Disclaimer: I'm too tired for this… Besides, JK Rowling has stated she enjoys fanfiction.

The song Sirius sings later in this chapter is from the MGM motion picture, Singin' in the Rain, starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds.

Sleepless Nights

Chapter Five

Wee Small Hours

"When the sun is high in the afternoon sky,
You can always find something to do,
But from dusk 'til dawn,
As the clock ticks on,
Something happens to you."

Carly Simon

Mondays, as a general rule, suck. This does not always hold true, and there are exceptions. Nevertheless, do not make plans for Monday requiring luck to come together. Birthday parties get rained out, and the power lines breaking interrupt family reunions. This particular Monday was no different. However, the past few days had seemed like Mondays as well.

Hermione crawled out of bed that morning that morning with even less enthusiasm than the past few days. An ice cold shower woke her up enough that she could identify what colours she was wearing.

That weekend, she and Justin had been constantly hounded with cases of people who had been "kidnapped." They usually had gone to the bathroom, were taking an afternoon nap, or in Ron Weasley's case, had made a spontaneous raid on the Hogwarts kitchens. Hermione had confiscated all of his sugar-based loot as punishment for him and a reward for herself.

As Hermione fumbled towards the Great Hall for breakfast that day, students seemed to part before her. Hermione double-checked her bag to make sure she wasn't carrying two stone tablets engraved with Hebrew, but of course she had none. The real reason was most students had been shouted at, turned into pigs, and were forced to spend ten minutes squealing for mercy.

Hermione slid into the seat next to Ron. "Hey," he whispered quietly. Hermione didn't respond with words but instead intertwined her fingers with his and leaned her forehead against his shoulders. "Do you want to talk?" he asked. Hermione shook her head. "Damn," he muttered.

Hermione lifted her head. "Did you want to talk?" she asked, thunderstruck. She couldn't think of an instance when Ron had admitted to anyone that he needed to get something off his chest.

"Well, yeah. I'm worried about Harry."

"So am I." She put her head back on his shoulder.

"I know, and I think we could relate better with each other than with anyone else." Hermione nodded. "So do you want to meet in the Common Room?" Hermione shook her head. "Your room, I suppose?" She nodded.

"Come on, then. Eat some breakfast. You'll feel better."

"No, I won't," Hermione mumbled. She did manage to sit up and reach for a piece of toast, though. "I'll just bloat."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Come on, 'Mione. If an armload of chocolate doesn't make you bloat, eggs won't either." To enforce his point, he dished some onto her plate.

"Eggs are cholesterol bombs," she said after finishing her orange juice.

"Chocolates are sugar bombs," Ron retorted. "And yet you think it's all right to stuff yourself on those."

He would never understand. Chocolates are more than comfort food; chocolate is every girl's best friend, equipped with delectable shoulders to cry on.

Hermione continued poking at her eggs until Ron gave up trying to get her to eat them. They stood up to go when Dumbledore began tapping his glass. Ron and Hermione turned around to return to their seats, but the Headmaster waved them on.

They passed through the halls in silence, but more than words passed between them. Ron carried Hermione's books for her, which was no easy task, and he still managed to find an extra arm to wrap around her waist as the walked together. They said nothing, but they felt each other's concern.

They were also the first students to arrive to their Potions class. The place was darker than usual. The windows hadn't been opened except for one shutter creaking on its hinges. Three candles were flickering into non-existence as their wicks were burning out. With a nod, both Hermione and Ron pulled out their wands. "Lumos," they whispered. Light flashed around them, and Ron gasped at the dozens of spiders' webs that littered every surface. Hermione's eyes immediately focused on a stone table levitating at the front of the glass.

She began to move towards it and paused when she realized the floor was covered with a swirling mist. 'Odd…' she thought. 'The Dungeons never get this filthy.' She moved forward to the tablet. It was engraved with something she didn't recognize, and even if she could have, the light was too feeble.

"Illuminario," she whispered and tapped her wand to the stone. The letters lit up, and Hermione sighed when she saw they were runes. She dropped that class, but a spell she had used to study came to her mind. "Ansuz English." She ran the tip of her wand over the lines of runes, and the words were translated so she could read them. "Class is being held outside this week." Hermione nodded to herself then turned around to face Ron who was trying to find a way to retreat to the hallways but still look like he was protecting her.

"Come on, Ron," she said, grinning. "Class is outside."

" Let's go then!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway and upstairs. They managed to meet all of their classmates along the way, and the entire class was gathered outside on the front steps of the castle by the time the bell rang.

No one was out there to meet them. Draco Malfoy was the first to voice his opinions. "How typical. Mudblood Granger, Perfection extraordinaire, convinces the rest of us that class is outside for once!" The rest of the Slytherins nodded and clumped together to mumble among themselves.

Hermione was somewhat alone near the edge of the stairs. "I don't understand it," she muttered to herself. "That spell has always worked perfectly before."

"Of course it has. The others just don't have enough patience for my directions," a familiar voice whispered in her ear.

Hermione spun around. "Sirius!"

"That's Professor Black to you." He grinned.

"Sorry." Hermione smiled back.

"Class!" Sirius barked. The other students jumped then turned to face their substitute teacher, and Draco Malfoy turned paler than usual. "I have no earthly idea how your Potions Master usually begins class, but I am sure that this is not it! As much as it grieves me to say it, I am not going to be much different than what you deal with on a normal basis!" The class groaned. A snap of Sirius' fingers produced a booming sound that made everyone's back straighten.

Sirius glared at them for a moment, daring anyone to so much as scratch their nose. When he was satisfied, he spoke. "Now it turns out that Professor Sprout's Mud-Eaters are getting a little hungry this year, so Headmaster Dumbledore has given me permission to help them out a little. We will be brewing a large pot of-"

"Mud?" Malfoy grinned, and the other Slytherins sniggered openly. The Gryffindors merely tried to look like innocent by-standers.

"Twenty-five points off Slytherin for open mockery of this class. Keep your trap shut, Malfoy, and you might manage to keep your house from losing every point it's got." Ron grinned. "What I was saying before Malfoy interrupted was that this class will brew, as a group, a Rain Potion. I have enlarged a cauldron halfway between the Great Lake and the Greenhouses. Now let's go." He turned as if to leave and then seemed to think better of it. "I believe I forgot to mention that we will be making a human sacrifice in this lesson." In one motion, Malfoy was pushed to the front of the group. He had never looked so sheepish, but Sirius merely laughed. He walked off saying something about "gullible Slytherins…"

Later, as the students were rushing inside to escape the tumult of rain, Hermione and Ron were standing underneath a spell's rain-shield. Sirius had conjured an umbrella and was dancing around in a soaking Hawaiian shirt and pair of leather pants. "Are you coming inside?" Ron yelled over a clap of thunder.

His only response was, "I'm laughing at clouds, so dark up above! The sun's in my heart…"

Hermione laughed, and as she and Ron went inside, she tried to explain it to him. Needless to say, Ron saw no point in an American singing in the rain, so they gave up.

They weren't the only ones to give up that day.


"Imperio."

A little voice whispered, "Come on, stand up." He no longer had the will to resist, nor the strength to properly comply.

"Crucio."

For the fourth time that day, an Unforgivable Curse was uttered in the dark cellar that was sure to be Harry Potter's grave. Harry immediately crumpled under the intense pain he felt in every bone and muscle. He did not even have the strength to scream, but instead he started dry-retching. The curse seemed to last an eternity, but Harry had met eternity before. This brief exchange would be no different.

"Stand up." A boot connected with his side when Harry tried to comply but collapsed back to the floor. "Stand up and face your death, Potter." Another kick caused Harry to vomit what little food had been in his stomach. "Wingardium Leviosa," the Death Eater growled. As Harry's limp body floated in front of the cloaked stranger, he conjured a wet washcloth and smacked it into Harry's face. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to clean up your own sick? Oh, that's right," he sneered. "Your mother's dead." He released the levitation spell and walked away. The thick oak door slammed shut and was sealed with magic. Even if Harry had the strength to crawl to the door and attempt to escape on foot, they had taken his wand. It had been a Death Eater with black eyes who had pocketed it, and as improbable as it seemed, Harry hoped it had been Professor Snape.

Harry crawled back the small pile of straw he had been sleeping on for the past three days. As he curled up to sleep, he began thinking about Hogwarts and all the people so precious to him. He thought of Fawkes, and as he went over each of the bird's bright and fiery feathers, a phoenix song came to his ears. His spirit lifted, and he fell asleep.


Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office reading the Daily Prophet. Softly, Fawkes started whistling. The Headmaster peered over his shoulder in time to a see a tear fall from the phoenix's cheek and disappear before it touched the ground. The phoenix song faded.

"So," Dumbledore whispered quietly. "Harry is still alive."


It was both an Auror's dream and nightmare. Approximately twenty Death Eaters were gathered around a table, masks off and wands out. The only Death Eaters that weren't there were the LeStranges, Voldemort's ever-loyal servants. However, Voldemort had become more and more obsessed with Harry Potter and less concerned about the Death Eaters who were being killed in action. Everyone agreed something needed to be done about their master and his current streak of insanity. Debate was flying across the table. Words were loud and rapid between them.

"Silence!" roared Lucius Malfoy. He turned to face Snape. "Severus, you have much experience in deceiving the Dark Lord and avoiding his attentions. What do you say we should do with the boy?"

Snape sighed. "This is not a matter that will avoid our Master's attention. Even if the Daily Prophet had been told to keep the story quiet, which it wasn't, Lord Voldemort does not easily get a hand on the paper. However, he would quickly find out. He always does. His first step would be to cast a Plotting Spell, which of course wouldn't work. Then he would cast a Helios Charm, to find out if the boy was under sunlight. This is why I told you to put him in the cellar. After that, Voldemort would have to set out to find us, perhaps on foot. It is only a matter of time.

"As I see it, we have three options. We may kill the boy, modify his memory and return him to Dumbledore, or simply hand him over to Voldemort. Now, if we kill the boy, the world will come down around our ears. Not only will the Dark Lord be furious, but also every citizen of the wizarding world will be out for our blood. If we kill him, we kill ourselves. So, needless to say, that option won't work.

"We may be able to modify his memory, and I could take him back to Hogsmeade. However, I will point out that Memory Charms are easily broken. Voldemort did so with Bertha Jorkins, and quite frankly, if Voldemort can do it, we know Dumbledore can. Then, when Voldemort finds us, we will all pay the price. He will be so enraged that we captured Harry Potter and then simply let him go that, mark my words, he will kill us.

"Our third option is simply waiting for the Dark Lord to find us. We will tell him that we found the perfect opportunity to kidnap Harry Potter. We had no way of contacting him to tell him in precaution of the owl becoming intercepted."

"So we wait until he finds us? We have been fortunate not to be discovered for this long!" Nott exclaimed.

"We are fortunate that Potter has lasted this long," Severus growled. "Ten minutes of the Cruciatus Curse every six hours for three days would be enough to kill even the strongest Auror. And then two small bowls of gruel isn't much sustenance either."

Malfoy sneered. "What do you suggest we do, then? Place the boy in the finest room in the house, obey his every command, and offer him every possible opportunity to escape?"

"No," Severus snarled. "I was merely stating that if Potter dies before we can present him to the Dark Lord, I doubt he will be happy with us. Each one of you knows how Voldemort yearns for Harry Potter to fall at the Dark Lord's own hands. If we took that away from him, there wouldn't be enough of us left over for the Ministry to punish."

"We all know the Dark Lord's tricks. We know how he thinks –"

"A rabid dog has the deadliest bite," Snape sneered.

That did it. Around the table seventeen Death Eaters burst into arguments. This was exactly what Snape had wanted. It gave him the chance to check on Potter, something he'd been meaning to do for three days now. Making sure no one was really watching he slipped out of the room and quietly down the stairs to the cellar. He unlocked the door and lit his wand. Glancing around the room, he saw the back of an arm lying on the stone floor beside a pile of straw. Rushing over, he grabbed Harry's shoulders and turned him over. His eyes met only Potter's pale, gaunt face…

He burst into the room upstairs. "You fools!" he hissed, and the room fell silent. "Potter is dead!" A hollow silence enraptured the room. Unlike the normal silence Snape usually dealt with in his classroom, this was a silence as eerie as the eye of a frighteningly strong storm.

"You lie," hissed Malfoy. "It's not possible! He can't be dead!" His voice was rapidly rising into a scream of panic.

"You were down there an awfully long time, MacNair? What exactly were you doing?"

"I-I-I… I was…" He turned and fled the room. They could hear his footsteps pound down the hallway and come to a stop at the front entrance. There was a fumbling with chains and locks, and the door swung open with a bang. They gathered at the large window in the room and peaked behind the curtains to watch him run away.

Then something happened they did not expect. Through the open door came a loud voice. "Please, Master, no! I was coming to tell you, I swear it!"

Green light flashed from among the small grove of trees MacNair had dashed into.

"Shit," Avery whispered.

The window exploded, and shards of glass flew through the air like haphazardly thrown daggers, some finding their targets. High-pitched laughter followed.


Hermione Granger slowly trudged down to the dungeons. She knew Professor Snape wouldn't be there, but the agreement had been that she would wait for 15 minutes for him to arrive, then leave a note that she had attended.

She pushed the door open to find the spider-webs and ancient runes cleared away. The candles had been replaced with new ones, but only half the fog had been removed. Hermione shook her head and cleaned it up with a sweep of her wand. She took a seat and began to wait.

Seven minutes ticked by, and Hermione noticed with a start that the mist had returned. It was crawling underneath a door and spreading throughout the room. Hermione stood up and cautiously walked towards the origin.

She tried the door. She wasn't the least bit surprised to find it locked. There were no actual doorknobs or keyholes, so Hermione knew it wasn't a normal locking charm. Using the wrong counter-spell might result in catastrophe, certainly if the original caster had been Snape. And he certainly would not have used a basic spell.

Hermione couldn't think of any way but one, and she certainly did not approve of it. However, she couldn't be certain of what was gong on behind that door, and if Snape hadn't been able to supervise it for several days, it might need some sort of attention. She grabbed the nearest item, a quill, and prepared her wand for some advanced and certainly trouble-inducing Transfiguration.

"Adz Vacillate," With many elaborate twists and waves, magic poured from the tip of her wand and enveloped the quill, morphing it into an axe. Hermione picked it up, waited for its weight to adjust to her grip, and then swung it over her shoulder until the door had been cleared away.

Inside were two cauldrons. One was boiling over. Hermione grabbed two oversized dragonhide gloves and slipped them on her hands. She picked up the cauldron by its handles and slowly walked it over to the large sink in this miniature laboratory. Cautiously she poured it down the drain, and then set the cauldron itself down. Taking off the gloves, she reached for her wand and extinguished the fire it had been sitting on. It had clearly been a simple potion Professor Snape had been planning on taking care of later. 'But then Voldemort put a stop to that,' thought Hermione to herself.

She peered inside the other cauldron. It was only a quarter full and over extremely low heat. There were several scraps of paper stacked near it. As she picked them up and deciphered the Potions Master's scratchy handwriting, she was pleased to discover this cauldron contained their experiment. Hermione began flipping through his notes, but she stopped in surprise when she found one of her not cards stapled to a piece of parchment. He had boldly underlined it and added a side note: "Pair w/ porcupine quills for potency."

'So he does value my opinion,' Hermione thought with satisfaction. 'Well, it's nice to know I'm not wasting my time.'

Glancing quickly at her watch, she noticed that her 15 minutes were gone. She paused when she began to put the notes back. 'No. I can use them more than he can.' Hermione stuffed them into her pocket. She made another quick decision and took a few jars of handy ingredients she knew she didn't have. She wrote Professor Snape a note and left.


Spells were flying overhead. Snape had dropped to the floor when glass had blown out of the window, and he had quickly cast an Invisibility Charm over himself. The spell was enormously draining, and he barely had the strength to make the spell last through Lord Voldemort's entrance speech. Nevertheless, when the spells had erupted, Snape was very glad indeed. In all this commotion, no one would notice the door to the cellar swing open of its own accord (Lucius Malfoy had almost fallen on top of him while he was crawling across the floor).

As soon as the door was shut behind him, he gratefully released the spell. As exhausted as he was, he still had work to do. Silently he edged his way down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he felt a door with a lock, but no handle. Pulling out his wand, he whispered, "Alohamora." A quick spark of magic passed between the lock and the tip of his wand, and the door swung open.

"Lumos," he whispered, and the cellar was filled with dim light. There was the haystack with the boy sprawled out over it, his eyes closed. Snape grabbed his wrist, and using the very last ounce of strength he had, he Apparated back to Hogsmeade.


Hermione opened her portrait door and stepped inside. She was ready to crash in bed and sleep until the next Ice Age, but no such luck. Most of the candles were lit, and it took her a moment to realize why.

"Sirius! Remus! What are you doing here?"

"Why, Hermione," grinned Sirius Black, "you know all the professors have access to the Head Boy and Girl's dormitories! We just figured we'd be the first to put it to use!" He stood up off the couch and walked over to give her a hug. "Sorry I couldn't do that before you know, but I figured it might get you in more trouble than you can manage to create by yourself."

"Since when do you worry about trouble, Sirius Black?" Hermione asked.

"That's a good question. Moony, pop quiz! When did I last worry about getting in trouble?"

Remus shrugged. "To be quite honest, Padfoot, I have no earthly idea."

"Well, there you go, Hermione. We don't know."

"It's so nice to see both of you again! But why are you here, anyway?"

"Well… um… Moony, do you want to?"

"It doesn't matter, Padfoot. I'll do it." He cleared his throat, and Hermione arched an eyebrow as she sat down in her chair. "We came to apologize for Ron Weasley for not being here himself tonight –"

"And so he sent us instead. So where's the bedroom?" Sirius interrupted. "Just kidding!" he added after Hermione picked up a vase to throw at him.

Remus shook his head and pulled out his wand. "Actually, he sent these instead." He waved his wand, and flowers, Godiva chocolate, and a butterbeer materialized on the coffee table. "And he also requested that we offer you an ear to anything you want to talk about."

Hermione opened the box of chocolates and began sampling. "That's so sweet, you two. Thank you."

"We're all worried, you know," Sirius said after a moment of awkward silence, this time in a serious tone of voice. "I mean, nothing happening for this long is a bad sign. Ow! What was that for?" he growled at Remus. "Oh, Hermione, listen I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound like that…"

"It's okay… I mean, I… I…" Hermione drew her knees to her chin. "I just want him to be safe, you know?" she sniffled. "I mean, he's always come back, like he's supposed to, and now… I don't know anymore…"

Remus leaned towards Hermione and took one of her hands in his. She noticed it was a little raw in some places. "It's going to be okay. We'll make it either way, right? Come on, now. We can't help Harry like this."

"Well then how do we help him?" Hermione snapped without looking up. "Go hunt down Voldemort and demand him back?"

"I didn't say that, Hermione. Here, have some butterbeer. That's it. Come on, let's get out of here. Do you want to go to the lake? It always made me feel better."

"Really? I always like the Astronomy Tower myself," Sirius interjected with a grin.

"You went there when you were horny, Padfoot. When you felt blue you went to the kitchens."

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

Hermione laughed. "I think I'll be all right in a minute. I just need a moment alone."

"Oh, okay. Well, we'll leave you alone then. Come on Sirius."

"Aw, do we have to?"

"Sirius. Now," Lupin growled.

"Well, I'm being summoned. I bid thee good night, Hermione," he said with a mock bow.

She laughed. "Well, thank you two for coming. Good night."

"Good night." She closed the door behind them and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally. Alone."

She locked the portrait behind her and walked off to bed, not knowing that the one thing she had been hoping for during the past few days was stumbling towards her, cursing as it stubbed its toe on a stone.