a/n: I thought I'd change things up a bit—this chapter is from Robin's point of view. I figured it would be easier to tell you what you needed to know through Robin's eyes, and who knows, maybe some of you will feel warmer toward her after you hear what she has to say? I hope so! .Please enjoy!

I just have one note for DarkWing731: No, I do not have a beta reader. I just read my chapters over and over again and edit things myself, though I'm flattered you thought that I had one, despite all the spelling errors and typos I missed! I wish I could tell you how to go about getting a beta, but I don't know myself. Sorry!

I love you all for reading/reviewing, and I know there's like 40 of you who have this story on your favorites but don't review (Yes, I am all-knowing, mwhahahaha!) but thank you so much for sticking with my story! You make me happy! (hugs)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nope, I don't! Indeed not…NO! I only own the plot of this fic, I say! I DON'T OWN HARRY! (runs off)

Chapter 28: Alone

"NO! HELP! HELP! IT'S NOT MY TIME!"

Robin sat bolt upright in her bed, shaking and sweating. She had been having a very strange dream, although she couldn't really remember it. What had it been about…?

She drew back the curtains of her four-poster and swung her feet onto the floor, heading over to the window sill for a cool drink of water before she went back to bed. She couldn't help but be angry with herself for waking up so suddenly; ever since she had told Claire her plans about saving Harry and Sirius it had been harder and harder to find sleep at night. There was always something to think over or worry about these days…

There was a cool breeze blowing in from the open window onto her tired face. It wasn't like she wasn't used to being up at this time. No, sleep didn't come easily to her at home either. Life had been unkind to Robin Gregory. The Gift she had received from an old man in the bookstore she usually took refuge in had been one of the best things that had ever happened to her. Anything was better than home, where it was more common to hear shouting and breaking glass than "I love you," or a warm embrace. Ever since her brother had died in a tragic accident, she didn't really consider life a happy course of events.

She sighed. Of course, her Gift hadn't been all fun and games either, but after the life she had lead thus far she was used to disappointment. She had certainly been given the raw end of the deal, having to portray a character in Gryffindor, whose parents, ironically, had been Death Eaters, and who was hated by everyone in her year for something that was out of her control. Then again, it was very easy to slip into her role, seeing as she was used to brooding, being moody, and not talking to many people. And the lack of people wanting to talk to her certainly lowered the risk of her being tempted to interfere with anything that would mess up things for Harry.

Robin glared through the darkness at the curtains closed around Claire's bed. How could she have been so careless, or so obvious for that matter? Robin had figured out the very first day that Claire had received the Gift exactly who she was and where she was from. The character of Claire Woods, whom she had shared a dormitory with for a month before the real Claire had received her Gift and taken her character's place, absolutely despised Robin—and with good reason, too, Robin thought. After all, her character's parents were the reason Claire's character was an orphan and the reason she lacked self-confidence. The day that Claire Woods clapped for Robin when she had preformed her Transfiguration spell properly was the day that Robin knew something odd was going on. Claire never would have applauded someone loudly when no one else in the room was clapping, least of all for Robin.

Then there was the first change in the plot—when McGonagall wouldn't let Harry practice Quidditch in the evenings for fear that Sirius would be lurking around the grounds. Robin remembered, she had been sitting in the corner of the common room, watching Oliver and Harry argue over what had just happened, when she saw Claire Woods come in through the portrait hole. The look on her face was enough to give away fathoms of information, but no, Claire had to be as obvious as to take Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban out of her school bag and gasp out loud when she saw the words changing on the page. Robin could have beaten her upside the head with her own Prisoner of Azkaban book, which was disguised as 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi and in her hand, for she was wondering what had happened to change this minor detail in the story, but alas, she did not want to be as unprofessional as Claire was being. It was apparent that the girl had done something foolish, and Robin began to grow wary of what she was capable of.

Then came the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff Quidditch match. Robin watched from afar as Claire foolishly tried to talk to Sirius, and was contemplating stopping her when the dementors came…

She shuddered in the dark dormitory, staring down at the scarlet carpeting. Robin had heard terrible voices, her own voice, when the dementors got near her:

"Stand aside, girl, stand aside!"

"No! You can't do this, it's my fault! Please!"

"She's telling the truth! I swear, please don't kill him—"

"I CAN, AND I WILL! NOW STAND ASIDE!"

The cool breeze blowing through the open window brought her out of her thoughts. She sighed again. To this day, though she'd thought and thought about it, she could not figure out what the voices meant. She had expected to see her brother dying, or her parents screaming at each other, or even see a vision of herself going back home, but to hear voices she had never heard or thought about before…

Once again she turned to stare at Claire's four-poster. True, Robin couldn't actually say that she was upset when she found out that Claire had passed out at the match as well; in fact, at first, she had been very relieved that she was not the only one hearing strange things. But at the same time, she couldn't ignore the strange feeling she was having that the voices they were hearing were connected, maybe even exactly the same. And if these strange things they were hearing were premonitions…then she knew she was undoubtedly going to be seeing a lot of Claire Woods.

Chuckling, she remembered how Claire had come over to talk to her that night in the Hospital Wing, and how she had dropped the Prisoner of Azkaban cover right in her lap. Trying to teach the girl to be more careful with where she kept things like this, Robin had let her sweat for a while, allowing her to think that Robin would let slip her secret if Claire should annoy her in any way. Unfortunately, this taught Robin two things about this strange girl: she was careless and overacted very often.

Robin wouldn't have been very truthful to herself if she couldn't admit that Claire was getting smarter about the decisions she was making—but it just so happened that every time she got smarter her mistakes seemed to multiply by ten in their level of seriousness.

All this reflecting wasn't doing Robin any good as she sat upon the windowsill, staring down at the dark grounds. Both she and Claire were working very hard to ensure that nothing would go wrong when the end of term rolled around and the time came when they would need to step up and save Harry. Robin was getting nearer every day to mastering the Patronus Charm, even though it was slow work, and Claire was maintaining her friendship with Harry while managing to keep her distance. When Harry asked Claire to go the Quidditch pitch that evening to try out his new Firebolt, Robin saw it as the perfect opportunity to test her. If she was truly serious about their cause and was ready to put honor before fun, it was time for her to prove it. At the time, Robin had no doubt that Claire would do fine—after all, look at all the improvement she had made in the past month!—but still, her pessimistic nature had her always prepared for the worst thing possible to happen…

And that's when it hit her, so hard that she almost fell off the windowsill.

No wonder she was having strange nightmares and was too worried to sleep! She had gone to bed before Claire had returned from the Quidditch pitch; Claire didn't get a chance to tell her what had happened and if everything had gone accordingly.

Robin hesitated for a minute, staring at Claire's bed and wondering. What time was it anyway? She jumped off the windowsill and snatched her watch off her bedside table. 12:56 am. Well, if Claire was asleep, she probably hadn't been for long…

Making her decision, Robin slapped the watch down on her nightstand and made her way over to Claire's bed. She'd never be able to sleep if she sat here wondering all night and she knew Claire wouldn't mind telling her about her evening now. Robin certainly wouldn't have minded if Claire had woken her up needing to talk about their mission, no matter what kind of air she put off about it. She was starting to think along the lines that Claire was just a careless, overexcited fan who really did mean well.

"Claire?" she whispered. "Claire, are you awake?"

There was no answer. Robin gave it one more go.

"Claire?"

Nothing. She reached out a hand and drew back the hangings.

There was no one there.

Robin sat down on her own bed, thinking. Where was she? There was no way she could still be at the Quidditch pitch…unless…no. Had Harry possibly asked her to stay longer? She craned her neck around to stare at the book disguised as 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi on her nightstand. Maybe she should check and see that things were still as they should be…

Suddenly, the door to the dormitory burst open. Robin's other two roommates, Bethany Anderson and Ginny Weasley, came bustling into the room. Was everyone just playing a joke on her by drawing the hangings and pretending to be asleep? She had thought the dormitory was full! Maybe her watch was broken and it was really much earlier than she had thought…

The two girls ignored Robin completely, as usual, but it looked as though they actually had something on their minds this time rather than just ignoring her for the hell of it. Robin watched curiously as Ginny flung herself down on her bed, head in her arms, sobbing like there was no tomorrow. Bethany shut the door of the dormitory and then rushed to Ginny's side.

"Ginny, it's okay…" Bethany said in a soothing voice, reaching out to touch the distressed girl's shoulder.

"No it's not!" Ginny sniffed in reply, sounding angry that Bethany had said such a thing. She quickly withdrew her hand.

"Well, I still don't understand, Gin," Bethany said. Robin continued to survey the scene silently from her bed. "Explain what happened again."

"I already t-told you!" Ginny sobbed pitifully. "I s-saw her leave to go down the Qu-Quidditch pitch so I f-followed her, a-and after practice was o-o-o-over he came down and they were j-just t-t-t-alking and then—and th-then…"

She ended her tale there in a chorus of anguished sobbing.

Robin showed no signs of panic but her heart was thumping like mad. She threw a glance over to the book on her dresser, wondering if…

No…Claire couldn't have…Could she?

"I-I can't believe it!" Ginny was sobbing while Bethany patted her arm sympathetically. "She kn-knew I f-f-fancied H-Harry. She was m-my fr-friend…"

"Claire can be horrible sometimes, Ginny," Bethany replied in a cold voice that didn't at all suit her. "She probably didn't even realize what she was doing. Figured you weren't there and what you didn't know wouldn't hurt you—"

"But st-still! How c-c-could she!"

Robin was no longer listening to this nonsense. She had rolled across her bed and seized the book on her nightstand with such gusto that a bottle of ink sitting next to it flew off onto the floor and crashed, sending shards of glass and flecks of ink all over the place.

"Do you mind, Robin?" Bethany said in the same icy tone, but Robin wasn't paying attention, she was flipping the book open to the proper page, hoping against hope that what she suspected wouldn't be there…

"How do you know that?" said Harry, almost angry at her sureness that someone was still looking out for him. Really, how could someone know such a thing?

He supposed his anger had showed in his tone, because Claire turned away from him, looking rather upset. He felt sorry for it almost immediately.

"Well I—I know that they…" she started.

She broke off, staring off into the distant trees of the ForbiddenForest, looking as though she had lost something dear to her. Of course, Harry thought, she must have been thinking about her parents…

"Well, I just know," she finished somewhat lamely, sounding like she was close to tears. "Sorry I can't be of more help. I tried."

Something was coming over him—it was like he had lost control of his actions. Before he could process a single thought he had turned her around to face him. This was so unlike him, but all he wanted to do was let her know that he understood what she was feeling—that was what he had always hoped for when he felt alone like that. He just wanted her pain to go away…

"Harry, wha—?"

Before another thought ran through his head, before he even knew what he was doing, he was leaning in to kiss her…

"NO!"

Robin clamped a hand over her mouth. How could she have let this happen? She should have known better! She knew that Harry liked Claire, she could have seen this coming a mile away! How could she have pushed Claire to go! This was all her doing…Well, not all of it, but at least part of the responsibility lay with Robin Gregory, and she knew it.

Bethany was staring at her.

"I know that you don't care, Robin, but Ginny is upset!" Bethany half-shouted, eyes narrowed. "You're not helping by adding your peanut gallery comments, so please, do us a favor and just shut your mouth."

In shock though she was, Robin couldn't help but look up at these words. Bethany had always been fairly nice to Robin, even before Claire had come into the story. She may have ignored her like the rest, but she always smiled at her in the Great Hall and said hello. Why was she acting so strangely…?

"My apologies," Robin said, regaining her composure quickly. "I'm just very surprised. I didn't think Claire would do something like that either."

Robin found it was very easy to lie them, especially since she was telling the truth.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Robin said, looking over at her tear-stained face. "Really, I am."

"It's okay," Ginny said, drying her eyes on her four-poster's hangings. "I'm being stu-stupid. Sorry, you guys…"

Ginny then seemed to noticed Claire's bed with the curtain's drawn and gasped.

"She's not in here is she?" Ginny asked worriedly, her freckled cheeks paling. "I would feel awful if she heard me crying like this…"

"No, she's not," Bethany answered.

Robin looked at her, surprised.

"D'you know where she is, Bethany?" Robin asked.

It was impossible to deny that Bethany was not herself. Her eyes said it all; they were usually very happy and welcoming, but tonight they were merely cold.

"Hospital Wing," Bethany replied with a smirk. "Serves her right too, for what she did."

"Oh, it's not that big a deal, Bethany," Ginny said, sounding much more like herself. "I'm being dumb. I'll apologize to Claire tomorrow, I shouldn't have followed her anyway, and it was her business…"

Robin stared at Claire's empty bed, wondering. Why was she in the Hospital Wing? Something was not adding up…

She knew it was far too late for her to get the answers to these questions tonight. So she bade the other two good night and shut the bed hangings around her, pretending to be asleep until the sounds of two girls breathing heavily could be heard. As soon as they were resting peacefully, she slid out of bed back to her place on the windowsill, where she sat all night until the sun rose, wondering…

Robin dressed and ate very quickly that morning. She was eager to get to the Hospital Wing. The rest of the school was heading out onto the grounds to watch the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw Quidditch match as she made her way quickly up the staircases, her bag swinging madly over her shoulder.

She knocked on the door of the Hospital Wing, standing statue-still even though the anxiety was beginning to rise in her chest. Madam Pomfrey's face appeared in a crack in the doorway a moment later.

"For Merlin's sake, there are patients sleeping in here, Gregory!" Madam Pomfrey huffed. Robin dearly would have loved to point out that this was a very obvious statement, but her chat with Claire wasn't worth postponing to make a snide comment. "It's not even nine o'clock!"

"I'm sorry, Madam Pomfrey," Robin said. "But I really need to speak with Claire Woods. I was just wondering if she was alright, she never came back to the dormitory last night…"

"Oh, Woods, of course, of course," Madam Pomfrey said, swinging the door open wider for her to enter. Robin stepped inside as Madam Pomfrey added, "Not sure what happened to the girl, if truth be told. Seems awfully confused—you wouldn't know why, would you?"

"No," Robin answered truthfully.

"Well, she's right over there," Madam Pomfrey said, pointing to a bed with the hangings drawn. "Don't stay too long, Miss Gregory. Miss Woods needs her rest."

"I understand, Madam Pomfrey," Robin replied.

With that, the nurse headed off back into her office. Robin didn't move until she heard the door of the study shut with a snap.

She walked slowly over to the bed Madam Pomfrey had indicated, her shoes making a loud tapping noise as she moved across the floor. Without further ado, she snatched the hangings and ripped them back.

Claire was there, of course, but Robin knew right away something wasn't right with her. Something wasn't normal…

"EEP!" Claire exclaimed oddly, spilling a container of Bertie Bott's Beans she had been trying to open all over her covers. "Robin! Wh-what are you doing here! Go away!"

Robin cocked an eyebrow at her.

"We need to have a talk, Woods," Robin said coolly. "You've made a huge mistake. Do you realize what you've done? I thought—"

"I didn't do anything to you!" Claire said in the same sort of odd squeak. "Never! I swear! Please just leave me alone!"

Robin couldn't do anything but stare. No, something definitely wasn't right…

"Woods, what are you on about?" Robin asked her.

Suddenly Claire's eyes grew wide as Snitches. It was if two and two were being put together in her brain.

"Y-you did this to me!" she said wildly, jumping up on her bed and pointing an accusing finger at Robin.

Robin was completely taken aback.

"Woods, I—"

"I knew you were just like your mum and dad!" Claire continued to say in an insane whisper, her eyes popping. "I knew it! I told Dumbledore I didn't want to share a dormitory with you—I told him I didn't feel safe but he told me you were fine! And now look! You've—you've put some sort of—of Memory Charm on me!"

"Why would I—?" Robin started.

But Madam Pomfrey had overheard their conversation.

"What is going on!" she said briskly, walking over and giving the back of Claire's nightgown a great tug so that she fell back on the seats. "This is outrageous! Woods, you're supposed to be resting! Gregory, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave! Out!"

Robin stared at Claire's large, menacing eyes. They were full of fear and hate and misunderstanding. Those weren't Claire's eyes…

"Yes…yes, I was just leaving, Madam Pomfrey…"

She stepped out of the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey slammed the door shut behind her. Robin leaned against the wall, listening to Claire's shouts and Madam Pomfrey's vain attempts to quiet her.

That wasn't the Claire Woods that had been here since Halloween and Robin knew it. That was the Claire Woods who had been here before that, the one who had been afraid of Robin, the one who skirted around her in the corridors and nervously avoided her in the common room…

Claire was gone.

Robin opened her bag and took out her Prisoner of Azkaban book once again. She had been so surprised by the kiss she had read about last night that she didn't pursue the chapter further. She opened it and read about how Harry had come back to the common room with Ron to find Claire sitting in an arm chair by the fire. He walked up to speak to her but she seemed surprised that he was talking to her…Harry asked her why she had run away and she didn't understand…He continued to ask her questions until he grew angry and she grew scared, not remembering anything he had been telling her…She had left to use the library, but Robin knew she was heading for the Hospital Wing, worried about her memory and possibly her sanity…

She slammed the book shut and slid down the wall into a sitting position, staring at the floor in disbelief.

How could Claire leave her here like this? How could she leave to let Robin clean up the mess she had made? How could she do that?

Something else occurred to Robin. Claire might be gone, but her owl…she knew Claire's owl had been no ordinary bird. Aquinas was his name, he said. He was small with brown and white feathers. Maybe…just maybe…

She was flying down the corridor towards the other end of the castle. She knew it was a slim chance, but if there was even a slither of hope that that owl might be in the Owlery…then at least she wouldn't have to face the dementors on her own.

Robin came to a halt at the stairs leading up into the Owlery tower. She took them three at a time, hoping, wishing, praying…

She flung herself inside, stepping on droppings and small animal bones as she looked around on all the perches. She scanned them several times, he would be easy to miss…

But the third time around, she knew it was no good. Her bag slipped off her shoulder and onto the dirty, straw-strewn floor.

Claire was gone, and so, apparently, was Aquinas.

She was on her own. Alone.

Robin could have left Hogwarts behind just as easily as Claire had, but she knew she would never be able to forgive herself if she did. She loved the Harry Potter books too much to see them mutilated into an unrecognizable story. The books had been her best friend and saving grace when no one was there for her, and she was not about to turn her back on them now that Harry needed her help.

The days grew warmer. Her roommates were back to pleasantly ignoring her (some more pleasantly than others) and Ginny and Claire seemed to have made peace, quite possibly because Claire kept insisting she had no idea what Ginny was talking about or why she was apologizing. Gryffindor managed to scrape the Quidditch Cup, despite Harry's obvious distraction and confusion about things and, as far as she knew, things were still in place for Buckbeak's trial and Sirius showing up on the grounds. She practiced her Patronus charm by night and went over what seemed like thousands of plans to be by the lakeside that night when Harry would need her, because now that Claire had left and Harry and her character were no longer speaking, Robin and Claire were no longer shown in the book going back in the Time-Turner sequence, but that did not mean she wouldn't be at the lake that night. Even though she was alone, that didn't mean she was going to give up. She was going to be there if she had to fight tooth and nail. She refused to see Harry and Sirius go down before they were meant to, not like this.

All the while she wondered and wondered about why people couldn't be reliable. She knew that Claire would disappoint her, just like everyone else back home. Just when she needed someone, they was gone. That's how it always seemed to work.

Exams came. Robin never really remembered how she got through them, they were just as rigorous and tiring as J.K. Rowling had always described. She allowed herself a laugh. At least some things had remained the way they were originally meant to be.

The last day of testing came entirely too fast for Robin's liking. While everyone else was cheering and shouting excitedly as they rolled up their History of Magic exams, happy to be free, Robin was starting to feel queasy and strapped inside her own mind. She knew this exam had gone wretchedly but it couldn't be helped. Her thoughts were off in the North Tower with Harry, where Professor Trelawney was making her second prediction and the events of a wild night were about to begin…

She knew she couldn't stay in the common room until it was time for her to get into place, she was far too antsy. So she meandered her way out onto the grounds, thinking of a nice walk around the lake to clear her mind. As she was heading down the marble staircase, she heard a rather strange noise:

THUMP.

Robin remembered that sound all too well—but had she imagined it. Running so fast she missed the last step, she stumbled across the Entrance Hall, hoping, wishing, praying…

There, disentangling herself from a broomstick as she fell out of a closet, was someone Robin had never been happier to see in her life.

"Claire!"

a/n: DUN DUN DAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaa! Wow, that was really fun to write! I hope you guys didn't mind this chapter being from a different perspective—I started to write it from Claire's point of view but it was too hard to explain everything that had happened while she was gone and…yeah, Robin was definitely a fun change of pace. I hope that those of you who thought she was "evil" or "mean" understand why now. It's not nice to judge people before you know their story, fictional or not, you know? (wink)Anywho, questions! (rubs hands together) The fun is about to begin, the action we've all been waiting for starts in the next chapter—will things go as planned? Or will things get so horribly mangled that you are all going to scream like little girls and run to hide safely under the covers of your bed?...(cackles) Fasten your seatbelts, kids, it's going to be a bumpy ride…