Guilt and Innocence

Ron was running late he was useless in the mornings and it wasn't something he had ever grown out of. Of course the early mornings were becoming less but still when he had to be in Hogwarts for eight it made it that much harder.

He ran from the gates of Hogwarts up the main stairs. He couldn't understand why this meeting had been called at all it wasn't as if they needed to have one now, they were due their meeting at six that night.

He quickly made his way around the school until he reached the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom which belonged once again to Remus. A small smile spread to his face as he remembered the other professors he had had in this subject. He stepped in closing the door behind him.

"Sorry I know I'm late it's just too early."

He looked around and noticed that he wasn't the only one running late, Luna wasn't here yet and neither was Hermione. As he looked up at Remus though he saw the large black bags under his eyes, he looked like he had gone another night without sleep, but he knew that George had been on patrol and not Remus.

"What happened?"

"That's what we're here to talk about take a seat Ron."

He found a seat next to George and fell into it looking around.

"I've called this emergency meeting because –"

"Where're Luna and Hermione?"

"Let me talk Ron! Now this emergency meeting is taking place because there was an attack last night one of our members has been seriously injured."

Ron fell silent something about the way Remus was looking he knew what was to come.

"He hurt Hermione, I'll kill him where is he?"

"Luna is taking care of both of them; now sit down while I explain everything."

George's hand on his shoulder calmed him slightly but not by much. Everyone was tense and Ron wanted to punch something it was times like these that he missed having Malfoy around; he was always good for a fight and releasing steam.

"I don't know exact details but I'll tell you everything I know. I was on my way to my quarters to get some sleep when I heard a scream. I ran back to the staircases and found her laying at the bottom of one, I grabbed her as it was about to move –"

"Are you saying that Hermione fell down the stairs?"

Remus looked at Hannah and nodded but before he could continue she was speaking again.

"She's smart though she'd know to be careful around those stairs how could she fall."

"Unless she was pushed."

"Thank you Ginny, like I told you last night that is a possibility but I've found something else out."

Ron watched as his old Defence teacher leaned behind his desk and pulled out a parchment of paper.

"I found this on the platform one tier above the stairs that Hermione was on. I think that she fell from there, or that she was pushed from there, I know that she didn't fall down just one flight of stairs."

"How do you know that though?"

Ron was losing his cools and fast but the fact everyone else was remaining calm wasn't helping. Remus though seemed to have been prepared for that.

"Tonks you always use to fall down those stairs, tell everyone about your injuries."

"I only ever got cuts and bruises. Why is that important?"

"Lee when Angelina pushed you down those stairs, with some force I recall what injuries did you get?"

"I had cuts and bruises, oh and a sprained wrist, but why?"

"Ginny tell them of Hermione's condition."

She looked upset as she pushed her hair behind her ears.

"She had three broken ribs, a broken leg and a fractured arm –"

Ron was confused now he didn't get what the point of this was but Remus was on a role and he carried on.

"You see I've witnessed many students fall down those stairs and the most they get are cuts and bruises and sometimes a sprain. Hermione was much worse so she couldn't have just fallen down the stairs she must have hit the stairs at a speed and -"

"That would be explained if she had fallen from the tier above."

McGonagall had finished this and they all looked around. George cleared his throat and looked around.

"I'm sure that the Prisoner didn't leave his room though. Remus Hermione put all those charms on that room so we know that it was well protected and he didn't get passed me and when you checked he was in there sleeping."

"I know George which brings me to something I don't even want to think about but we must consider. There is a traitor among us, somebody here is working for Voldemort and it could be anybody. I hope that I'm wrong but there is a possibility."

Everybody looked around at each other and Charlie spoke up slowly.

"How can we know who that is?"

"The Dark Mark!"

They all looked at Dean and he shrugged at them.

"What you want us to all attempt to call up the Dark Mark, that won't work, because whoever it is could pretend not to know how to do it."

"No Lee, I meant on their arm, the mark on the arm."

Remus shook his head and Ron wanted to punch him.

"It won't work, it'll be shielded. We can't prove it and I'm probably wrong. As much as I want to say we are a hundred percent sure the prisoner didn't escape we can't be sure if he wanted to he could after all look who he is."

The meeting ended with that and everybody left to go to work. Remus sat at his desk waiting for his students to arrive when Ron went up to him.

"You stopped Hermione from falling didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."