he came to a stop, laying flat on his face, his hand tucked under him at a strange angle.
He wasn't sure if it was broken, but it was extremely painful. He raised his head and looked around, he tried to get his bearings, but never having been in the passage he didn't know how much further it went. His mind focused on the most important thing, his wand. He turned as best as possible looking for it, it had disappeared sometime during the fall. After several minutes of painful searching he concluded that he wouldn't be able to find it and stopped completely.
Unable to do much else he lay back on his back and stared at the dimly lit ceiling. His thoughts turned to the last hour. Why didn't Sirius escape this time? Why, after the last ten years, after every close encounter they had had, why now? Angry at the world, angry that life was so unfair Harry found he couldn't do anything but cry. It was a long time before the tears letup, before he could think of anything else besides Sirius. Peter Pettigrew filled his mind, he was going to kill him, he was going to tear him apart, make him pay for all the pain and death he had caused. First, he would have to get out of this place.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled himself to his feet. One of his ankles was swollen and tender, too tender to walk with. So he leaned against the wall, using it as a sort of crutch. Using his good foot and good arm he made his way step by step down the passage. After an hour or so of falling and getting back up and continuing on, he found himself presented with a wall. It was the end of the passage, on the other side was a corridor, one of the main halls in the castle. He remembered where it let out, but couldn't remember how it opened, another trick of some sort. He dropped back down to the ground, knowing that if he let himself relax, if he'd think about it long enough maybe he could remember what Sirius had said about getting out of the tunnel. He closed his eyes, trying to think straight. Slowly his mind darkened until he couldn't even think. There were voices, close but at the same time far-off. He could barely hear them talking.
"You think he's alright?"
"Looks as though he was struck by a dragon."
"Alicia might be able to get a friend in Ravenclaw to help us out. She got us out of trouble last time, we'll just have to make sure we give her a good thank-you gift."
"I'll give her a proper gift." There was a snort. "No one's outside the passage right?"
"No, they're all in their common rooms and Filch said he'd leave us be when he caught me wandering earlier. Said we had better take proper care of him."
"I've never seen Filch do that."
"Surprised me too, surprised me even more he knew we could find him."
"Think he knows?"
"Yeah, I think he knows we took it."
"But he couldn't know what it was."
"He might, he just might not know how to activate it."
"Well, let's get him going, we need to get him into the common room before anyone spots us out this late."
Harry felt himself being lifted into the air. The pain was too great, he couldn't grasp consciousness any longer and everything went black again.
•
He was in his room again. Slowly, cautiously, he sat up, testing himself. His arm was ok, his ankle sore, but no longer swollen and painful. Sitting up he remember little pieces of what had happened, someone standing over him, healing him, hands carrying him to bed, a friendly voice arguing just beyond his curtain, Hermione.
He pulled the curtain to the side, looking around, nobody was in the room. Through the window he noticed that the sun was up, high in the sky. Harry wondered and hoped it was only Friday, it had been Thursday. All of the sudden everything rushed back to him. He had talked to an Auror... named... Birdie, and Peter and Remus... Sirius, they had killed him.
Harry tried to cry but could not, his tears wouldn't come. Damn them all. Damn Peter damn Voldemort. Grudgingly, knowing that he would have to do it anyway, Harry stood up. One step at a time, he had to do it, he had to get along with life, and he would, little by little. First to the bathroom, splash some water on his face. Pull on a clean shirt. Out of the boys' dorm, down the stairs and into the common room. When he came to the landing above the common room he noticed that there was one person in the common room, Hermione.
As Harry took another step she looked up. "Harry!" Her voice was happy and sad all at once, she gave him a look of pity for a moment. "I'm sorry Harry, I heard about everything, about Sirius." He took a deep breath and another step, down the staircase, step by step. He looked up again, seeing a concerned look pass over Hermione's face. "Harry?"
Another step and he stopped thinking. "Thank you Hermione."
"You don't look well at all Harry. Are you sure everything's ok?"
One step and another he could do this. He made it to the bottom of the staircase and grabbed a hold of the banner, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "it's all alrigh..." he blinked as he spoke and the world suddenly sped up.
Hermione sat for a second and then practically leapt out of her chair and ran towards Harry. Startled he blinked again she slowed, moving at a grueling pace.
Harry shut his eyes tightly and covered his face with his hands. When he opened his eyes and dropped his hands everything was back to normal accept for Hermione was right next to him and looking at him strangely. "Harry, you look ill."
He looked directly at her and with all of the nerve he could muster spoke sadly. "I'm fine Hermione, just having troubles dealing with it." He bowed his head and then looked back up, curiosity overtaking every other sensation he was having. "Someone pulled me out, who?"
Hermione blinked, a little surprised at the change of conversations. "Uh... Gred-- no Fred and George Weasley, Ron's older brothers. They brought you in last night pretty late. Said they had found you in one of the old vacant hallways. Everyone had been looking for you since yesterday afternoon. Well, most of the Gryffindor's and a few Hufflepuffs. Someone said something to a Slytherin, and Malfoy told us that that he'd rather eat a live Chunga than look for you, most of the Slytherins seemed to agree."
Harry wouldn't have thought a Slytherin would help him anyway. So, he was found, by the Weasleys, with the use of the Marauders Map no doubt, but why was Hermione here, waiting for him? "Hermione, I was wondering why..."
"I'm here because I was worried, I needed to see how long you would be ill for. The twins brought a friend here to fix you, I wanted them to take you to the infirmary but they said you would only get into more trouble. Ms. Ingress seemed to do a good job, I watched. She said you would probably be sore for the next few days, that's you had broken your ankle badly."
Harry looked down at his ankle, he couldn't remember the pain, and just that it was almost too much to even think about. In fact he didn't even want to think about it. "Hermione, I know you wanted to see if I was ok, but why are you the only one?"
"The teachers thought it would be best if I stayed, that I would make sure everything was taken care of properly. Besides, I'm a week ahead in everything accept potions." Hermione tugged a little on the corner of her hair.
Harry sat down, he didn't feel at all like standing anymore. "Um ok, you can go to class or do whatever you're supposed to." If Hermione would leave maybe he could get out of the castle without any other obstacles.
"I will not leave, I was told that you would sneak out, that that's how you disappeared earlier. I am not about to have you getting yourself into trouble. You have to deal with what happened, nothing can change it."
That was it! Something could change it. Harry knew how he could; he would just have to get a hold of something.
• Edited 2004.09.18 •