Hermione layed down. The afternoon was fresh, and the sun was setting in a flaming glow behind the horizon. She was tired, exhausted from all the galloping wildly across the forest. Starbreeze was next to her, also resting his battered body from the excess of excercise. Contented both were, for they had shared a closer link any rider ever had with their horse.
"This was fun, we could do it more often!" said the stallion excitedly.
"We will, Star." Hermione gasped, and glanced at the sky.
"I've never felt anything like this before, the joy of galloping freely, the freedom, the... Hermione?" Star stopped his ranting as he saw the girl absently staring at the heavens.
"There won't be full moon tonight..." the mare commented absently.
"No... what is bothering you?" Star asked worriedly.
"I... I think I've fallen in love..." Hermione said looking at the horse seriously.
"Hermione, wait, you are human!" Star gasped, making a movement as if readying himself to stand up.
"Not with you!" the mare snorted, "I... I knew someone, while I was gone..." the mare told him the story, everything from the first time he entered the train, to the second before she vanished from the world of magic.
"You miss that Ron guy a lot, hu?" Star commented calmly.
"More than I thought I could ever love someone... and now I've lost him, and I've lost my car, and I've lost Jake... I want to go back!" cried Hermione, humanity reflecting on her horsey features.
"There Hermione..." Star nuzzled Hermione's cheek with his muzzle, "Look, You are here, aren't you?" the stallion said very seriously, yet gently and lovingly.
"Uhm..." Hermione nodded, sobbing lightly.
"What tells you he isn't here too? Maybe he is also in a comma, or maybe he woke up and is as lost as you are." Star said with a gentle neigh.
"You...you are not saying nonesense!" Hermione seemed more excited as the gears from her mind functioned the idea into her brain.
"Of course not! Come on, lets go back and find your werewolf man!" Star stood up and smiled at the woman.
Hermione followed, more animated.
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Ron was very nervous, sitting in the circular office, staring at McGonagall's almost deceived face. He ignored the reason why he was here, and couldn't help feeling extremely guilty. He kept fidgetting with his fingers, and waving his legs back and forth, attempting not to touch the floor or make any sound.
"Ron..." McGonagall sighed staring at him sadly. "Do you know why you are here?" she asked calmly.
"No!" Ron said a little sharply, yet his thoughts were close to 'of course I know, I'm Trelawney's grandson, or something like that!'.
"There was an attack last night. A deer foal was taken down by a predator inside Hogwart's Grounds." The proffesor said very seriously.
Ron groaned, slapped his forehead and looked down. Of course, and he was a suspect, obviously.
"Hagrid saw the predator, Ron, it was a werewolf!" McGonagall said more urgently, seeing Ron's tension acumulating with anger.
"What? There are hundreds of werewolves in the forest!" Ron complained, raising his head fast and staring at McGonagall with shock.
"Not that close to Hogwarts, Ron." McGonagall said patiently.
"It wasn't full moon last night!" Ron argued more heatedly.
"When a werewolf feels an strong emotion, it changes, and you know it Ron!" McGonagall explained calmly.
"It wasn't me!" Ron exclaimed desperately, standing up and fearing some sort of punishment.
"How do you know?" McGonagall was staring at him with understanding.
"I... I don't know." Ron surrendered to McGonagall's unrefutable words.
"Ron, relax. There won't be any punishment. However, until we find a culprit, and for everyone's safety, I think you should sleep in a locked room, away from the others." McGonagall explained calmly, yet sadly.
"What? But it IS a punishment! I don't want to be locked!" Ron growled angrily, letting the wolf fury appear as claws and fangs.
"It's for your good!" the woman explained.
"It's for their calm!" Ron barked.
"What if you bite someone? What if you kill? What if it's Harry, or Ginny, or Hermi...?" the woman stopped dry on her words.
Ron was very pale now. The mention of Hermione had slapped him like an ice giant's hand. The boy stared at McGonagall, and relaxed visibly, not that he had given up, simply his mind had fled away.
"I'm sorry, Ron." McGonagall said with a soft voice, standing up from her desk and placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.
"We couldn't even give her a decent burial... because she simply disappeared... like a dream... she slipped away from my hands, I had been touching her... and she just... vanished." Ron began to sob sadly, tears fell down his eyes, gaze absently staring into the infinity of memory.
"Go to sleep, Ron." McGonagall said, yet kept her gaze away from Ron at all times, hidden from his sight as the youth retreated automatically from McGonagall's pressence.
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"I've already changed yer thins' Ron." Hagrid, who had been waiting outside the Headmistress' office, said.
"Uh? Oh... thank you Hagrid." Ron said rather affected by the events that were happening to him so continuous.
"if ye want me opinion, I don't think tis ye, Ron." Hagrid said patting the werewolf's shoulder, and almost throwing him down.
"Thank you, Hagrid." Ron said with a weak smile, his head thinking about Hermione.
They met Malfoy as Hagrid was guiding Ron towards his new chamber. The blond boy sneered visibly at Ron, seconded by his two goons, who snorted in a horrid laughter. Ron stared at Malfoy for a second or two. Suddenly the boy curled his lips, baring a collection of large, sharp fangs, and growled deeply, threateningly, an animalistic sound. Malfoy's face changed suddenly, as did Crabbes and Goyle's. The difference was that while Malfoy simply didn't expect that, the two goons were visibly terrified.
As the two left, Ron smiled widely, the fangs still showing, but this time his face showed pride and joy instead of threat. He was tired of all the nonesense, tired of all the stupidity and the constant fighting. Suddenly he discovered that his curse was not so bad after all, good hearing, good smelling, and he could just growl if someone was nagging him. Ron sighed, perhaps life wasn't so bad after all.
"Good goin', Ron!" Hagrid said with a vast grin on his lips.
"Thanks!" Ron said rubbing the back of his head and smiling at the giant.
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"Don't forget me..." mumbled Rupert in his sleep, tossing his head from side to side.
"Help me..." he gasped lightly, his whole body moving now.
Suddenly, Rupert emmited a terrible, pained scream. His whole body convulsed and he arched his back in his bed. His blue eyes oppened wide and glinted in the darkness. Rupert gasped and shut them tightly again as he gripped his stomach tightly, and attempted to inhale ragged breaths of air. A strange pain was surging throung his body, a residual pain, reflection of the suffering he had experienced in his dream.
The young boy crawled off his bed and rushed towards the bathroom, where he threw up. The actor then threw water on his face and drank a little, since his tounge had become dry. He stared at his reflection on the mirror and shrugged, he was feeling fine now, a little pale, but fine.
"What a vivid dream!" he told himself, shrugging, "perhaps something I ate!" he thought ignoring the events.
Suddenly a thought came to him. He rushed back to the room and picked the wooden wand he had been given to film the movies. The boy glanced at it for a few seconds, turning it around, swallowing deeply, and considering doing it or not. Finally he decided it was worth trying. He shut his eyes again and extended his arm.
"LUMOS!" he said strongly, determined, and made a flick with his wrist.
The tip of the wand flashed into a bluish light. Rupert oppened his eyes and saw it with shock, and a loud gasp. That was very odd, but still it could be a trick of some sort, maybe somebody was playing a practical joke on him.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he said, pointing at a book on the table.
The book began floating lazily. That was deffinitely just too odd, yet this time he was sure nobody was toying with him. He seemed to be able to work magic.
"Rupert? Rupert! Are you ok?" called a voice at the other side of the door, a strong banging echoed in the room.
Rupert raced towards the door and oppened it. Emma and Daniel, both dressed in their respective pyjamas, entered the room, staring at him with a vivid worry.
"What are you guys doing here?" Rupert inquired staring at the two raising an eyebrow.
"We heard you screaming, what happened?" Daniel asked staring at the messy bed.
"I had a nightmare, that's all." Rupert said with a smile.
"Oh, and what are you doing with the wand?" Emma inquired, staring at the object with curiosity.
"This? Oh... well, I..." he didn't know wether to tell them, but he deffinitely needed someone in which he could trust.
"I think I can do magic." He finally said, resigned.
"You what?" Emma and Dan said in unision, staring at the red head as if he had suddenly grown fur.
"I can do magic, look!" Rupert said more exasperated, "LUMOS!" he barked.
The wand ignited again with that bluish light, illuminating the room with a hazy luminosity. Emma and Dan gasped loudly, staring at the wand, only to stare at the youth with a surprised expresion on your face.
"Is it... some kind of trick?" Dan asked after a few seconds.
"No! I can really do spells, all of them! They work!" Rupert snapped very excitedly, suddenly seeing the possibilities to knowing magic.
"But it is impossible, magic doesn't exist!" Dan exclaimed.
"What if it does? What if the Harry Potter thing was real?" Rupert commented, staring at the two youths in search of some belief.
"Harry Potter is fiction, Rupert. Come out of it, I'm not Harry Potter, Emma is not Hermione, and you are not Ron Weasley!" Dan snapped abruptly, huffing, then turned around and left the room.
"Dan!" called Rupert, yet received no answer, "You do believe me, don't you?" he said hopefully, turning to the girl.
"That was just too odd, Ron..." the woman said, pointing at the blazing wand.
"Er... my name is Rupert." The boy pointed out briskly.
"Yeah, sorry Ron." Emma said, turning around and heading for the door.
"It's Rupert!" he called after her frustatedly, "Now who needs to come out of it?" he commented clenching his fists with anger.
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Back at home, Hermione was glued to the telephone. A mug of coffee rested on the table, and a thick, telephone guide was laying on her legs. She was comfortably seated on a sofa, phone in hand and eyes reading the names in the list.
"Ronald... Ronald Warso, Ronald Warst, Ronald... Ronald Weasley!" she gasped upon reaching the name of her lost friend.
The girl hurried in dialing the number, and prayed for him to be real. One sign, a second sign, and a woman picked the phone. Hermione's first thought was that she might be Mrs Weasley.
"Hello?" said the woman curiously.
"hello!" answered Hermione through ragged breaths, "Is Ronald Weasley at home?" inquired the girl excitedly.
"Ronald? Oh dear, I'm so sorry but he's dead." The woman said sadly.
"Dead?" Hermione gasped. She couldn't believe her ears, the love of her life was dead. This time, hope completely vanished.
To Be Continued...
AN: Ok, the third chapter is up. Well, this story won't be as great as the other one, but it can have some interesting plot. Honestly, I'm only writting it because there is this great scene I'm going to place at the end.
