Just Another Year at Hogwarts

Chapter 3:

That night they all headed back to the common room with calm. They had finally cooked up a plan that sounded half-decent. Each of them had a separate part, so as not to look suspicious, and it would also help them cover move ground in a smaller space of time.

Harry was in charge of asking the questions, though he had to do it in a round-about way. If he could get any of the teachers to slip some information, he would have accomplished his goal. Much to his dismay, Ron got library duty. He had to find anything he could on the day vampire. Hermione was left to the sneaking. All were doing things that wouldn't be expected of them.

"Wait a minute." Ron whispered suddenly causing everyone to pause.

"What is it Ron?" Hermione asked just as quietly.

"Since we're already out of bed anyway, why don't we stop by the infirmary?" There was an excited glint to his eyes. Ron had come to love running around getting involved in everyone else's business.

"You know what, you're right, but we have to be quick, curfew is in about forty minutes, if we're not in Gryffindor Tower by then they'll send someone looking for us." Harry responded.

"Oh fine, hold on, just let me check if anyone's coming." Hermione looked around the corners and down the halls quickly as they extracted the cloak from it's hiding place. She nodded her consent seeing as it was safe and Harry quickly swept it over the three of them. After checking to see that no stray feet or anything like that were sticking out, they changed direction.

Ten minutes later they were there, after getting passed the locked door they scanned the rows of beds. All of them were empty. They all looked at each other as if to say, 'Now what?'

It dawned on Hermione suddenly that there were private rooms reserved for certain cases. She motioned them towards a door at the end of the room and the boys followed closely behind.

They paused at the door and were about to test if it would open without complaint before they heard a faint voice then a muffled thump.

~~~~~~

Madam Pomfrey had done one last quick check on the young woman before heading to her office. It was the only patient she had staying overnight. She was glad to see that most of the bruises had finally vanished and her wounds were beginning to heal nicely. 'Thank goodness it's still a week before the new moon.'

Her footsteps echoed softly throughout the room as she made her way out. Little did she know that bright, jade-green eyes were staring at her retreating form from the bed she had just checked. When the coast was clear the girl sat upright in the bed, bending her head forward, her reddish brown hair falling to her face. 'I made it, I'm alive...' She quickly stood up from the bed, she was safe for now, but as soon as they found out she was feeling better she would be shipped off to either St. Mungo's or Azkaban for sure. She pulled on her regular clothes and searched quickly for her wand but it was nowhere to be found. "Damn.." she whispered to herself.

She looked around again, and seeing nothing she tried something she knew could possibly give her away. "Accio wand." Her hissed order came out a soft whisper. There was a thump heard some five feet away from her, the sound of wood hitting wood. 'An invisible cabinet... should've known.' She walked up to the unseen cabinet, touched her hand to it and it soon came into view.

She was about to reach over and open it when the slight sound of shuffling reached her ears. She froze. Someone was right outside the door. She listened closely, the movement had stopped.

Holding her breath she opened the cabinet slowly and her wand shot right into the palm of her hand. She held it firmly as she reached for the door, whoever was on the other side would be stupefied before they could blink.

~~~~~~

Harry's heart raced as he saw the handle of the door begin to turn. Hermione and Ron held their breaths as they waited for whomever it was to emerge. It was so quiet that if they attempted to move, they would be heard, so they stood there, not three feet from the door hoping beyond hope that they wouldn't be found out.

The door then swung open with the tiniest of creaks. Harry's eyes widened in fear as the figure emerged. It was the witch they had seen a few days ago!

Hermione could barely hold back a gasp as she took in the womans features. She had the same striking eyes as Harry and she seemed so much like, 'His mother!' She thought in shock, 'but no...' There was something different about the woman that was looking around the room. She was very pale, and had a distinctly aristocratic look about her, something that Harry's mother, though quite beautiful, did not posses.

Ron and Hermione looked between each other and Harry, noticing he seemed in some kind of trance as he watched the woman move about slowly, checking the room. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Harry didn't know what to think.

Ron too was at a loss, 'She seems just so much like... but she's too young, and besides his mo-' Nope, Ron wasn't going there.

That was when Ron elbowed him to bring him back to sanity. Unfortunately this brought with it an undesired affect as Harry took in a sharp breath. They stopped. The woman was looking dead at them.

"Who's there?" a voice called out, but it wasn't the woman with green eyes. A light shown a few feet away.

The woman looked back towards it, then looked back at the spot where Harry, Ron and Hermione stood frozen. After a seconds time, she swept back into the room she had come from.

The teenaged trio decided this was their chance to get the hell out of there and they ran for the door. They made it outside just as Madam Pomfrey looked in where they had been.

~~~~~~

The trio didn't stop running until they had made it back to Gryffindor tower with five minutes to spare. As they all made their ways to bed, each had a mindful of thoughts to ponder on for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok... sorry for the short chapter but I couldn't wait to update. More mystery ensues! As always, please review!

Love,

AngelicEmpress