Chapter 8: Remus Returns
The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade late into the evening. Thankfully the rest of the train ride had been blissfully uneventful. But the storm that had been threatening all day had finally broken. Thunder and the pelting rain drowned out Hagrid's call for 1st years and the shuffling of students' hurrying to the waiting carriages or for the 1st years, the boats. Lightning flashed lighting up the darkness for brief periods of time. The wind howled and whipped at the students' clothing. It was a horrible night to be crossing the lake.
Harry and Hermione quickly scurried into one of the thestral drawn carriages. Water streamed off of them and Hermione gave a small huff as she pushed a dripping curl out of her face. Amethyst purred contently as she had been protected from the rain by Harry's robe, which was the only part of the school uniform that he had put on.
Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, who were completely soaked, soon joined the duo. Neville had changed drastically over the summer. He had lost all his baby fat and gained muscle mass, nothing too bulky though. He had also gained a few inches in height making him a little taller than Hermione. His chocolate brown hair had grown out over the summer and now fell into his deep doe-brown eyes and curled around the collar of his uniform. He had a slight tan, but nowhere near as dark as Harry's.
Luna hadn't changed much. She still had that dreamy look about her. Her long dirty blond hair hung in wet clumps around her oval face and fell to her narrow hips. Her cobalt blue eyes glittered in the dark gloom of the carriage. Her wand rested behind her left ear and she held a copy of the Quibbler in her pale hands.
"Oh, hey Harry. Hi Hermione. Glad to be back?" Neville asked as he settled himself across from Harry and Luna sat across from Hermione. The carriage started moving to the school and rain beat down in a steady rhythm nearly drowning out all sound.
"Hi Neville. Yeah, it's great to be home," Harry smiled. "Hey Luna," he called over the downpour of the rain.
"Hello Harry," Luna greeted in her dreamy voice.
"Where's Ron?" Neville asked.
"You mean you don't know?" Harry asked. He had figured Ron would have already started talking about him. After all, Ron had tried to with the Slytherins.
"Know what?" Neville question, obviously every confused.
Hermione and Harry shared a look. A look that basically asked which one of them was going to do the explaining. Harry shrugged and Hermione gave an annoyed huff.
"Why do I always end up doing the explaining?"
"Because you're so good at it," Harry said smiling sweetly.
Hermione gave a delicate snort and shook her head. "Okay to make a long story short, Ron is jealous of Harry and resents everything about him."
"So, Ron's always been a little jealous of Harry," Neville interrupted.
Hermione sighed. "No, it's more than that. Ron resents Harry. We're not talking about petty jealousy or being a little envious or some friendly banter. No, this is hate. Ron's let all his negative feelings about Harry build up over the years so that now that's all there are."
Hermione paused for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. "Okay. Look at it this way. Ron has always been last. He's never been number one. Head Boy, Perfect, Quidditch captain, top student, it wouldn't matter if he got to be every one of those because one of his brothers did it first. Then he met Harry, someone who didn't know a thing about the wizarding world and for once Ron was looked up to, he was needed. But eventually that changed and Ron was once again over-looked. He became nothing more that Harry's sidekick. Even I got more recognition than he did."
"So in Ron's mind, Harry's the cause of all his problems in not being recognized," Neville said trying to understand.
"Exactly!" Hermione exclaimed. "Now, I'm sure Ron was going to pretend that everything was peachy keen because he still wants to be in the spotlight, even if it's diluted and overshadowed by Harry. But Harry already knew how Ron felt towards him and called Ron on it."
"But it wasn't until he called 'Mione a slut and accused her of sleeping with me that the friendship really ended," Harry added.
"He called Hermione a...That prat," Neville growled. "We can't let him get away with that."
"Don't worry, we won't," Harry and Hermione chorused together very much like Fred and George would have done.
"You have a plan," Luna stated.
"We want in on it," Neville demanded as the carriage came to a stop.
"Okay. Meet us tonight at 11:00 in the Room of Requirement," Harry said before he exited the carriage.
Quickly they hurried up the stone steps of Hogwarts and into the entry hall. Hermione caste drying spells on the both of them before they entered the great hall. They sat towards the end of the Gryffindor table so that they were close to the double doors that they had just entered through and were facing in the direction of the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables. Harry always sat on that side of the table so that he could sneak peeks at Draco without anyone knowing. As far as he knew, no one had figured it out yet and he hoped they never would. Harry pulled Amethyst from beneath his robe and settled her on to his lap where she fell asleep with a content purr. The hall filled quickly and noisily. Neville, Ginny, Seamus and Dean sat down around Harry and Hermione. Hermione sat on Harry's left, Seamus on his right, with Dean across the table from Seamus, Neville across from Harry and Ginny across from Hermione. In the excited chaos it went unnoticed that one of the Golden Trio was missing.
As the 1st years began to arrive soaked and shivering, Harry looked around the crowded hall at all the familiar faces. Draco sat with usual group of cronies. Blaise sat on his right and Millicent on his left. Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott sat across the table so their backs were to Harry, not that he cared. The only time that he cared was when one of the fat lugs got in his way of gazing at the blonde. Then it took all his control not to growl and yell at them to move over. Not wanting to get caught by anyone he quickly looked away and continued his survey of the great hall. His eyes drifted over the teachers' table. A smile spread over Harry's face as he spotted Remus Lupin sitting next to Professor McGonagall's empty chair. The werewolf looked like hell, but that wasn't unusual since the full moon was only two days ago. His tawny brown hair was streaked with even more gray than the last time Harry had seen him. Harry gave Remus a small wave before letting his gaze continue down the rest of the table. A thoughtful frown slowly marred his features.
"Hermione, who do you think that is next to Snape?" Harry asked nodding his head in that direction.
Hermione looked over in the direction that Harry had indicated. The person in question was covered completely with a black cloak. Nothing of the person could be seen. Hermione shrugged. "I would say the new DADA teacher, but Remus is up there and there are no other teachers missing. So your guess is as good as mine."
"Why do you think he's covered up?" Harry asked.
"Maybe he's disfigured," Ginny guessed.
"Or maybe he's a vampire and the cloak allows him to hide in the shadows to wait for some poor unsuspecting victim to nab. Then he'll sink his fangs into that rapidly beating pulse and hot bright red blood will flow and he'll drink his fill until there's none left. And once that last drop of blood is gone, he'll drop the drained corpse to the floor where it'll lay in a broken heap with it's mouth open in a silent scream and it's eyes wide in shock and terror. And then he'll move on to his next victim and his next, until the whole school is filled with bloodless corpses," Seamus gushed.
Everyone around the table stared at the Irish boy as though he had grown an extra head.
"What?" Seamus asked looking around at everyone in complete lose as to why they were staring at him like that.
Dean was the first to speak up. "Man Seamus, you are morbid."
The sound of clapping drew the group's attention and they realized that they had missed the Sorting Hat's song. They watched as the first years were sorted. Gryffindor gained twenty-eight to their ranks, Ravenclaw gained twenty-six, Hufflepuff gained thirty and Slytherin gained thirteen.
Dumbledore rose to give his usual 'Welcome Back' speech. "I'd like to welcome the first years to Hogwarts and to all the returning students, welcome back. For the new students and some of the older students," Dumbledore started, giving Harry and company a pointed look and Harry barely refrained from not rolling his eyes. "The Forbidden Forest is still forbidden. And the school rules are still in effect and there are a few new items added to the list of prohibited items; for the complete list it is on Mr. Flich's door. Now, I'd like to introduce two additions to the staff. We are lucky to have Remus Lupin return to teach Defense against the Dark Arts. And our newest staff member is Alyssum Shadow."
Remus Lupin and the cloaked figure both stood up as they were introduced. But the cloaked figure made no mover to lower its hood. Harry frowned. That was odd. And what was even stranger and a little disturbing was that Dumbledork hadn't mentioned what this Alyssum Shadow was teaching. What was the old goat up to?
After the applause died down Dumbledore continued. "Without further ado," he said letting his voice drift off and with a wave of his hands the feast appeared. Harry couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. Honestly, the old goat was nothing more than a manipulative show-off.
The noise of the hall rose to the enchanted ceiling as the students began to talk with and over each other about their summers. Food disappeared at a phenomenal rate as it was shoveled into mouths.
"What kind of name is Alyssum?" Seamus asked around a mouthful of mash potatoes.
"Alyssum or Lobulari maritima, a foliage with tiny clusters of white flowers that also come in pink, lavender, and purple. It's an annual that blooms from late spring to early fall and is used as an edging or a filler in gardens," Harry spouted.
Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Ginny all stared in shock at Harry.
"What?" Harry asked. "I like gardening," he huffed in his defense.
"Anyway," Dean said breaking the awkward silence. "Why wasn't Ron sitting with you on the train and why is he sitting down there?" he asked pointing to where Ron sat with the fourth and fifth years.
"He sat with you on the train?" Harry asked.
Dean nodded. "Yeah, along with Seamus, Ginny, Michael, and Ginny's friend Sasha, a fourth year."
"Did he say anything?" Hermione demanded.
"No," Dean said shaking his head. "He stormed in, sat down for a little while and then he got up and left. He came back in about ten, fifteen minutes later pissed off beyond belief."
"Why? What's going on?" Ginny asked.
Harry looked at Hermione with huge green eyes and a pout on his full lips.
"Oh for the love of God!" Hermione exclaimed throwing up her hands. "Fine, fine. You big baby." With that she explained Ron's behavior and everything that had happened on the train, leaving out of course Ron calling her a slut. Which Harry happily filled in.
"He called Hermione a...a slut?" Dean hissed a crossed the table.
"So you're the one that gave him the black eye," Seamus snickered.
"Nope. That was 'Mione," Harry grinned with pride.
"Remind me not to piss her off," Seamus whispered.
"I can't believe Ron would say that," Ginny muttered.
"Believe it," Hermione said.
Ginny shook her head, her dark red hair falling into her pale face. "We can't let him get away with it."
"We won't," Harry started. "We already have a plan."
"I want in," Dean said.
"Me too," chimed Seamus.
"And me," Ginny said.
Harry smiled gently. "I'm flattered that you guys want to help, but I don't want you to..."
"Save your speech Harry," Ginny cut in. "I'm doing this 'cause Ron needs to be taught a lesson. He used Hermione and you. He called Hermione a slut. He betrayed all of Gryffindor with his shameful and disloyal behavior."
"Right. And he stopped talking to Seamus and me when he found out that we were dating," Dean said.
"Yeah, we still owe him for all the hexes he "accidentally" cast on us last year," Seamus growled.
"Okay then. Wait. You two are gay?" Harry asked looking back and forth between Dean and Seamus.
Hermione smacked the palm of her hand to her forehead. "Honestly Harry! Sometimes I seriously worry about you. You are just way too clueless."
"Do you have a problem with that?" Seamus asked hesitantly.
"No. I'm happy for you both," Harry smiled. "Now if you still want in on the plan meet us in the Room of Requirement at 11:00 tonight," he whispered.
"You're handling this rather well, Harry. Are you sure about doing this, whatever it is we're doing?" Neville asked.
Harry tilted his head to the side and thought for a moment. "I'm alright. I've had awhile to get use to it. I'm not going to say I wasn't hurt by it, but deep down I think I always knew how he really felt about me. I just didn't want to see it."
"Understandable," Dean agreed.
"Okay last question," Seamus said. "What the hell is that?" he asked pointing to Harry's lap.
Harry smiled. "Oh, this is Amethyst," he said picking up the sleepy- eyed kitten from his lap. He held the purring Night Creature to his chest and scratched her delicately behind her ears.
"Awww, she's so cute," Ginny chirped.
"Yeah, but what exactly is she?" Dean asked.
Amethyst rubbed her head against Harry's chin before crawling up his chest and lying precariously across his shoulders. "Oh. She's a Night Creature. I haven't found out all that much about them, there's not that much known I guess. Although I did find out that they usually don't like humans, some of them die in captivity, and that Dark Creatures are their descendents. But I haven't found out anything about Amethyst's specific type, so I'm going to have to look in the library," Harry explained offering Amethyst a piece of chicken, which she happily eat.
Hermione's honey gold eyes narrowed. "Dark Creatures, Harry?"
"Yeah."
"In that case, I think maybe our top priority is to find out as much as we can about Amethyst," Hermione stated.
"Don't worry 'Mione," Harry started but he was cut off as Dumbledor told the Perfects to lead everyone to their respected houses.
"This isn't over," Hermione said as she stood up and began directing the first years.
Harry gave a sigh of relief. At least he had sort of escaped that lecture. Though for how long was up in the air. It could be a few hours or a couple days. He was hoping for a couple days. Maybe he should ask Remus about Night Creatures, he was the DADA teacher after all. He had to know something. At least more than Harry did at the moment.
"Hey could one of you tell 'Mione that I went to see Remus about Amethyst. That should mollify her somewhat," Harry said to the remaining four.
"Will do, Harry," Ginny said as they walked off towards the tower and Harry headed towards the Head table.
Lil' Sphinx: Hi everyone. Glad that you're enjoying the story. I ran out pre-written stuff so it'll probably take me a little long to update chapters now. But I have all kinds of cool ideas so hopefully not too long. And I'm thinking about posting one of my other stories, but I'm not sure...
