Chapter Eight - Dark Poem

Harry pouted heavily at Ron. "You don't think..."

"I think..."

Harry grabbed Ron's arm and stopped him in the middle of the corridor. "What are we going to do? I thought they only wanted to inform him what happened, not accuse him of committing the murder!"

"Harry, there's no way he could have killed Seamus," Ron stated plainly, "werewolf or not! We would have woken up. Wouldn't a wolf attack be...erm...painful and loud?"

Harry nodded. "Defiantly. There was something much more going on here."

"Besides," Ron added, "Snape's potion always causes Remus to be calm, right?"

Furrowing his brow and walking once again, Harry replied, "Y...Yes! So, it couldn't have been him, right? I mean, it doesn't make sense."

Harry and Ron contemplated all this new information and theories that entered their mind. Harry tried hard to shrug it all off, but nothing would get his mind off the fact that Remus Lupin was being called a murderer. Over in his mind he thought of Sirius, and how both of these best friends had been charged of massacring innocent people. It was all wrong.

Harry was so concentrated on the problem at hand, he didn't watch his step and he ran into someone. He muttered a sorry and looked at the person who had run into his nose. To his dismay, it was Ruby. She was not her usual smiling self, but instead serious and frowning. And her eyes, Harry noticed, were red, not their usual green.

"Ruby?" Harry began, but she cut him off before he could say anything else.

"Hello Harry, I'm so sorry, but I really must see the Headmaster about something..."

"He's busy right now Ruby. Is anything the matter?"

Ruby sarcastically laughed. "Anything the matter? A student is dead, Mister Potter. And I for one am failing with my mission!"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Mission? I thought you were simply transferred."

Notoriously, Ruby shook her head. "Oh no, Harry. There is much more to me than there is to me. I am a deceiving, conniving little girl."

Harry smirked. "I don't know if I like hearing this."

"You'd better," Ruby replied before breaking into a strange smile. "Who knows? I may just save your life." And after receiving a strange look from Harry, she chuckled to herself and made her way to Dumbledore's office.

Ron started at Harry, who was transfixed on Ruby's back. "Hey! Anyone there?" He waved a hand in front of Harry's face, who snapped out of it. "That was weird. Now come on, we need to go find Hermione."

Nodding slowly, Harry agreed, "That was strange, Ron. I don't like it. She's worrying me."

"Just come on!" Ron urged. "The mail's coming soon. I'd like to get my letters, if that's alright with you."

Harry nodded and headed off with Ron to the Great Hall.

^*^*^

"Sir, we have no choice but to take him into custody. Both of them, actually."

Dumbledore shook his head. "You can't! This is ridiculous."

"Orders of the Minister, sir! I cannot disobey. Minister Mysticus has demanded that Black be brought to justice. And I'm sure as soon as he hears of the boy's death, he'll enforce the arrest of Mister Lupin here," argued the Auror.

"Nixon," Dumbledore pleaded, "I beg you. These are innocent men!"

"I wouldn't expect you to argue with the law, Headmaster!" Nixon fought. "I believe you, because I highly respect you and your beliefs. If you say Black and Mister Lupin are innocent, then I will do everything I can to for their release. But until I can, I must bring them to Norsip."

"Norsip?" asked Trelawney.

"It's the prison we've been using until Azkaban is completely fixed," Nixon explained. He turned to Sirius and Remus. "I'm sorry to both of you. I do believe you are innocent, but both of you must come with me. Quietly, if you'd like the chance to be released."

Remus stood and smiled. "Can you read me my rights then? I'll cooperate in anyway I can."

Nixon sighed. "I hate to do this, Mister Lupin, but..." he conjured some cuffs. "You do have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right an attorney. If you do not have one, one will be appointed to you."

Sirius stepped up to Nixon and held out his hands. "Might as well. Can we say déjà vu?" he laughed hoarsely. "I never thought I'd be doing this again." He looked sternly at Nixon as he put on the cuffs. "Can I ask you a question?" When Nixon nodded, Sirius continued, "Why do you call Remus 'Mister' and not me?"

Nixon just laughed, and was about to reply when Snape entered the room with Ruby and Dean.

"Here's two, sir. Potter and Weasley were supposedly in quite a rush to the Great Hall. I'm assuming to talk to Granger. Would you still like me to get them?" He saw Sirius and Remus in the cuffs. "Ah, the Ministry is finally cracking down. It will be so fun to see you two behind bars."

"That is quite enough, Severus!" Albus snapped, causing Snape to look at him in surprise. "I will be doing everything in my power to liberate them, and I hope you will assist me. I trust you will?"

Snape snorted, but regretted it when he saw the fire in Albus' eyes. "Yes sir," he said quietly, like a young boy who had just been disciplined by the strict teacher.

Ruby let the situation sink in, while Dean took a seat in the chair Remus had been previously sitting in.

"Headmaster," Dean started, "do you want to know about...last night?"

Albus nodded. "Please, Mister Thomas. I know this may be hard, considering you and Mister Finnigan were close friends, but this is very important. Go as far as you can, but I will not force you to go beyond what you are capable of divulging within one sitting."

Dean took a heavy sigh, and took a few moments to sort his feelings. At last, he began. Slow, but steady words flowed from his lips.

"Seamus and I had ended the evening with some wizard chess, taught to me by Ron Weasley. We were growing quite fond of the game. I remember it ended in a stalemate. We decided that considering it was only us, Harry, Ron, and a few younger students up that we might as well go to bed. I went up with him. He fell asleep before me, and I only know this because of his snoring problem. Eventually, Harry and Ron came up, I was still awake, and we all went to bed comfortably. The door was closed, the window curtains were drawn.

"I woke around two, because I had to go to the bathroom. I looked around but it was difficult to see because there was so little light. I squinted and saw a large something on top of Seamus' bed. I whispered Seamus' name, thinking that he just wasn't sleeping well, and the thing turned to me. It's eyes were bright red, burning like fire. I froze, and tried to scream but nothing came out." He lowered his head, embarrassed. "I wanted to get Harry and Ron's attention, but couldn't. I reached on the bedside table for my wand, but it wasn't there. I had left it in my robe. And when I turned back to see if Seamus was all right, the thing was gone. The room was empty." He put his hands through his hair. "I did try, but I feel like it's my fault."

Albus said in a sweet voice, "It is most certainly not your fault, Dean, I can assure you. Now, I need to know how the werewolf got inside the room. Open door? Broken window?"

Dean shook his head. "That's just the thing, sir. Whoever is the last person to come in always locks the door-we have ever since Ron was attacked by Sirius Black (Sirius scowled). Of course when I noticed it was gone, I jumped up looking at the door. But, sir, it was locked. Just like Ron had left it. I know he locked it, because I saw and heard him. The door was in one piece, sir, and there was no entry through the window. Besides, how could a werewolf enter a tall tower through a window?"

"No entry through the door? Are you sure, Dean?" asked McGonagall.

"Positive," Dean reinforced. "Completely positive. I even remember watching Ron unlock it when we went to get help."

Albus looked up at McGonagall, who raised an eyebrow back.

"If there was no entry through a window," Snape said slowly, "and the door was locked the whole time...how the bloody hell did it get in?"

^*^*^

"There you two are. We were about to go looking for you," Hermione said, as Ron and Harry sat down at the table. There were various letters in front of Hermione. "Here, Ron, this is from your mother. And Harry, this one is for you." Hermione handed Harry a small black envelope.

He grabbed it and opened it slowly, sure enough to find a tiny black piece of paper inside, barely big enough to hold a poem, which was illuminated in sparkling gold letters.

Fear the dark, And its ways. Feel the cold, Until the day. Be afraid, Of what is to come. Be afraid, You're the only one.

Day is happy, Bright and gay. But at night, You shall pay. Sleep well, No dreams tonight. Let Nocturnal Fear, Be your only fright....

Harry stared at it, flustered by the threat. Ron read it over his shoulder and gasped.

"What's that all mean?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't know. But I have a bad feeling about this."