Chapter ?
Harry, Ron and Hermione kept up their daily visits to Sirius. Although awake, Sirius remained pale and weak, despite his claims to the contrary.
The year end finals approached, and more and more first and second years looked paler and sicker. They noticed that in Care of Magical Creatures, the animals were all anxious. Some, like Fang, looked petrified. Fang would not go outside without Hagrid. Hermione remarked on this during a visit with Hagrid.
"Been some strange things lately." Hagrid remarked, "Nothin' fer yeh to worry over. Hows yer studies goin'? Fifth year finals, I've 'eared they're awful."
"Well, I think that Snape's being unduly cruel. I mean look at the first and second years." Ron commented. "Looks like half of 'em are going to pass out. Not to mention he's really picking at the work Professor Araya did with us."
"Quite taken with her, are yeh?" Hagrid smiled. Ron blushed a little. "She's a good teacher, but I don't know if it's because of Snape that the kids are sick."
"What do you mean, Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Nothin', nothin'." Hagrid shook his shaggy head, "You'd better go. Get ter yer studies."
As they headed back to the castle Harry turned to Ron and Hermione, "Do you get the feeling that there's more going on then they want us to know?"
"Yeah." they said. Then Ron said, "Harry, you realize You-Know-Who hasn't tried anything."
"I'd noticed." Harry replied, "That worries me too."
"You-Know-Who is afraid of Dumbledore. There's no way he'd try anything here. Well, not directly." Hermione insisted. "Besides, everyone's expecting something. You-Know-Who isn't stupid."
"Anyway, makes me more nervous, not less." Harry replied. "So, any ideas what Hagrid was getting at?" His friends shrugged.
Araya sat in the moonlit courtyard. She was meditating.
I know you're here. – Her voice a scant whisper on the still night air. The tiniest rustle of the leaves as a reply. She breathed deeply. The air was still.
You won't attack directly – She replied, as if challenging. – You are weak and a coward.-
She sat as still as a rock.
I will find you. – She promised in the same hushed whisper.
Araya rose with grace and entered the castle. This was not right. She should be sensing him, but the interference was getting worse. Araya paused inside the doors.
"Above as below, I guard this place." Araya changed quietly. "All who wish harm may not pass these gates. Alur Masskav. All who leave will sound me a fright until the morning's light; Rucous Montu. Returning before the end of the night, for shame on breaking the rule and leaving the school, let me see the sight, Acaren Mono."
Araya turned to head down towards her room in the dungeon. Remus stood leaning against the railing. "That's one heavy duty spell. Expecting trouble?" he asked, smiling at her.
"Not tonight." Araya shrugged. "I just like to keep track of who's coming and going." she paused, "What'cha doing up? And in the entry hall?"
"Kitchen raid." Lupin smiled again, showing off the tray of éclairs floating behind him. "I got the munchies working late for finals."
"Ahh...going to take advantage of the weather." Araya said politely, snatching a pastry off the plate. "Glad we reached an agreement."
"Me too." Remus agreed, "It would have been a shame if I hadn't actually gotten to know you."
"How's your friend?" Araya asked quickly.
"Ah...fine. Better, I guess." Remus said, "Thanks for your concern, and your help."
"Given any thought as to what I suggested?" she smiled sweetly.
"Not interested." he replied, "I'm surprised you'd think such a thing." she shrugged innocently.
"We are the way we are." she replied coyly. "We can't help the way we're hard wired. We do what we need to, however we can. We're not so different." Araya turned to leave.
"Right. But how different from him are you?" Lupin asked, "Isn't that the real question?"
"Here I thought you trusted me." Araya called over her shoulder. "I'm not what you think."
"And what is that?" Lupin almost sounded amused.
Araya paused and turned on her heel. "I'm not your enemy." she said, "I'd hope you realized that by now." She continued away.
The last Herbology class before finals, Professor Sprout was away. Araya was filling in and doing an extensive but fun review. Ron and Harry were working on a puzzle bench with Ernie and Justin from Hufflepuff. The object was to order the stages of the plant's development in order to receive a stamp. Each of the ten work stations had a stamp and prizes would go to those who had all ten. They had seven minutes per station.
"Hey Ernie?" Harry asked, "Why was the Hufflepuff team so hesitant to let you fill in?"
Ernie looked at him with shock. "Promise not to tell?" he asked, ever so quietly and with a slight blush. Harry nodded and the two moved a little closer. "I have a crush on..." he looked around and blushed even deeper, "Alicia Spint." he whispered. Ernie looked horribly embarrassed.
"It's bad." Justine added teasingly, but sympathetically. "Ernie freezes every time she gets close to him."
"Come on, you only missed a few goals." Ron replied, "It couldn't be that bad."
"She scored all of those." Justin replied.
"And our beaters tried hard to keep her away." Ernie replied, thoroughly embarrassed, "Swear you won't tell her!" Harry and Ron both nodded, and Ernie turned his attention back to the puzzle. "How the heck do you do this?"
They couldn't seem to get it. The puzzle was just not working for them. Harry scratched his head. "It has to have a solution. Are you sure it can be solved?"
"I'm sure." Araya said, at his shoulder. "Just think about it. There was a rhyme."
The review was hard. Harry collected only five stamps. Hermione, Neville, and two Hufflepuff girls were the only ones to collect all 10. Each received a prize - a bar of Honneydukes best. "If you managed to less than seven stamps, I'd strongly recommend you do some serious review before your final...and for your OWLs. If you have questions, please ask me or Professor Sprout. We'll both do our best to help."
The class was gathering their books to leave. "Oh, five points to each person who received a score of ten. Since I don't know if I'll see you all again before finals, good luck." Araya smiled nicely. Harry got a strange feeling that she was talking to him.
They headed across the grounds to the castle. Harry stopped in the yard. He looked about, pain shooting through his scar. Both Ron and Hermione stopped beside Harry and looked around frantically, wands ready.
"Harry, please tell me you're joking." Ron said, as they hurried on to the castle.
"I didn't see anything, but..." Hermione looked at Harry.
"I-I'm fine now." Harry replied, looking out over the yard. "I think I should go talk to Dumbledore. You know-"
"Fine Harry, we'll go with you." Ron insisted, "Professor Flitwick will understand."
"No, you two go to class." Harry ordered, "I don't want us all to get into trouble. I'll meet you after."
Professor Araya had followed them up the steps. "Harry, is there something wrong?" Her eyes looked him over then as if she saw something that greatly worried her.
"Ahh...Professor, I - er," Harry looked to his friends for help, "-I just got a headache."
"Trying to absorb too much information?" Araya said. "Unless it's stopping you from thinking completely, off to class and get it checked at lunch." Her eyes fell on him, then to the scar. "Well, Harry?"
"I'm fine. It can wait." Harry said, felling oddly relieved by Professor Araya's stare.
"But Harry?" Ron started to say, but stopped when he looked at Araya. "Right. Class."
They headed off to class and when they were away from all the teachers, Hermione looked around. "Harry, why?" she whispered. She was working on Flitwick's charms.
"Vol - er - He won't come into the castle." Harry said, "I have a feeling that it wasn't really him. It didn't feel right. I mean, not like before."
"Is that good...or not?" Ron asked, trying hard not to look worried.
"I - I wish I knew." Harry said, "I should talk to someone at lunch. Maybe it was just...a warning."
Harry, Ron and Hermione found an excuse to leave the others. They headed downstairs to the dungeon . They had just reached the door to the lower dungeon.
"Potter? Weasley? Miss Granger!" Snape snapped, "I was not aware lunch was being served in the lower dungeon. Explain yourselves!"
"Sir...we were..." Hermione stared, "...supposed to help Professor Lupin with something in the second dungeon." she hoped that Snape was in a good mood and that he'd let them go.
"And what would that be?" Snape asked skeptically.
"Um - er..." Harry's mind blanked under Snape's stare
"I asked them to help me set up a final for the first years." Lupin said pleasantly as he emerged from the lower dungeon. "I was starting to wonder if you three had forgotten."
"No sir, we were just delayed in Charms." Harry smiled.
"Are you sure it's wise to use students to design an exam?" Snape sneered, "They might be tempted to tell the younger classes."
"I hardly think so, Snape. Besides, these are three of my better students." Lupin continued, "And it's not as if they'll know everything about the final. We're wasting time, please come along. Severus, if you don't mind we can continue this discussion later." Snape looked furious as they headed off.
"Lucky you showed up." Ron said, "We were in for it."
"Luck had nothing to do with it." Lupin smiled, "Good thing I'd actually planned to have the first year final down here. Aren't you early for your visit?"
"We - that is I - er had my scar start to ache." Harry said, "I just wanted to get Sirius' opinion."
"I see. Harry, when did it start?" Lupin asked, trying not to sound too worried. He opened the door to Sirius' room. Sirius was sleeping on the cot in the room. "Thought that might be the case. Harry you can still talk to me."
"Well, it was just outside, in the yard." Harry said quietly, not wanting to disturb Sirius. "But it wasn't like before."
"We couldn't see anything or anyone around." Ron continued.
"We just wanted to check, it might just be nerves or something." Harry mumbled, "After all I'd just blown our review quiz in Herbology."
"I'll check out the yard and have Hagrid check out the forest." Lupin replied kindly, "It was probably nothing, but better to be safe. I'll let you know what we find."
"Thanks Professor." Hermione smiled, "That's a relief."
There was nothing found, but Harry still got a headache every time he crossed the yard. It got to the point where Harry dreaded leaving the castle. Harry even turned down an offer of tea from Hagrid after his final on Saturday.
Ron and Hermione went to visit Hagrid. He was a little put out that Harry had declined.
"Sorry Hagrid, but Harry said he wasn't feeling well." Hermione offered, "We thought some more rest might help."
"He's still getting the pain then?" Hagrid asked.
"Yeah." Ron and Hermione said together. Then Ron added, "Darn if we know why. Nobody's figured out the reason."
"Poor Harry." Hagrid said, "It's a lot for him to have to worry about."
Hermione and Ron left Hagrid's late for dinner. Harry met them in the entrance hall. "Have a good time?" he asked.
"Yes, you should've come." Hermione said, "Get any studying done?"
Harry looked sheepish, "Some." he said. Hermione almost laughed, "We only have two more to go."
"And our OWLs." Hermione insisted. "Please don't tell me you've forgotten."
"No, I haven't forgotten." Harry replied.
"You'd think after all the times Harry's beaten You-Know-Who, that they'd just give him a break." Ron replied, "And us too. I mean, we've helped."
"Ron!" Hermione sounded truly offended, "You can't mean that. That just proves that we should all do well. You know how important they are."
"Hermione, they're just stupid tests." Ron replied, "All I know is that Mum'll kill me if I don't get at least more than Fred and George. I just don't think that it's that big a deal. It's just some stupid test."
"Well Ron Weasley, it might not mean much to you, but some of us still want to prove ourselves." Hermione huffed, and stormed off up the stairs.
"What got her all worked up?" Ron asked with confusion.
"You know how she is about exams." Harry said, "Did Hagrid say anything about...you know?"
"Sorry, no." Ron replied, "Harry, no worries, we'll get through anything."
That night Hermione sat behind a stack of books. The room had been empty for some time. Samantha came down quietly. Hermione quickly lay her head down and pretended to sleep. Samantha slipped out the porthole. Hermione sat up, she wanted to follow, but she curbed her curiosity as she was sure she'd just get in trouble.
Hermione tried to stay awake, to wait for Samantha to return. She didn't make it, and slept on her text books.
Harry and Ron woke her the next morning. "Hermione, I know you're concerned about the finals, but you can't keep doing this." Harry told her.
"Well, I've got news." Hermione said. She told them how the Gryffindor Prefect was out on the grounds.
"We'll follow her the next time." Ron said, "She's been up to something all year. I'd like to know what."
"Ron, you just don't like her." Harry replied, "She's probably just seeing her boyfriend."
"Maybe you're right, Harry." Hermione conceded. "But if they're going into the courtyard, they might get into trouble...and I don't mean from the teachers."
"Fine. I'll get the stuff ready." Harry replied.
That night, they followed Samantha out of the common room and downstairs, huddled under the invisibility cloak. Down to the entrance hall. Samantha paused and looked around, then slipped out the door. Harry stopped at the door. For weeks his head throbbed every time he'd gone into the courtyard. It took but a moment to decide to go on. If Samantha were in trouble, she'd need their help.
They went into the yard. Harry tried to stay quiet when the pain came. "Harry?" Hermione asked.
"I'm fine." Harry whispered. "Over there." Samantha stood by the edge of the forest. A figure in a dark cloak stood with his back to them.
Samantha looked dazed and dreamy-eyed. "I'm sorry." Her voice was weak.
"No dinner?" Came a silky smooth male voice. "I am hungry." Samantha looked worried.
"Ohh. I'll get something for you." Samantha rushed on, "I promise. I'm so sorry."
"It's alright." the man replied calmly. "It seems that you did bring some with you." He turned and looked directly at them.
Although he was a good twenty yards away. They blinked and he was in front of them. He pulled off the cloak. "Two tasty treats. But you, boy." he pointed to Harry, "I promised you to him."
Harry wanted to move, grab his wand, anything. But he couldn't move. He couldn't even see anything but his eyes. Red-brown eyes, fiery and deep, dark and bottomless.
"Why are you so important, boy?" he asked Harry.
"I - I do not know." Harry realized he'd answered.
The man sniffed the air, then Ron was the object of his focus. Harry was still frozen. "You," the man's voice was no longer silky smooth, but full of loathing. "Are pure wizard." A flash went through his eyes. Without looking away from the trio, he called to Samantha. "Would you be so kind as to stun these two, dear. I think that this one will do."
"Yes, alright." Samantha replied. "You - won't... you know how pure blood wizards distract you. You won't kill him?"
"Now Samantha dear." He turned to look at her. Hermione took advantage of this distraction. She broke free, her wand in her hand. Her mind was still foggy, but she uttered the fist spell that came to mind.
"Lumos!" she called. Light flashed and the man hissed and moved back. She shook her head and noted Ron and Harry did the same. "Let's get out of here."
"Stop them!" he hissed.
Samantha moved forward quickly, she disarmed Hermione and caught her wand. "Stupify." she called. Hermione froze, stunned.
Ron ran right into the man. Before Ron could react, he had been hit hard across the face, and was being hurled across the yard. Harry was caught between the man and Samantha.
"So boy, have you figured out what I am yet?" the man said, "I'll give you just one more hind." Then he bared a mouthful of sharp teeth. Harry put his wand up and was about to cast something, but Samantha disarmed him. "Too bad I can't kill you, boy. Voldemort wants you to himself. Samantha, would you please?"
"Samantha don't! How could you?" Harry tried to plea with her. Maybe if he stalled someone would come for them. "You're supposed to protect us. You're our Prefect. Why?"
"H-Harry, you don't understand." Samantha started.
"Samantha dear." The silky voice said, "He can't understand."
Ron crawled across the yard towards Hermione. His face was throbbing. He tapped her with his wand and removed the hex. His voice was so garbled because he found he could not move his jaw properly. He tasted blood in his mouth, and his vision was blurring. It took three tries before it worked.
Hermione blinked at Ron. Ron pointed to Harry and the man. Ron handed her his wand. Hermione took it and nodded.
"V-vampire!" Harry stammered, shocked. "Why are you working with Voldemort?"
"I'm not, foolish boy." the man's voice was smooth and soothing, "You are payment for my freedom."
Samantha looked dazed again. Hermione knew she'd only get one shot. If she disarmed Samantha, Harry might get his wand, but the vampire would be on her fast. However, if she tried to take him out first, Samantha could screw things up.
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione yelled. The wands flew from Samantha's hand. Hermione saw the man move, but he was too fast for her to hit him with a spell.
"Annoying little witch, aren't you?" he said from behind her. Hermione opened her mouth to cast a spell,. "No. I think I'll take that." the vampire said, plucking the wand from her, "As for you, girl, I've had enough." He bent his head down, but Ron knocked him over. "You brats! Don't you know when to stay down?"
Harry caught his wand and stunned Samantha, then stood in front of the vampire. "Guess not."
The vampire threw Ron off. Ron, already wounded, crashed to the ground with a thump and crack.
Ron moaned from the ground. The vampire was up and grabbed Hermione from behind. "I hate to eat and run. It's so rude." the vampire said, "Please forgive my manners. I think that the situation warrants it."
"Oh Gutglee, do stay and chat." Araya stood on the grounds. She stomped her foot on the ground. Harry noticed that she didn't have her usual smile, nor did she look at him. "Let her go and this won't end badly."
"I think not." the vampire hissed, "No Crek - half blood will take me. I've fooled you all year. Why do you think that you will win now?"
"You've lost your spy. You've lost your escape. Let her go. Inferno." Araya said, not looking away from him, she cast a fire in her hand. "Just give me a reason Gutglee."
Harry looked back and forth. How could he get Hermione away? He had it, summoning charm. He watched them, the vampire and Araya were fixated on each other, locked in a staring contest. Harry couldn't risk Araya being turned against them, he knew she was too strong for him to take.
"Sant tur ma. Turk lar fut." The vampire said to Araya. He moved to bite Hermione.
"Accio Hermione!" Harry yelled. She was pulled free from the vampire's grasp and to Harry's side.
"That'll do." Araya said, flinging the fire she held in her hand at the vampire. He screamed as he became engulfed in flames. He fell to the ground.
"Professor?" Harry gasped, "Shouldn't you put out the fire?"
"In a minute, Harry." Araya sounded far away. "Are you all alright?" she turned to them, as the fire went out. She looked over Harry and Hermione. "Nothing too bad. Where's Ron?"
She walked over to Ron's bloody body. He was half awake but in extreme pain. "All of you come with me to the hospital wing. Mobilicorpus." Samantha floated behind like a marionette. She gently picked Ron up and began to move toward the castle. The most beautiful song came floating around them. Harry and Hermione didn't remember getting to the hospital wing, nor lying down.
They just sank into the deepest, most restful sleep they'd ever had.
Add-In
Araya glanced over her shoulder, and nodded to a shadowed figure in the woods. He approached and removed the stunned and prone figure of Gutglee. The other man, pulled the burned body up and carried it off out of the shadow of Hogwarts to the hills.