Hermione floated back to the common room in a blissful dream. The Fat Lady smiled at her, understanding completely, and swung aside, murmuring to herself "Yes, I remember that feeling well…"
Once she was inside, Harry sprinted over to her, a huge grin on his face. Ron followed more slowly, looking a bit dubious.
"Hermione, you'll never guess what!" said Harry excitedly.
"He's going out with Sîan Phillips," Ron finished glumly.
"Isn't it great!" Harry didn't seem to notice Ron's lack of enthusiasm.
"It's fantastic, Harry," Hermione reassured him, even though the information didn't really sink in, and she didn't notice the utterly betrayed look on Ron's face.
"What's wrong with you Hermione?" he asked, studying her closely to discover why on earth she had backed Harry going out with a Slytherin. "We haven't seen you all evening – did Snape make you cut every blade of grass in Hogwarts with nail scissors or something?"
"No, I've been in the library. Snape's just making me help Filch clean the bathrooms on Thursday evening."
Ron raised his eyebrows. "That's not too bad. He must be going soft."
"…For the next two months."
"…Oh."
"Won't that affect your studies, 'Mione?" asked Harry mischievously.
Hermione's brows furrowed. "Yes, you're right. I will be pressed for time now there's Draco as well."
"Draco Malfoy? What's he got to do with it?"
"Yeah, why are you on first-name terms with him? Are you two going out or something?" Ron laughed, but Harry gave him a hard nudge when he noticed Hermione's serious face.
"Actually yes, we are," she answered simply.
Ron's mouth dropped open. "You have to be joking."
"She's not joking, Ron." said Harry slowly.
Hermione smiled guiltily, but Ron just blinked, gob smacked.
Suddenly a light dawned in Hermione's eyes, and she exclaimed, "Harry! You're going out with Sîan! That's wonderful - I always knew you two would get together!"
Ron frowned and shook his head disbelievingly at his friends, who were still talking excitedly about their new beaus. Eventually he could bear it no longer and stalked off to talk to Dean and Seamus who were playing wizard chess in a corner.
"Girls are gross," he declared, slumping into a chair.
"You've not fallen out with Granger again?" Seamus rolled his eyes. "Oh, by the way Dean, I've checked your king."
Dean frowned, and Ron smiled slightly, knowing the tactic well. "It's girls in general," he moaned. "All they seem to do is buy new clothes, or giggle about boys. And I can't tell the difference between most of them anyway, so what's the point of having a makeover or whatever and coming out looking exactly the same as you did before? And now Harry's almost as bad – oh Dean, you need to move your bishop here. Now you've checked Seamus."
"Hey, no fair!" the Irish boy protested. "Everyone knows Ron is unbeatable."
Dean grinned triumphantly. "So what's Harry done then? Had a fling with Hermione?"
"Worse," muttered Ron. "They're both going out with Slytherins."
Dean raised his eyebrows, and Seamus gave a low whistle." Who are they?" he whispered conspiratorially.
"Think of the worst people possible," replied Ron shortly.
Seamus paused before answering, "Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson."
"You're half right. Hermione's with Malfoy, and Harry's with that new girl, Sîan Whats-her-name."
Seamus visibly flinched, but Dean said "Well, Sîan is pretty good looking I guess."
"DEAN!" Ron punched him on the shoulder. "It's disgusting! I don't know what he thinks he's doing with her – why can't he find some nice Gryffindor girl like Lavender or Parvati…ok not them, but you get the picture. And Malfoy – MALFOY!! It doesn't even bear thinking about!"
"Calm down, Weasley," murmured Seamus, his eyes glued to the chessboard. "Wait a minute…checkmate Dean! I win!"
"Oh, thanks a lot, Ron," he muttered, but the redhead had already stormed off to the boys dorm.
xXx
A couple of hours later, Harry nervously climbed the steps to the boys' dorm. Knocking softly, he entered, and saw the redhead lying on his bed. "Hi Ron, " he said gently.
"Shouldn't you be on a date somewhere?" came the muffled reply, and he rolled over so his back was turned to Harry.
Harry moved over to the bed and sat down. "Listen Ron, I'm sorry for leaving you out earlier this evening."
"Don't mention it. I'm sure I would only have been a bore anyway."
"Oh, don't be like that," said Harry, hurt.
Ron sat up slowly and hung his legs over the side of the bed, his back still to Harry, and his head bowed. "It can be tough being Harry Potter's best friend you know."
Harry was taken aback. "I – I never thought about it like that before…"
"Of course you didn't. You were too busy being a celebrity with a gorgeous girlfriend to take any notice of me…wow that was harsh. I'm really sorry, I don't mean it, I guess I'm just a bit jealous, that's all. You've got loads of stuff to deal with and-"
"It's ok Ron," cut in Harry reassuringly. "I have been a bit…distracted recently. It's the holiday's the day after tomorrow, and we're all three of us staying at Hogwarts, so why don't we go and visit Hagrid? We've barely seen him all year."
Ron turned slowly to face Harry. "Just you, me and 'Mione?" he asked cautiously.
"Promise." Harry held out his hand. "And then I promise to treat you both to a Butterbeer in The Three Broomsticks."
Ron broke into a grin, and shook Harry's hand. "Honestly, I'm hopeless at sulking," he said
"You're a sucker for bribery too!" laughed Harry, and the two friends went to find Hermione and tell her their plans.
xXx
Harry walked out of Potions the next afternoon with Serena. Their Cantabilus Potion was coming along well – Serena wasn't as especially talented as Hermione, but she was hardworking, and the potion was definitely taking shape. Harry was positive that they would get a decent mark for it.
"You want to go somewhere tonight?" he asked, taking her hand.
"Sure, she answered, and Harry smiled at her, still enchanted by her sexy French accent. Suddenly she winced and snatched her hand away. "I mean no! I have to er, study tonight. Big Arithmancy test after the holidays, you know…"
Harry frowned. "Do you have to? There'll be a beautiful full moon tonight, I thought we could go for a walk…besides you have the whole of the holidays to study."
"I can't-"
"I could help you study if you want. I'm hopeless at Arithmancy, but-"
"I'm sorry Harry," she said quickly, and hurried away without looking back, leaving Harry standing bewildered in the corridor.
Soon after, Hermione came out of the classroom arm in arm with Malfoy, followed by Ron who was eyeing them distastefully.
"Hello Harry – why are you on your own? I thought you were with Sîan," she said.
"Um, I don't really know – she just ran off."
"Well she is Slytherin," muttered Ron, but he immediately received a vicious poke from Hermione. Draco shot him a venomous look, then whispered something in his girlfriend's ear, kissed her cheek and headed off towards the Slytherin common room.
"Gross," whispered Ron under his breath.
Harry stood silent for a while, collecting his thoughts, then an idea came to him, and he began running towards the Gryffindor Tower. Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, then rolled their eyes and ran after him.
Once inside his dorm, Harry ripped open his trunk and searched through his belongings until he found what he was looking for. Grabbing the tattered parchment, he went down to the common room where his friends were waiting for him.. They found a quiet corner, and Harry unrolled the parchment, touched his wand to it, and stated "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Instantly, lines began to appear on it, and a map of Hogwarts appeared, with little labelled dots moving along the corridors.
"The Marauders Map? Harry, don't you think you're betraying Sîan's trust?" Hermione scolded.
Harry paused, but said, "Of course I trust her. I just want to see if I can find out why she needs to study alone," and he scanned the map, ignoring Hermione's pursed lips.
However, after a minute, he looked up, confused. "I can't see her," he said.
"She has to be here somewhere." Ron took the map and studied it. "Hey, you're right Harry, she's not here. But look, Fred and George are in the kitchens, probably getting some start-of-holiday celebration food. Perhaps we should waylay them in the corridor…" He looked up, grinning slyly.
"Ron don't be ridiculous." Hermione snatched the map. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Harry," she breathed. "Remus Lupin is in the DADA classroom."
"Bloody hell," marvelled Ron.
"Who's that with him?" wondered
Harry, staring at the map. "Serena Silvan…"
"Doesn't ring any bells with me," said Ron.
"Me neither," said Hermione, still gazing at the now stationary dot labelled "Remus Lupin."
"Looks like there's only one thing left to do," ended Harry, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.
xXx
Five minutes later, the three friends crept along the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Stopping outside the closed door of the classroom, they pressed their ears to the wood to hear the hushed voices within.
"You've taken the Potion, Serena? Good. Well, we had best be off to the forest before it begins," said Remus' kindly voice.
Two sets of footsteps crossed to the door and Harry, Ron and Hermione jumped backwards out of the way, pressing themselves against the wall. The door opened, and Harry gasped as he saw a girl with long brown hair appear. Hermione gripped his shoulder to prevent him from saying anything, and he watched his girlfriends as she looked out of the window opposite at the darkening night, before sighing and turning back to face the doorway she had just come from.
Suddenly all three friends gasped as a second figure left the classroom and locked it behind him.
"Professor Dangen," breathed Ron, staring in disbelief at his teacher.
"I hate this," said Serena quietly.
Remus looked pained. "I know. I'm sorry for inflicting this pain on you my dear, but I'm afraid that now it cannot be helped. Come, It's time we left." And he led her away down the corridor.
As soon as they were out of sight, Harry started to go after them, but both Ron and Hermione grabbed him and held him back. He stared after them silently, his eyes revealing his betrayal. Sinking to the floor, his back against the wall, he put his head in his hands and whispered, "She lied to me."
"I know Harry," soothed Hermione, throwing off the Invisibility Cloak and sitting on the floor beside him. Ron leaned against the wall, his face showing nothing but confusion.
"But something tells me she did it for a reason, and we shouldn't interfere."
"But what's Lupin doing here in disguise, and running off with Sîan – who isn't Sîan – to the Forbidden Forest?" exclaimed Ron.
"Well, the first part's easy. Lupin has to be in disguise, because if he tried to teach in his usual guise, half the parents would take their children out of school because he's a werewolf."
"But why has Sîan – I mean Serena – changed her name?" asked Harry quietly. "And why does Remus know about it but no one else – except perhaps Dumbledore. And why do they have to get to the Forest before something begins? And what pain did Remus inflict on her?"
"You don't think he bit her or something?" asked Ron fearfully.
"Don't be ridiculous Ron, there's no way. You know Snuffles always keeps Remus under control when he transforms. But as to the other questions Harry – I'm afraid I don't know the answers," said Hermione sadly.