Chapter 7

Harry quickly got himself dressed and ran down to the common room. Hermione and Ron looked at him as he entered. Hermione was crying and Ron looked slightly irked.

"Why didn't you tell me last night Harry? I begged you both to stay here."

She buried her face in her hands and Ron gently patted her back.

"It's not your fault Hermione. They didn't listen. And it's not even Harry's fault....or Kagato's. It shouldn't have happened, but look at it this way, we now know that there is definitely a reason to search in the forest. "

He looked pale as he said this and Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron.

"What makes you think that?"

Ron sighed and looked to the fire.

"Think about it. He was a full-blooded werewolf. The only one who could probably get any information out of the creatures who live in the forest. Don't you think it's odd that werewolves attacked him? They would have known he was one of them and werewolves don't attack other werewolves. They attack humans. There's something dodgy going on in there. I bet my life on it."

Hermione wiped her face and looked at them.

"But we're not going to do anything. Dumbledore probably knows all of this as well. He should handle this, not us."

Ron shook his head.

"I'm not saying that I want to go into the forest, but I can't sit here and do nothing either."

Harry nodded.

"Me either. We have to do something. For all we know, they could be in the forest right now. That's a perfect place to hide."

Hermione sniffed a bit and stared at both of them.

"We could also get ourselves killed. Do you really think we'd have anymore luck than Kagato? I don't. We should wait to see what Dumbledore does first."

Ron turned to face her.

"It may be too late by that time Hermione. They've already been used to attack the Ministry. Do you want to sit here and wait for them to be turned loose on the school? You know what they can do. I'm quite certain you have already gone to the library and looked up everything on Druids. What if their next mission is to get rid of Dumbledore? What would we do then?"

Hermione stood up, looking as though she was very insulted.

"Just because I feel it's better to be informed than to stumble around in the dark is no reason to suggest that I have done that! For your information, I remember from doing the paper Professor Binns assigned us last summer. I haven't been to the library to look for that. There's not much there anywhere."

Ron didn't look convinced and Harry stayed silent. His mind was else where. He was wondering where the girls were, and who could possibly want to use them like this. Then a thought struck him and he kicked himself mentally as Ron and Hermione continued to argue.

"Wait a minute, both of you! The Druids have no clue where Alex and Cat are. The Ministry doesn't either. Who is the only person with something to gain by keeping the wizarding word in fear?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. Ron swallowed hard and turned green.

"You, you can't mean...Harry, why would he?"

Hermione seemed to get where Harry was going with this line of thinking.

"Of course. You-know-who has been after the Bloodstone since Alex was a baby. Cat must just be a bonus unless he knew about her to. He can sit back and let them do all his dirty work for him. And while everyone is looking for them, he can get on with what he really wants. A war between the wizarding world and the Druid world is a perfect distraction for him to slip in and take over. It makes sense now. He must have been trying that when he killed her parents."

Harry nodded.

"And now that everyone knows she's alive, it was the best time to take her. Because they knew where she was going to be. She wouldn't be protected now that her Grandmother is dead. And they must have known that she wouldn't have any idea about her past. This means someone close to her is spying for Lord Voldemort."

Ron winced at the sound of the name.

"But, she would be protected here. I mean Dumbledore is here."

Hermione chewed on her lip for a moment.

"Well, someone must not know who Dumbledore is, or they aren't afraid of him. We have to figure out who though. Who would want to do this to Alex and Cat? And we have to find out how they are able to get into this castle when your not supposed to be able to apparate anywhere near here."

Hermione's eyes suddenly became very wide.

"Wait. Kagato said that Death Eaters took them. If that's true....they wouldn't be able to apparate inside the school grounds. Unless, You-know-who has some Druids on his side."

Harry suddenly started for the portrait.

"Harry? Harry, where are you going?"

Hermione and Ron followed him.

"To find Lupin. He knows a lot about her. He may be able to give us a clue as to who would want to do this."

"He's not going to just tell us. He knows we'll go and look for them."

"Then stay here Hermione. I want a word with him. He knows more then he's telling. It's about time we get some answers before Cat and Alex end up dead and Voldemort is in control."

Harry walked very fast towards Lupin's office with Ron and Hermione barely able to keep up. They came to a stop in front of Lupin's office, there were muffled voices inside and Harry banged on the door.

"Professor? We need to talk to you. It's urgent."

The voices fell silent and Lupin opened the door only enough to look at them.

"Harry, can you give me five minutes? This is important as well. Come back in five minutes."

He shut the door in their faces. Ron's mouth fell open.

"That's a first. What do we do now Harry?"

Hermione spoke before Harry could even start thinking.

"We come back in five minutes. Now let's go."

She turned on her heel and started off for the Great Hall. Harry and Ron just stood there.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until we talk to him."

Ron nodded.

"I'm with Harry."

Hermione stopped and turned back to them.

"Fine, stay here. I'm going to Dumbledore. He's really the one we should be asking anyway."

Ron shook his head as Hermione marched off.

"Can you believe her? We'll have a better chance getting something out of Lupin than Dumbledore."

Harry nodded.

"Plus I want to know just who Lupin is talking to in there."

So they waited, sitting down on the floor next to Lupin's door. Five minutes passed and Harry stood up to knock on the door again when it suddenly opened and he was greeted by a huge black dog coming out.

"Hullo Snuffles. I want a word with you too."

The dog tilted it's head sideways, wagged his tail and went back inside. Harry and Ron followed, shutting the door behind them.