Chapter Six:
Sneaking Out
Harry woke up to Hedwig perched at the foot of his bed. She cocked her head to one side curiously at him, waiting for him to come and remove her delivery. He did so, and she nudged his hand affectionately. She flew off to the Owlery, leaving him to read his mail by candlelight, alone. His hands trembled as he recognized the writing on the outside of the envelope, like the previous one, there was only his name written, no sender was named. He desperately wanted to wake up Ron, but it was the middle of the night, so Harry braved it himself.
Harry,
Wherever you go, know that I know. Every whisper you hear, every breath on the back of your neck, know that it's me, coming closer and closer. And when I'm there, know that you won't live to see another day.
His heart was racing as he read and reread that threatening message in his hand. Voldemort was coming for him; there was no way to stop it. Maybe I should show Dumbledore, he thought. But if he did that, the school might have to be put under even more guard than it was already, and it was already bad enough with an Auror standing outside every classroom, bathroom and common room. He decided against showing anyone, including Ron, and tore it to pieces.
*~*~*~*
Harry could hardly concentrate the next day in Care Of Magical Creatures as Hagrid talked about the importance Unicorn blood, which Harry already knew all about anyways. "Summat wrong there, Harry?" Hagrid asked as the rest of the class went to work on experiments with the small amounts of blood they had been given.
"Huh? Oh no, nothing," Harry sighed, "Just um… tired." He smiled weakly up at Hagrid, who didn't seem to believe him, but left him alone just the same. The truth was he couldn't get his mind off of the letter he had gotten the night before. Someone really was going to try and kill him. Not that he had never been threatened before, but he was scared. He sat by himself until the end of class, not talking to anyone. Ron and Hermione decided it best to not bother him, and they were right.
He walked back to the castle with everyone else, but didn't follow them to the common room. He was walking, not really paying much attention to where he was goin and he ran right into someone. "Oh, I'm so sorry," He said, kneeling to pick up her books. He looked up and saw Sara staring back at him, with a very strange expression on her face. Harry couldn't tell if she was about to laugh or if she was mad. She didn't say anything to him as he gathered up her things, nor did she help him. Only when she had all her things back in her arms and he was continuing on his way did she say anything.
"Stay away from my sister," She said coldly, he stopped, surprised by her tone.
"Excuse me?" He asked.
"You heard me, stay away from her," She snapped, "It'll be more trouble than you're worth, Potter." With that she turned on her heels and went her own way. Harry stood, rooted with confusion. What on earth was she talking about?
Her words followed him as he wandered the halls aimlessly, 'Stay away from her'. Hadn't Jessica said there were problems with Sara before? Well, he didn't really know what she said, since she stopped short of finishing the sentence. Whatever it was, she frightened him. Harry only knew he wanted to stay far from her, as far as possible. Again Harry became lost in his thoughts, and ran right into another person, but this time a friendly face greeted him. "Professor Lupin!" He cried happily at the man who smiled back at him.
"I was wondering when I would see you," Lupin said with a smile. He led Harry to what he assumed was Lupin's office and shut the door. Snuffles was seated next to the large desk that sat in the middle of the small, and cramped room. He looked up at Harry and wagged his tail, making the young wizard laugh.
"What are you doing running the halls like this? Shouldn't you be with Ron or Hermione?" Lupin asked, he sounded concerned.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Don't tell me you haven't been getting them, too," Lupin said, walking over to his desk, pulling out four or five envelopes, all with the same writing as the ones Harry had received. Lupin handed them to him, and Harry read each and everyone. All had some hint as to Harry's death; all he did was shrug and set them back down on Lupin's desk. "Can't you see the seriousness of these threats?" Lupin demanded, his eyes giving away how concerned he was. Sirius stared up at him with pleading eyes, he knew Harry wasn't safe, and it killed him to not be able to protect his godson without risking going back to Azkaban.
"I am being careful," Harry said quietly, though he knew it to not be very true.
"Then what were you doing talking to Sara Pickering?" Lupin asked. He bit his tongue immediately. Harry's head shot up.
"Why is that bad?" He demanded. Lupin didn't answer. "What is there about her that no one will say?" again, no answer was given.
"Harry, don't worry about her, just try and be careful around her, and her sister," Lupin finally told him, "They are very powerful witches, and that can be extremely dangerous sometimes." Sirius nodded his agreement.
*~*~*~*
Harry had a lot to think about that night while trying to go to sleep. Before school had started Ron had suggested the twins might be involved in the messages apparently everyone close to him had been receiving. As completely off base as that had sounded then, it didn't seem too far-fetched now. Harry tried, but couldn't fall asleep. He decided to go for a short ride on his firebolt, Quidditch practice would be starting up again, and he needed to get back into the habit of flying. Using his invisibility cloak, he snuck out of Gryffindor dormitory with only a sleep filled scolding form the Fat Lady. He crept past all the Aurors, who were now patrolling the halls, and out the front doors.
He easily found his broom in the shed and mounted it. Flying was second nature to him, as it had been to his father, as Sirius had told him. The broom glided effortlessly through the clear night sky, the stars sparkled brightly, almost winking at him as he flew under them. Just then somethin caught his eye. Below him, probably unaware he was even there, was a cloaked individual, walking cautiously toward the dark forest. The sight drudged up memories from his first year at Hogwarts, and he reluctantly decided to follow them. But whoever it was didn't go into the Dark Forest, they stopped. Harry froze in the air, praying they hadn't heard him. The person pulled back their cloak, and Harry gasped silently at what he saw. Sara stood looking carefully around; she seemed to be waiting for something. She looked toward the Dark Forest and was almost about to start walking again, when she looked directly up at him. His heart speed up as a sick smile spread across her face. She whispered something, so quiet he couldn't hear what was said, and then with nothing else, she disappeared.
*~*~*~*
Hermione had told Harry many times before, there was no way a person could apparate on Hogwarts Grounds, it was impossible. But if that were true, what had happened last night? He wondered. Was Sara such a powerful witch that she had broken the protection spells that had been put all around the school, was that possible? Those spells had been there for many years, and they were extremely powerful, Harry just couldn't see how anyone could break them. He decided to find another way for her to have just disappeared. So he went to the library.
He spent many hours there, looking up transportation spells, but none seemed to fit. He decided to ask Hermione if she knew of any. "What's this about?" She asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, I'm just curious," He explained.
"You're not thinking of sneaking out and trying one of these are?" She demanded, he assured her that he wouldn't dream of doing anything of the sort, and she seemed satisfied with that. She told him of the different types of spells, but like the rest, none seemed to fit.
