Diary of an Orphan (re-written)

by StrangeLittleWeirdo

Jenna grew up alone in an orphanage with no knowledge of who she was or where she came from. It wasn't until an owl arrived with a letter for her, and a man named Remus Lupin walked into her life, that she learnt she was so much more than she originally thought and her life would never be the same again.

16. Uneasy Feelings

Chapter 15

Uneasy Feelings

My uneasy feeling remained through dinner as I listened to Harry, Ron and Hermione reflect on the past week's worth of lessons. I quietly ate my dinner without giving much input to the conversation itself. Black was still on my mind. Somehow, he had managed to worm his way into my thoughts almost every day of this week. There was the Grim from our first Divination lesson that had made me question something I couldn't remember from when I was younger but somehow made me think of Black; Professor McGonagall had taught us about Animagi, of which Black was one; I'd found out in Potions from Seamus that Black had been spotted nearby by a Muggle; and then there was the Boggart, which would have shown everyone that I was scared of him, probably more so than most.

To make matters worse, Malfoy seemed determined to make Harry question me, taking any opportunity he could to stir up trouble that I knew was eventually going to come out anyway. I was just lucky Harry had chosen not to listen to Malfoy's taunts, therefore buying me more time to think about what to do when Harry eventually found out who Black really was.

The main courses vanished and dessert was served. The remains of my spaghetti vanished from my plate and an empty bowl took its place. I helped myself to a couple of spoonfuls of ice cream but barely touched it. I looked round the Hall, my spoon prodding the magically non-melting balls of honeycomb and vanilla. The students and teachers were starting to depart having finished their meals. My eyes looked towards the teacher's table. I could just see Lupin saying something to Professor Flitwick before he turned away and walked down the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables. In the quietening Hall, other student's voices were becoming clearer and I was able to pick out the odd sentences from various conversations. There was one in particular I heard, however, which made me frown.

'Look at the state of his robes,' said Malfoy's voice loudly from across the Hall. I shifted so I could see him from where I was sat. Malfoy was surrounded by the Slytherins in our year and by the sounds of it they had also been discussing our classes. 'He dresses like our old house-elf.'

Malfoy didn't even attempt to lower his voice when Lupin walked by where he and his friends were sat, instead carrying on as if he hadn't even seen him.

'My father would be appalled if he knew Dumbledore had hired someone as unprofessional as that Lupin as a teacher,' said Malfoy snobbishly. 'It's bad enough he's got that oaf teaching us, not that he'll be around for much longer, of course.'

'Jenna?' I looked round when I heard my name. It was Harry.

'What?' I asked.

'We're heading back to the Tower,' Harry said. 'Are you ready?'

'Um, yeah,' I said.

I left my uneaten ice cream and got up. I picked my bag up and slung it on to my shoulder. I followed Harry, Ron and Hermione out of the Hall but stopped moments later at the top of the Marble Staircase.

'You guys go on,' I said to them. 'I think I'm going to go visit my Uncle. Got something I want to ask him.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded and carried on up the Changing Staircase to head back up to the Gryffindor Tower. We separated on the second floor when the Staircases divided and I walked up the one that would take me to the third floor. I walked through the empty corridors back to the Dark Arts Tower and up its long spiralling staircase to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. I pushed open the door to see the candles inside the classroom had been extinguished. The only light was coming from inside Lupin's office at the back of the room, the door slightly ajar at the top of its small staircase. I crossed the classroom and walked up the stairs. I poked my head through the open door to see Lupin sat at his desk mulling over a piece of parchment in front of him.

'Knock, knock,' I said, announcing myself. Lupin looked up.

'Jenna, what brings you here?' said Lupin, surprised. He tapped the parchment on his desk with his wand. It rolled itself up then flew over into a cubbyhole in a cabinet behind his desk. 'Don't you have homework to do?'

'Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you,' I said.

'Oh?' said Lupin.

He indicated a seat in front of his desk for me to take. I dumped my bag by the door and sat down. I took a moment to look round Lupin's office. It seemed that he'd brought almost the entire contents of his office from Moonlake here with him. I recognised so many of the various tanks, instruments and books that filled the shelves as ones I'd seen before at home. It looked very different in decoration in comparison to how Lockhart had kept the office last year. Having appraised his office, I faced Lupin who was now sitting in the seat opposite me. I pulled my legs up so my feet rested on the base. I rested my arms on my knees.

'What is it you want to talk about?' asked Lupin.

I didn't respond straight away. I didn't know how to phrase what I wanted to say. Lupin remained silent as he waited for me to speak. In the end, I thought it best to start with what was bothering me. I told him about the Grim and Trelawney's prediction, about the article in the Prophet Seamus had shown us, and about Malfoy's taunts to Harry about Black. Lupin listened, his eyes focused as he thought through what I said.

'Jenna, you mustn't worry about Black,' said Lupin once I'd finished. He got up and walked over to a table on the far side of his office that had a kettle on top of it. He gave it a tap with his wand then floated a couple of mugs over to him. 'Hot chocolate?' he asked. I nodded. Lupin set the drinks to make themselves, then returned to his seat. 'Even if Harry does find out what your connection to him is, you know he cannot blame you for it,' reasoned Lupin. 'You were only a baby at the time. How were you to know what Black was capable of?'

'I know,' I said. The mug of hot chocolate floated over to me. I took it and held the warm drink in my hands. I gave it a quick blow to cool the liquid then took a sip. 'I just – I don't like how everything is relating back to him. It's unnerving.'

'It's understandable that Black is on your mind,' said Lupin, 'and because of that, your mind is automatically trying to make connections to him. If you were to remove your thoughts of him, then he shall stop worrying you. In fact, I do have some good news that might take him off your mind.'

I gave Lupin a curious look. Lupin gave me a sort of half smile in response.

'I had a word with Professor Dumbledore a few days ago to discuss the full moons with him,' Lupin told me. 'He has requested Professor Snape to make the Wolfsbane Potion for me so that I am safe whenever the full moon is due, to which Professor Snape has agreed to do so, so I have no worries about not having access to the potion while I'm teaching.'

'That's good,' I said.

'I also spoke to Professor Dumbledore about how you join me during the full moon,' continued Lupin, 'and about your ability.'

'I thought I wasn't meant to tell anyone about that?' I said, confused.

'Professor Dumbledore was Headmaster back when your mother and I were both at school,' said Lupin. 'He was more than aware of Tala's ability, and so – unsurprisingly – he already knew that you possessed the same one.' I sat there silent, surprised by this news, then nodded. Lupin continued. 'I have requested if it would be all right for you to be present whenever I transform, assuring him that you are aware and always careful of the dangers the werewolf presents, and that you are actually a good influence on it. It appears my other self finds you rather calming.'

'What did Dumbledore say?' I asked.

'Professor Dumbledore has agreed, as long as the proper precautions are taken,' said Lupin. 'As long as you only transform within the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom or my office so you aren't seen, then he sees no reason you cannot join me while I'm locked away inside my office.'

I hadn't even considered what was going to happen with the full moons with Lupin teaching here, and whether or not I'd be able to be involved in them. But, like I had assumed when I tried to convince Lupin to take the position in the first place during the summer, Dumbledore had it all planned out. Lupin was right when he said it was good news. It just didn't do quite what Lupin had hoped for. It lifted my spirits for a moment at the thought of being able to spend the full moons with him, but then the thought of Black came back to my mind. It used to be him who had kept Lupin company during the full moon. The smile that had briefly graced my face vanished once more.

'Lupin,' I asked as he sipped his tea, 'what was Black like when you met him, before he went bad? You said you knew him at school and that he was one of your best friends.'

Lupin shifted in his chair. He cleared his throat, his moustache twitching.

'Why the sudden curiosity?' Lupin asked, countering my question with his own.

'I just want to know what he was like, that's all,' I shrugged. 'Mum wrote a lot about him in her old diary. I just wanted to know what you thought of him.'

Lupin thought through my request. He placed his mug of tea in his lap, his hands cradling it as he sat silently in front of me.

'Your father was one of my best friends, as I've said before,' Lupin began, 'as were James Potter, Harry's father, and another boy called Peter Pettigrew. We were at school together, met the very first day on our way to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express. While we were all good friends, James was Black's best friend in a very similar way that Harry is yours, and they had, shall we say, a certain talent for trouble much like yourselves. We were known as the Marauders and had our own nicknames that we always used for each other when we were together. Those two wouldn't be seen without the other no matter where they went. The four of us were friends all our way through school, even after they found out about my being a werewolf during our second-year. To my surprise they stuck by me, even became Animagi in our fifth-year so that they could help me to bear it. They were best friends I'd ever had.

'After our first-year, your mother joined the school, and Black fell for her,' continued Lupin. 'Despite my disapproval of Black going after her due to his reputation, Tala, being as stubborn as she was, went against my wishes and confronted Black's feelings for her. They got together near the end of our fifth-year and, at the time, I had to admit I was wrong. Black truly seemed to care for her and they were together for a long time even though they had their bumps along the road.

'When we finished Hogwarts, James married Lily Evans, Harry's mother. Black was best man at their wedding, their friendship as strong as ever. James's family even took Black in when he ran away from home. They were practically like brothers. When you came along, Black doted on you, especially after Tala died. He always seemed to know how to stop you crying. You'd always laugh whenever he transformed in front of you. But behind closed doors, not everything was as it seemed and there was a lot of suspicion brewing between us.'

Lupin's voice changed. His usual mild tone turned serious as the story of Black got a lot darker.

'The wizarding world was gripped by fear in light of Voldemort's pursuit for power,' said Lupin. 'People were being killed or captured and Imperiused to do his bidding, and Voldemort steadily gained more and more followers. There were those who opposed him, under the leadership of Professor Dumbledore, including myself, Black, Peter, James and Lily. At some point, Professor Dumbledore discovered from one of his spies that Voldemort had marked James and Lily for death and so they went into hiding. Black, being James's most trusted friend, was used as their Secret-Keeper but unbeknownst to us all, Black had been working as a spy for Voldemort, and he handed them over without a second thought about his former best friend. And the rest, you already know.'

I thought about what Lupin had said, my mind picking at the little details I had already known. Nothing seemed unfamiliar to me or seemed to stand out as anything out of the ordinary when I pared it with previous conversations and knowledge I had about Black. I frowned though when I thought about what Lupin had said they had been called at school. The Marauders. I knew that term but as I thought it through, I realised Lupin had never used it in front of me before. But if Lupin had never mentioned it before then how did I know about the obscure nickname for their group?

'Do you have a picture of you together?' I asked, curious. Maybe seeing a photo of the four of them together from when they were at school might help me put together how I knew the term. I had only ever seen a photo of Lupin with James, Lily, Black and my Mum. I had never seen who this Peter Pettigrew was.

Lupin got up and went round his desk. He opened one of the top drawers and began to search for something inside it. A few minutes later he pulled out a small photo album. He placed it down on his desk and flicked through its pages, coming to a stop somewhere in the middle. He unclipped the photo from its slot and handed it to me. I took it, my eyes falling upon the people in it – four teenage boys standing with their arms around each other with broad smiles on their faces.

An alleyway … a woman with her back to the wall and a baby in her arms … three hooded men approaching her …

I gasped, dropping the photo. I felt a pain in my head as those images crossed over my eyes. I looked up. Lupin was staring at me.

'Are you all right?' he asked.

'Yeah.'

I nodded and picked up the photo off the floor. My eyes examined it once more, this time without the added pain in my head. I looked at each of the boys in turn, identifying them by what I already knew of them. On the far right was Lupin, easily recognised, as he was the only one with light brown hair. In the middle were two black-haired boys, both of whom were grinning at something I wasn't to know about and they had their arms round each other's shoulders. The one next to Lupin had a pair of round glasses perched on his thin nose that were very similar to those that Harry wore; I knew this had to be his father, James. That meant that the boy next to him had to be Black. He had the same sleek black hair falling to his shoulders that I knew my father to have, having seen it in the old photographs I had of him and Mum from when they were younger. My eyes turned to the last boy on the far left. He was much shorter than the other three boys and much rounder in shape of body and face. I stared at him. Like Lupin, he had brown hair but it was much darker than his, mousey even. His face was afflicted by an outbreak of teenage spots and he had rather large front teeth visible as he smiled. There was something distinctly rodent-ish about him. Even his face seemed quite pointed despite its rounded cheeks.

'Is this Peter?' I asked, pointing at the boy on Black's right.

'Yes,' replied Lupin heavily. He took the photo from me and looked at it. 'Peter never was the most talented of wizards. He always needed James and Black's help with his schoolwork and when they became Animagi. Proved himself to be a brave wizard though when he stood up to Black the day he was killed. It was a pity he died. I can't begin to imagine how his mother felt when his finger was returned to her.'

I stared at Lupin for a few moments longer then looked back at the photo. I stared at the teenage Peter. I don't know how or why but he had been in the alley the day my Mum had died. I was sure of it. But had he been there to help her? Or had he been there to kill her?

'Yeah, pity.'

The weeks quickly progressed and Lupin's Defence Against the Dark Arts classes proved to be very popular with the majority of the students. It certainly felt good to hear all the nice comments people were making about his lessons. They were never boring and with each class Lupin had a new creature for us to study. Having covered Boggarts, we moved on to Red Caps, goblin-like creatures that lived in areas where there had been bloodshed such as old battlefieds; and after Red Caps, we did Kappas, a kind of water-monkey that lived in the murky lakes and rivers of Japan. With every lesson we learnt about the strengths and weaknesses of each of the creatures Lupin showed us, as well as learning how to deal with one because Lupin believed there was no better way to learn than through practical application of our knowledge.

Not all classes, however, were as exciting or as enjoyable as Lupin's. Potions in fact had gotten infinitely worse since the Boggart Snape incident. Somehow, like with all things that happen at Hogwarts, the news of Neville's Boggart turning into Snape in a green dress and vulture-topped hat had spread around the school and Snape had gotten wind of what had happened. Unsurprisingly, Snape didn't find it amusing in the slightest and so had become even more vindictive to the Gryffindors in our year and especially towards Neville whom he'd begun bullying worse than ever, and whenever he passed Lupin in the corridor or saw him at meals, his eyes flashed menacingly in his direction. If looks could kill, Lupin would be dead several times over by now.

As for our new subjects, Divination and Care of Magical Creatures were proving to be lessons I wish I hadn't chosen. Divination was basically an hour of sitting in a stifling hot room listening to Professor Trelawney waffle on about the different symbols and signs we should be looking for in our tea leaves and giving Harry saddened teary looks every time her enlarged eyes glanced at him. Only Parvati and Lavender seemed completely taken by the subject and were frequently seen heading back towards the North Tower, returning again at the end of lunch with a certain look of smugness on their face at something they'd found out. As for Care of Magical Creatures, despite the events of the first lesson, my hopes for an interesting subject to study had been dashed as Hagrid had lost all of his confidence and gave us nothing more than Flobberworms to tend to. After about the fourth lesson of looking after these useless slimy brown creatures, I was losing hope of anything better coming along for us to study.

'Why would anyone bother looking after them?' muttered a frustrated Ron, poking lettuce at his rather fat specimen. 'They've got to be the most useless creature to ever exist.'

I had a feeling Ron was right about that one.

October soon arrived which meant that the Quidditch season was due to start in the following weeks. It also meant the weather began to get colder and wetter as the bright September sun melted away and the blue skies changed to a steely grey. Nevertheless Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, accosted Harry one evening in the common room to let him know that Quidditch practice was to start again that coming Thursday. I could hear the nervous excitement in his voice as he spoke to Harry. It was Wood's last year at Hogwarts and so his last chance to lead Gryffindor to victory having not won the Cup in some time; he was probably quite desperate now to win it before he left.

There was another buzz about the Gryffindor common room on Thursday evening. When Ron, Hermione and I had got back from dinner, we saw a large notice had been posted on the Gryffindor noticeboard. There was a swarm of students crowding round it to read what it said, an excited whisper sweeping over them one by one. When the three of us finally were able to see what all the fuss was about, my reaction didn't mirror the other students'. There was to be a trip to Hogsmeade at the end of October, on Hallowe'en. I felt the same excitement as everyone else but it was swiftly crushed when I read the sentence at the bottom of the parchment.

ONLY STUDENTS WITH SIGNED PERMISSION FORMS ARE ALLOWED TO VISIT THE VILLAGE

'Ooh, I can't wait,' said Hermione excitedly. We crossed the common room and took our favourite seats in the corner to start our homework while we waited for Harry to get back from Quidditch practice. 'I'm so looking forward to finding out all about Hogsmeade's history as the only wizarding village.'

'Well while you do that, the rest of us will actually be enjoying ourselves,' said Ron. Hermione ignored him. I merely sighed and turned to my Herbology homework.

The chatter about the first Hogsmeade visit of the year continued long into the evening. It was still being talked about when Harry, Fred, George and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team finally returned from practice, cold and sore but in good spirits at least. They noticed the buzz in the common room almost instantly. Harry, Fred and George came over to where Ron, Hermione and I were sat by the fireside.

'What's happened?' asked Harry, nodding his head at the rest of the students.

'First Hogsmeade weekend,' said Ron. He looked up from his Astronomy chart and pointed with his quill at the noticeboard. 'End of October. Hallowe'en.'

'Excellent,' said Fred. A broad grin appeared on his face. 'I need to visit Zonko's, I'm nearly out of Stink Pellets.'

I looked up from my Astronomy chart to see Harry's face had fallen at the news of the Hogsmeade visit. As Fred and George vanished up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, Harry threw himself into the empty chair beside Ron. Hermione had also stopped writing on her chart.

'Harry, I'm sure you'll be able to go next time,' she said. 'They're bound to catch Black soon, he's been sighted once already.'

'Black's not fool enough to try anything in Hogsmeade,' argued Ron. Sensing the impending argument, I lowered my eyes back to my sheet of parchment to avoid being dragged into it. 'Ask McGonagall if you can go this time, Harry, the next one might not be for ages –'

'Ron!' scolded Hermione. 'Harry's supposed to stay in school –'

'He can't be the only third-year left behind,' said Ron.

'He won't be, Jenna's not going either –'

So much for not being dragged into it, I thought to myself.

'Ask McGonagall,' persisted Ron, 'go on, Harry –'

'Yeah, I think I will,' said Harry.

I glanced at him. He had that determined look in his eye again. I guess he'd made up his mind. Before Hermione had the chance to argue, Crookshanks leapt up on to her lap and began running his head over her chest for attention. He had a large dead spider hanging from his mouth. Ron saw this, his nose wrinkling in disgust.

'Does he have to eat that in front of us?' he said, scowling.

'Clever Crookshanks, did you catch that all by yourself?' cooed Hermione, scratching Crookshanks' ear. Crookshanks merely stared back at Ron, his yellow eyes fixed upon him almost mockingly, as he chewed at his spider.

'Just keep him over there, that's all,' muttered Ron. 'I've got Scabbers asleep in my bag.' Beside him, Harry had pulled out his homework. 'You can copy mine, if you like,' said Ron, thrusting his finished star chart at Harry. 'I've finished mine.'

Without even looking up I could feel Hermione's scowl beside me at the thought of Harry copying Ron's homework. I almost agreed, but more because Ron's homework probably had several glaring mistakes on it, which would mean Harry's would end up having the same mistakes too, but that was beside the point. I brushed it off and made to turn the page in my Astronomy textbook when there was a sudden flash of ginger in front of me. Having finished his spider, Crookshanks had bolted from Hermione's lap and dove under the table straight at Ron's bag.

'OY!' roared Ron. He grabbed his bag and yanked it off the floor. Crookshanks hissed angrily as he held on to it with his front claws. 'GET OFF, YOU STUPID ANIMAL!'

'Ron, don't hurt him!' screamed Hermione.

She sprang from her seat to grab Crookshanks away from Ron. He was swinging his bag around trying to shake the ginger feline off it. Their antics attracted the attention of almost everyone in the common room who fell silent and watched as Ron swung around his bag with Crookshanks still attached. With a particularly violent jerk, Ron's bag opened and Scabbers flew out the top, landing with a thump on the floor near the fireplace. Scabbers let out a terrified squeak and made a break for it across the common room. Crookshanks detached himself from Ron's bag and leapt after the rat.

'CATCH THAT CAT!' yelled Ron.

George lunged for Crookshanks but he ducked under his arms after Scabbers. The rat ran through several pairs of legs, girls screaming and jumping at the sight of him, with Crookshanks chasing after him. He only just made it under a chest of drawers in time and out of Crookshanks' reach. Crookshanks skidded to a halt in front of the large piece of furniture, hissing at the darkness that hid Scabbers from him. He swiped blindly underneath the base with his front paw. Ron and Hermione ran over to the chest of drawers. Hermione gathered a squirming Crookshanks into her arms and pulled him away while Ron threw himself on to the ground to fish Scabbers out from beneath it.

'Look at him!' said Ron furiously once he'd gotten Scabbers back in his hands. 'He's skin and bone! You keep that cat away from him!'

'Crookshanks doesn't understand it's wrong!' said Hermione, her voice shaking. 'All cats chase rats, Ron!'

'There's something funny about that animal!' snapped Ron. He forced Scabbers back into his pocket but the rat was having none of it. He wriggled furiously, squeaking all the while, but was eventually buttoned back inside Ron's jacket. 'It heard me say that Scabbers was in my bag!'

'Oh, what rubbish,' said Hermione. 'Crookshanks could smell him, Ron, how else d'you think –'

'That cat's got it in for Scabbers!' shouted Ron. 'And Scabbers was here first, and he's ill!'

'Ron!' objected Hermione but Ron turned away and marched up the boys' dormitories, ending the argument. Hermione remained where she was, stroking Crookshanks' head, but looking visibly hurt.

'That cat's really got it in for Scabbers,' muttered Harry beside me. I glanced at him.

'Maybe,' I replied, frowning. Hermione could defend Crookshanks all she wanted, but it was hard to deny that something about Scabbers bothered Crookshanks and Ron was right when he said there was something funny about him, considering what we had been told of him possibly being part Kneazle when she bought him. Still, it wasn't my place to get involved in their argument, and I turned back to my homework. Besides, the bloody thing didn't like me anyway so why should I defend him?

The following morning Ron was still not speaking to Hermione when she and I got to breakfast. He was sat with Harry at the Gryffindor table and determinedly avoided Hermione's eye when we arrived, continuing his conversation with Harry as if she wasn't there. Hermione and I shared a look, and I could tell Hermione was still a bit upset over the whole situation. I gently rubbed her arm and we sat down with the boys to help ourselves to some food. Ron's attitude continued through into our Herbology lesson that morning, making it very awkward to work stripping pods from Puffapods with them.

'How's Scabbers?' Hermione finally asked, her voice quiet, as she emptied a pile of shiny beans into a pail.

'He's hiding at the bottom of my bed, shaking,' replied Ron, angrily. He missed the pail as he spoke, scattering the beans over the floor. They burst into bloom upon contact with the soil-covered greenhouse floor.

'Careful, Weasley, careful!' scolded Professor Spout. Ron's scowl merely deepened and he ignored Hermione for the remainder of class.

Things didn't improve when we got to Transfiguration. I had noticed during Herbology that the lesson seemed oddly quieter than usual, the reason being that Lavender and Parvati weren't there. Being two of the chattiest girls in our year, it was hard not to notice when they weren't around. When we got to the Transfiguration Courtyard, I saw the two of them standing by the door to our Transfiguration Classroom. For some reason Lavender was crying. Parvati had her arm round her shoulders while she explained to Seamus what was going on. Concerned, Hermione and I went over to see if she was all right.

'What's the matter, Lavender?' asked Hermione.

'She got a letter from home this morning,' said Parvati in a low voice. Lavender let out another sob on her shoulder. 'It's her rabbit, Binky. He's been killed by a fox.'

'Oh,' said Hermione. 'I'm so sorry, Lavender.'

'When did it happen?' I asked.

'I don't know!' wailed Lavender. 'I should have known though! You know what day it is?'

'Er –?'

'Friday?' I ventured, despite knowing it was probably not what she meant.

'The fifteenth of October!' cried Lavender. '"That thing you're dreading, it will happen on the fifteenth of October!" Remember? She was right, she was right!'

Hermione and I shared a confused look. What was meant to happen today? Everyone was now gathered round Lavender, listening anxiously.

'You – you were dreading Binky being killed by a fox?' repeated Hermione hesitantly.

'Well, not by a fox,' said Lavender, her eyes streaming with tears, 'but I was obviously dreading him dying, wasn't I?'

'Oh,' said Hermione. She looked at me for support. I shrugged, not knowing what to do. I had never really been in this situation before where I'd had to console someone. The only other time I had was with Hermione back in first-year, and that had ended with us being trapped in a bathroom with a troll, so my track record at comforting people wasn't brilliant. 'Was Binky an old rabbit?' Hermione asked.

'N-no!' sobbed Lavender. 'H-he was only a baby!'

Lavender sobbed louder. Parvati tightened her arm around her.

'But then, why would you dread him dying?' asked Hermione.

Lavender stopped crying and stared at her, shocked. Parvati glared at her.

'Well, look at it logically,' said Hermione. 'I mean, Binky didn't even die today, did he, Lavender just got the news today –' Lavender wailed again, '– and she can't have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock –'

'Hermione, I'd stop if I were you,' I whispered in her ear, seeing everyone glaring at her for her logic over sensitivity.

'Don't mind Hermione, Lavender,' said Ron loudly. He pushed past Hermione and stood in front of Lavender. 'She doesn't think other people's pets matter very much.'

Hermione's mouth fell open, but I shook my head at her to stop her responding. Now was one of those times Hermione needed to learn when to keep her mouth shut. Luckily, at that moment Professor McGonagall opened the door to her classroom and we were allowed inside. Harry and I took seats on desks next to each other while Ron and Hermione, who were shooting daggers at each other, took seats on either side of us and remained silent for the rest of the lesson. Because of this the lesson passed by quicker than usual as we attempted to change shoeboxes into tea-cosies. Before we knew it, the lesson had finished and Professor McGonagall was calling for our attention as we packed up our things.

'One moment, please!' she called over us. 'As you're all in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Hallowe'en. No form, no visiting the village, so don't forget!'

Neville put up his hand.

'Please, Professor, I – I think I've lost –'

'Your grandmother sent yours to me directly, Longbottom,' said Professor McGonagall, a hint of impatience evident in her tone. Neville let out a relieved breath. 'She seemed to think it was safer. Well, that's all, you may leave.'

I picked up my bag and turned for the door. Behind me, I heard Ron whisper to Harry.

'Ask her now.'

'Oh, but –' Hermione started.

'Go for it, Harry,' encouraged Ron.

I stopped, letting the rest of the class file past me as I watched Harry walk over to Professor McGonagall's desk. She looked up, her eyes fixing him with her usual piercing gaze.

'Yes, Potter?'

'Professor, my aunt and uncle – er – forgot to sign my form,' said Harry.

Professor McGonagall blinked but didn't say anything.

'So – er – d'you think it would be all right – I mean, will it be OK if I – if I go to Hogsmeade?'

'I'm afraid not, Potter,' said Professor McGonagall shortly. She returned to the papers on her desk, looking away from him. 'You heard what I said. No form, no visiting the village. That's the rule.'

'But – Professor, my aunt and uncle – you know, they're Muggles, they don't really understand about – about Hogwarts forms and stuff,' said Harry. 'If you said I could go –'

'But I don't say so,' said Professor McGonagall. 'The form clearly states that the parent or guardian must give permission.' She turned away briefly to put her papers in a drawer then looked back at Harry. There was an odd expression on her face. It looked almost like pity. 'I'm sorry, Potter, but that's my final word. You had better hurry, or you'll be late for your next lesson.'

There was nothing to be done. Like me, Harry wasn't going to be able to go to Hogsmeade and he and Ron were just going to have to accept it. Ron was furious and called Professor McGonagall a lot of names which annoyed Hermione, whose "it's for the best" attitude merely infuriated Ron more. The rest of the class, meanwhile, happily talked about the upcoming Hogsmeade visit unaware that both Harry and I were unable to go, and so I did my best to block out their conversations on what they were going to do first in the village or where they were going to go.

'There's always the feast,' said Ron, attempting to cheer Harry up. 'You know, the Hallowe'en feast, in the evening.'

'Yeah,' said Harry despondently, 'great.'

I don't somehow think that was much consolation.

When news got round that evening that Harry wasn't able to go to the village, surprisingly a lot of people came to offer their help. Dean, who had always been quite good with a quill, offered to forge Harry's uncle's signature but that was pointless considering Harry had already told Professor McGonagall his uncle had forgotten to sign it. Seamus said we should just sneak him down there but how he didn't know. Ron suggested using the Invisibility Cloak once Seamus was out of earshot but Hermione shot that down straight away when she reminded him the Dementors were able to see through them. There was absolutely no way Harry could get down to the village. I merely remained quiet, knowing that because Lupin was teaching here there was no way they could convince him to let me go to the village when he'd already refused and so I had told them not to even try. Out of all this though, Percy's words of comfort were probably the ones we'd least wanted to hear.

'They make a fuss about Hogsmeade, but I assure you, Harry, it's not all it's cracked up to be,' Percy told us in a serious tone. 'All right, the sweetshop's rather good, but Zonko's Joke Shop's frankly dangerous, and yes, the Shrieking Shack's always worth a visit, but really, Harry, apart from that, you're not missing anything.'

'"Not missing anything", he says,' repeated Ron once Percy had gone. 'Only a pompous wand-in-the-mud would say that.'

Hallowe'en morning was bright and grey. I stared dismally out of the window in my dormitory as I got dressed, knowing the rest of my year would soon be heading down to Hogsmeade after breakfast while I had to stay cooped up in the castle all because of Lupin's concerns that Black would come after me. As bad as it was to think it, Black was probably too preoccupied with thoughts of Harry to bother about his possibly still alive daughter. Across the dormitory, Hermione called to see if I was ready and the two of us left to head down to breakfast. Harry and Ron were already there when we reached the Great Hall. Harry looked about as cheerful as I felt. We ate in an awkward silence, Ron and Hermione not daring to discuss Hogsmeade in front of us so as not to make things worse. At least they weren't arguing with each other anymore about Crookshanks and Scabbers.

Around nine o'clock Professor McGonagall called the attention of the Hall and announced that any of the third-year students going down to Hogsmeade were to wait in the Entrance Hall where Filch would be waiting with a list of names to check who was going. Harry and I shared a look. We both knew what that meant; any chance of sneaking down to the village was pretty much dashed with Filch on guard duty. Around us the Hall began to empty. Harry and I followed Ron and Hermione into the Entrance Hall where Filch was already scrutinising the rest of our year while he checked off their names on the long sheet of parchment he had in his hand.

'We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes,' said Hermione to Harry and me. I could hear the sympathetic tone in her voice as she said it, like she was doing her best to make light of the situation.

'Yeah, loads,' enthused Ron, perhaps a little too much.

'Guys, it's fine,' I said.

'Don't worry about us,' said Harry. Despite his casual tone, I could tell he was trying to put on a brave face in place of his disappointment. 'We'll see you at the feast. Have a good time.'

'Staying here, Potter?' came Malfoy's voice. I looked across to the doors to see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle waiting in line to be checked off by Filch. 'Scared of passing the Dementors?'

'Come on, Jenna,' said Harry. 'Let's go find something to do.'

Harry and I said our goodbyes to Ron and Hermione then headed back up the Marble Staircase. We walked in silence back up the Changing Staircase until we came to the third floor where I stopped. Harry looked questioningly at me.

'Well, as I can't go to Hogsmeade, I said I'd go help Lupin prepare his next classes,' I shrugged. 'You can come too if you want. He's bound to have something interesting in his office for us to look at.'

'As great as Lupin's lessons are, I don't really want to spend the weekend helping a teacher,' said Harry dismally. I held in a sigh.

'Harry, I know you're disappointed about Hogsmeade, but I'm sure there's a good reason why the teachers won't sign your permission slip,' I said, trying to be reasonable. 'I mean, they aren't your guardians. It'd be irresponsible of them.'

'Jenna, we both know the reason they won't sign it,' said Harry bluntly. 'I know it's because of Black being on the loose that they won't do it.'

I couldn't help the frown that furrowed my brow when Harry said that.

'Do you really think Black's after you?' I then asked, cautiously.

'I don't know, but everyone seems to think he is,' said Harry. He paused, looking away from me. 'I think I'm just going to head back to the common room.'

'OK,' I said. I nodded then tried to give Harry a smile but it was very half hearted. 'If you want something to do, you can always come to Lupin's office.'

Harry nodded then headed up the stairs back to the seventh floor while I turned off down the third floor corridor towards the Dark Arts Tower.

Spending the morning with Lupin turned out to be pretty boring for the most part. When I arrived at his office, Lupin had his head buried in a book as he was researching the next creature he was going to use for his lessons and making lengthy notes on a piece of parchment. He looked up long enough to tell me he was going to be a while before returning to his work. Not knowing what to do, I dumped my jacket on the chair in front of his desk and attempted to amuse myself with one of the intricate instruments Lupin had on his bookcase. After another fifteen minutes of work, Lupin finally sealed his parchment up and got up from his desk.

'Sorry about that,' said Lupin. 'I've been researching Grindylows for our next lesson. In fact, I received an Owl about half an hour ago saying the one I ordered should arrive today. D'you want to accompany me to the staffroom to see if it's here?'

'Sure,' I said, putting down the strange double-ended candle I'd been examining. I placed the half black-half white candle back on its stand, resting its bronze circlet on its perch. Lupin held the door open for me and together we left his office.

There was indeed a parcel waiting for Lupin when we reached the staffroom. I say parcel, Lupin's delivery in fact was a large tank filled to the brim with murky water containing a dark sickly-green creature. It had a series of tentacles for its lower body while its face and chest were like a withered baby's in appearance, similar to a Mandrake in some ways. A very angry baby. It bared its rotten teeth at Lupin and me when it saw us and scratched its long spindly fingers across the glass of the tank. This must have been what Lupin had been researching: a Grindylow. After quickly examining its state, Lupin smiled then enchanted the tank so he could carry it back to his office. It was a slow walk back as we made sure not to let any of the water spill out of the tank knowing how much it would enrage Filch if he had to clean up pond water on top of the mess the students going to Hogsmeade would bring back with them. Once inside his office, Lupin set the tank down on a sideboard in the corner of his office.

'Interesting creatures,' he mused, looking at the beast once more. 'Very aggressive towards humans, however, merpeople have been said to be able to tame them and keep them as pets.'

A noise came from outside Lupin's office, drawing his attention away from the Grindylow tank. He looked over towards the still open door to his office.

'Harry?' I looked up in time to catch a glimpse of Harry poking his head around the door to Lupin's office. He must have seen us walking back here from the staffroom. He stepped into the room, looking uncomfortable. 'What are you doing?' asked Lupin lightly. 'Where are Ron and Hermione?'

'Hogsmeade,' shrugged Harry. I could hear he was trying to be casual about it.

'Ah,' nodded Lupin, then adding, 'Why don't you come in?'

'I've just remembered,' I said quickly, feeling that Harry might want a word with Lupin alone. I was pretty sure the incident with the Boggart was still bothering him. 'I've not finished my Charms homework and it's due in tomorrow,' I told Lupin to excuse myself. 'I better go do it. Thanks for showing me the Grindylow, Lupin.'

I watched as Lupin gave me a suspicious look but he accepted my excuse and nodded. I grabbed my jacket from the chair I'd put it on earlier then made my way over to the door. Harry caught my eye as I passed. I merely smiled and walked out of the office. I didn't stop until I was across the other side of the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and out of the door leading into the Dark Arts Tower. I let out a sigh and leaned against the wall. I hoped Harry wasn't going to get all defensive if he did ask Lupin about the Boggart, knowing full well what he was like if someone tried to baby him like McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey did at the start of term after the encounter with the Dementor on the train. While I didn't know exactly why Lupin had stopped him – only that he was protecting him from the Dementor the Boggart had formed – I did know that Lupin would have had his reasons to do so. I just hoped Harry accepted them.

I looked around the empty Tower. The candles glowed dimly along the wall following the spiral staircase down to the bottom of the Tower. It was completely void of any other student. I was suddenly at a loss of what to do having cut short my visit to Lupin and there being no one in my year in the castle to talk to. An idea then came to me about what I could do. I started down the staircase, a broad grin on my face, to make my way out to the castle grounds. As I turned out of the Tower into the third floor corridor, however, I stopped having heard footsteps coming this way. I waited to see who it was.

With a sweep of his long black robes, Snape emerged from around the corner carrying a goblet of smoking liquid. I didn't need to guess what it was. The Wolfsbane Potion. I hesitated when I realised this, my eyes fixed upon Snape. Lupin had said that Snape had been asked by Dumbledore to brew the Wolfsbane Potion for his transformations. Any good Potioneer would know what that potion was for meaning that Snape probably had been told that Lupin was a werewolf. A nervous feeling started in the pit of my stomach. Though I couldn't think why he would, gathering that Lupin had never met Snape prior to the start of the year, I really hoped Snape didn't let slip Lupin's condition to anyone. That would be the last thing he needed. That dark look he'd given him at the Start-Of-Term feast though made me uneasy in Dumbledore's choice to trust Snape with Lupin's secret.

Snape swept up the corridor towards where I was standing near the statue of One-Eyed Witch. His black eyes caught sight of me.

'Not in Hogsmeade today with Weasley and Granger?' he said, the hint of the sneer as always in his voice.

'No, Professor,' I replied. 'I haven't got permission.'

Snape's eyes narrowed, almost with curiosity.

'Professor Lupin didn't give you permission to visit the village?' Snape questioned. I nodded. To my surprise, the edge of Snape's thin lips lifted. 'A decision that must have dogged him for sometime.'

I frowned, confused by Snape's comment. What did he mean by the decision of giving me permission to go to Hogsmeade dogging Lupin? I mean, I already knew Lupin's reasons: because he didn't want Black to find me. There was nothing more to it. But Lupin probably never mentions Black in the company of other teachers. How would Snape know that Lupin and Black used to be friends? Without another word, Snape swept past me and up the spiral staircase towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and Lupin's office. I watched until he was about halfway up the Tower before turning away to go into the castle grounds. I didn't, however, let Snape's comment lie forgotten.

The fact that the castle was empty of most of its students thanks to the Hogsmeade visit provided me with an opportunity I'd never really thought about before. With silent grounds and vacant castle corridors and no one to see me, it gave me the chance to practice my transformations without being seen so that I didn't become rusty again like I did after second-year. Reaching the grounds I double-checked that there were no stray first or second-years about. It was unlikely; most were probably struggling under their first few weeks of homework after the summer holidays. Happy that I was alone I ran down the hill from the Stone Circle before taking a jump. I landed on four paws instead of two feet and darted off towards the lake. Although I knew Lupin wouldn't be pleased I'd done this, considering how much he stressed I had to keep my secret, I reasoned I would have to practice if I wanted any chance of keeping myself safe during the full moons this year.

I spent most of the day in the grounds while I waited for Ron and Hermione to get back from Hogsmeade, only returning when I heard the bell from the Clock Tower ring out to signal it was lunchtime. Currently in the form of an owl, I flew back up to the castle rather than running as a wolf and landed in the Clock Tower Courtyard. I took refuge in the corner out of sight and transformed back. Once again I checked no one could have seen me then stepped out of the shadows to cross the open courtyard towards the doors to the castle. I had barely reached the broken fountain in the middle of the courtyard when I heard voices I recognised coming from the Wooden Bridge. I stopped to listen, looking round to see if it was who I thought it was.

'Before I fainted, I heard someone,' Harry was telling Lupin, 'a woman … screaming …'

'Well Dementors force us to relive our very worst memories,' explained Lupin. 'Our pain becomes their power.'

'So the woman screaming is from a memory?'

'More than likely.'

An uneasy feeling started in the pit of my stomach when Harry mentioned what he'd heard because of the Dementors. I knew all too well the sound of my Mum's screams that they brought on. I knew I shouldn't eavesdrop but a part of me was curious as to where this conversation was going. I quickly checked I was still alone then transformed back into a sparrow and flew towards the Wooden Bridge. Carefully I landed on the roof and changed back so I could listen. I knelt down on it close to the edge but remained out of sight. I could just see Harry's arms sticking out as he leant on the side of the Bridge while they talked.

'Jenna fainted that night on the train as well,' Harry was asking. I'd had a feeling he would. 'Does she have similar memories like mine?'

Lupin seemed to pause before he answered Harry's question.

'Jenna has a complicated past that is shrouded in unanswered questions,' he finally replied. 'She has memories like you do of her mother being murdered but as to what else it is that causes her to faint when Dementors are near her, even I don't know. There are still a lot of things that Jenna doesn't know about her life and might never know at all.'

'Like who her father is?' asked Harry. 'She said he's been missing as long as she can remember.'

I tensed. What was Lupin going to say to that?

'Jenna's father is not part of her life,' replied Lupin. I could hear the stiffened tone in his voice. 'And it is unlikely he ever will be.'

A silence followed and neither Harry nor Lupin said anything for a couple of minutes. I think Harry knew he'd spoken out of turn when he'd asked Lupin about my father. As much as Lupin disliked talking about Black, however, I knew he wouldn't have taken offence to Harry's curiosity.

'You have the same curiosity as your father,' Lupin said next. Another pause. 'You know, the very first time I saw you, Harry, I recognised you immediately,' Lupin continued. 'Not by you scar but by your eyes. They're your mother, Lily's. Yes … Oh yes, I knew her. I was at school with her and your father, James. Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in others, even and perhaps most especially, when that person could not see it in themselves. As for your father, James, on the other hand he,' Lupin chuckled, 'he had a certain – shall we say – talent for trouble. A trouble, rumour has it, he passed on to you.'

I couldn't help but grin at that. I had told Lupin more than enough about the sort of things Harry, Ron, Hermione and I had gotten into in the last two years here at Hogwarts.

'You're more like them than you know, Harry,' said Lupin. 'In time, you'll come to see just how much.'

I smiled. Lupin really knew how to make someone feel better in light of a bad situation. Thinking it was best I snuck away before I was discovered, I slowly turned to climb back further on to the roof so I could transform and fly off. Unfortunately though, one of the wooden tiles beneath me gave a loud creak and my cover was blown. I froze in hopes that Lupin and Harry hadn't heard me. That wasn't the case.

'Whose up there?' I heard Lupin call.

I sighed and turned back round to the edge. I knelt back down and leaned over it, my hair cascading down off my shoulders as I hung upside down on the roof, my hands tightly gripping the edge.

'Er, hi,' I said nervously.

'Jenna,' said Lupin sharply, 'get down from there at once.'

I got up and turned around so I could swing myself through the wooden window frame and on to the bridge. I landed in between Harry and Lupin with a dull thud. No sooner had I stood straight, Lupin instantly took hold of my arm and pulled me aside so Harry couldn't hear us. I think he knew how I'd gotten on to the roof.

'How long have you been up there?' asked Lupin quietly.

'Not that long,' I replied. 'Only a couple of minutes.'

'And how did you get on the roof?' Lupin persisted. I didn't answer, instead letting my hair fall over my face as I refused to tell him. Lupin knew the answer anyway. 'Jenna, you are not to do that here. I've told you time and again, you cannot abuse your abilities like that. What if someone had seen you?'

'I made sure no one was around,' I argued, 'besides, everyone's in Hogsmeade. It's not like there was anyone around to see me anyway.'

'That is not the point,' said Lupin sternly. 'If someone found out about what you can do, you would be in a lot of trouble.'

'Oh come on, Lupin,' I retorted, 'like you never broke the rules with your friends when you were at school.'

I instantly regretted saying that as I remembered Lupin wasn't currently just my guardian but also my teacher. I had never spoken back to a teacher like that before, not even Snape.

'That was completely different and you know it,' said Lupin slowly. 'Now, I will not tell you again; you are not to do that here unless you are in the safety of my office. Do I make myself clear?'

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Nevertheless I nodded.

'Good.'

With a final pointed look at me, Lupin straightened up and turned back to Harry. I glanced over at him. He must have been watching us the entire time, confused by Lupin's sudden change in demeanour.

'I'm afraid I have some work that needs taking care of,' said Lupin, his tone once again light and mild. 'I'm sure you and Jenna can find something to amuse yourselves in the castle until Ron and Hermione are back from Hogsmeade for the feast.'

Lupin turned on his heel and walked back towards the Clock Tower Courtyard to return inside the castle. I frowned as I watched him walk away. He needn't have made such a big deal about me being on the Wooden Bridge roof. Just because he knew I had gotten up there because of my abilities and not simply just climbed up there like any other student might didn't mean he had to tell me off like that. Like I told him, it's not like he hadn't broken any rules while he was here.

'What was that about?' I turned round to see Harry looking at me, confused at what he'd just witnessed.

'Oh, nothing,' I shrugged. 'He's just a bit over protective of me, that's all.'

'Why?' asked Harry. 'We've done worse than climbing on a roof before.'

I hesitated, then said, 'He has his reasons.'

'You've been saying that a lot recently,' said Harry, curiously. 'About your parents, especially your dad; why you're not allowed to go to Hogsmeade; and now this, Lupin telling you off for something minor compared to what we've done in the past.'

'Then why do you ask questions to things you already know the answer to?' I retorted. Harry frowned, confused. Well, at least I'd managed to divert him. 'Come on, let's go find something to do. Better than standing around out here doing nothing.'

I turned and walked back across the Wooden Bridge before Harry had a chance to object, ending the conversation that was treading dangerously into topics I didn't want to discuss for – as Harry had observed – my own reasons.

At about five o'clock that afternoon the entrance to the Gryffindor common room suddenly flew open as the students returned from Hogsmeade. The common room was suddenly filled with the excited chatter from our year group as they discussed their first visit to the village in great detail to one another, reminiscing already of their trip and eagerly anticipating when the next one would be as the jealous first and second-years hungrily listened in on their conversations. Through the crowds Ron and Hermione appeared pink-faced at the table Harry and I were sat at in the corner, both sharing the same broad smiles. From their pockets they pulled out a dozen or more brightly coloured sweets that they proceeded to dump in front of us on the table.

'There you go,' said Ron brightly. 'We got as much as we could carry.'

'Thanks,' said Harry. He picked up a packet of Pepper Imps, examining the bright blue packet. 'What's Hogsmeade like? Where did you go?'

'We went everywhere!' enthused Ron.

'There was so much to see,' agreed Hermione. 'We went to Dervish and Banges where they sell all sorts wizarding equipment –'

'– then we went to Zonko's Joke Shop,' said Ron. 'Fred and George bought loads of those Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks –'

'– then we went to the Three Broomsticks,' continued Hermione. 'They serve this really nice hot drink called Butterbeer that foams up like a cappuccino – and the post office, Harry! About two hundred owls, all sitting on shelves, all colour-coded depending on how fast you want your letter to get there!'

'Honeydukes have got a new kind of fudge, they were giving out free samples, there's a bit, look –'

'We think we saw an ogre, honestly, they get all sorts at the Three Broomsticks –'

'Wish we could have brought you some Butterbeer, really warms you up –'

'What did you do?' Hermione then said, suddenly changing the subject. Her excitement also vanished to be replaced with a more anxious look. 'Did you get any work done?'

'No,' shrugged Harry. 'Lupin made me a cup of tea in his office. And then Snape came in carrying this goblet with a strange smoking liquid in it.'

I looked up, alerted by Harry mentioning Snape bringing Lupin his dose of Wolfsbane Potion. Of course, Harry had arrived at Lupin's office shortly before I'd run into Snape after I'd left. My only reassurance was that Harry, Ron and Hermione would have no idea what the potion was.

'Lupin said he'd been feeling off-colour and so Snape had made him the potion because it was the only thing that helps,' explained Harry. 'And he drank it.'

Hermione gasped. Ron's mouth fell open.

'Lupin drank it?' gaped Ron. 'Is he mad?'

The three of them then looked at me.

'Lupin's got a weak immune system,' I said, thinking quickly. 'That potion Snape brewed him helps build up his body's defences otherwise he'd fall ill very regularly.'

Neither Harry or Ron looked convinced by my excuse, however, Hermione saved me having to explain any more when she looked at her watch.

'We'd better go down, you know,' she said, 'the feast'll be starting in five minutes.'

The four of us gathered our things together on the table then joined the crowd now leaving the Gryffindor common room to head down to the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en feast. Through the loud voices of the various conversations, our one regarding Lupin remained between us, much to my relief.

'But if he – you know –' said Hermione in a low voice, 'if he was trying to – to poison Lupin – he wouldn't have done it in front of Harry.'

'Snape's not trying to poison Lupin,' I argued. 'I told you, Lupin's got a weak immune system. That potion helps him.'

'Doesn't mean Snape couldn't slip something else into it,' said Ron.

'He still wouldn't have given it to him in front of a student,' argued Hermione.

'Yeah, maybe,' said Harry, 'I wouldn't put it past him though.'

Normally the cheerful atmosphere created by one of Hogwarts many feasts throughout the school year would perk me up no end but this time my spirits felt decidedly deflated despite the buzzing students, colourful decorations and wonderful food. I just couldn't get into it when my mind was so full of concerned thoughts. Then again, when I really thought about it, the last two Hallowe'ens I'd had here something bad had happened almost immediately afterwards. As we ate I glanced up at the teacher's table every so often. To any other student, Lupin would look as cheerful as always as he talked with Professor Flitwick. To me, I could see just how drained and tired he was with the full moon less than forty-eight hours away and the effort it was taking him to maintain the facade. A few seats away from him was Snape. I frowned when I noticed how often he was glancing in Lupin's direction. I could see the same look of loathing he'd had on his face back at the Start-of-Term feast. I remembered his earlier comment to me and my frowned deepened. What did Snape have against Lupin?

After the feast the Hogwarts ghosts provided the students and teachers with a performance of formation gliding around the Great Hall, culminating in Nearly Headless Nick creating a dramatic re-enactment of his botched beheading to rousing applauses from all those watching. It was a pretty great thing to watch. It was just unfortunate that I couldn't seem to enjoy it. I was relieved when Dumbledore finally dismissed us and we were allowed to return to our common rooms. Maybe what I needed was a good night's sleep to take my mind off of everything. I walked silently back to the Gryffindor Tower with Harry, Ron and Hermione talking amongst themselves, my mind still distracted until I felt myself walk into Harry's back. I looked up to see the corridor was jammed with the Gryffindor students but not one of them was going through the Fat Lady's portrait.

'What's going on?' I asked, confused.

'Why isn't anyone going in?' added Ron.

'Don't know,' said Hermione. 'Looks like there's something wrong with the entrance.'

'Let me through, please,' came Percy's pompous voice over the students pushing behind us. He made his way past us and towards the portrait. 'What's the hold-up here?' he demanded. 'You can't all have forgotten the password – excuse me, I'm Head Boy –'

Percy managed to force his way through the crowd of Gryffindors. Suddenly the voices began to fall quiet and a silence spread from the portrait entrance all the way back to where Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were near the back of the crowd.

'Somebody get Professor Dumbledore,' shouted Percy. 'Quick.'

The whispers and voices began again as people started to question what was going on that required Dumbledore's attention. In a matter of moments, however, Dumbledore had appeared and the crowd was parting to let him through. Seeing an opportunity, Harry nodded his head and the four of us slipped through the crowd so we could get a better look at what was going on.

'Oh, my –' gasped Hermione.

My eyes widened when I saw the Fat Lady's portrait. The painting had been viciously slashed and had several tears in the canvas, some pieces of which now littered the floor beneath it. The Fat Lady herself was nowhere to be seen. I stared at the portrait, shocked at who could have done such a thing. Why would anyone attack the portrait to the Gryffindor common room? In front of us Dumbledore lifted a torn piece of canvas, running his hand over the wide gash in the material. He turned, his eyes sombre despite the devastation, just as Professor McGonagall, Lupin and Snape came hurrying towards us. I watched as Lupin took one look at the portrait before his eyes instantly fell on me. Suddenly I realised what had happened.

'No …' I breathed, hoping beyond hope I was wrong.

'We need to find her,' said Dumbledore. 'Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady.'

'You'll be lucky!' said a cackling voice above us.

I looked up. Peeves was bobbing over the crowd, a look of glee on his face at all the commotion.

'What do you mean, Peeves?' said Dumbledore calmly. Peeves's grin lessened slightly. He knew he couldn't misbehave in front of Dumbledore.

'Ashamed, Your Headship, sir,' drawled Peeves. 'Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful,' chuckled Peeves maliciously. 'Poor thing,' he then added almost as an afterthought.

'Did she say who did it?' asked Dumbledore quietly.

'Oh yes, Professorhead,' said Peeves. 'He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see.' Peeves did a backflip, grinning at Dumbledore from between his legs. 'Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black.'

I felt my heart skip a beat at the mention of my father's name. It felt like the pit of my stomach had fallen out and my body had frozen in fear. Around me all the Gryffindors were once again loud with questions and fear at the thought of Sirius Black being somewhere in the castle having unsuccessfully attempted to get into our common room. I looked around at the chaos, none of the other students aware of what exactly was going on. It was then my eyes met Harry's. He had been watching me, a look of concern etched on his face at my strange reaction to the news. Before he could ask me, however, Dumbledore's voice rang out.

'Silence!' he shouted. The noise the Gryffindors were making immediately stopped. 'You are all to report to the Great Hall. No one is to enter the Gryffindor Tower until further notice. Professor McGonagall,' he then said, 'please have Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout bring their students down to the Great Hall from their common rooms; the Slytherins too, Professor Snape. Then gather all the teachers and meet me in my office.'

My eyes glanced at Lupin as Percy began to usher us back to the Changing Staircase to return to the Great Hall. His face was set with a look I'd never seen before. It was almost like anger. My uneasy feelings deepened and I turned away to follow Harry, Ron and Hermione back to the Great Hall. We were gathered inside then left in Percy's charge while we waited for the rest of the school to show up. Ten minutes later we were joined by the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Slytherins, all of whom were confused by why they had been dragged from their beds and brought back to the Hall by their Heads of House when the Hallowe'en feast had ended almost an hour ago now. In a matter of no time the Gryffindors were telling them that Sirius Black had attempted to get into the Gryffindor Tower and the number of questions and noise doubled. Through the crowds I managed to catch a glimpse of Malfoy gathered with the other Slytherins in our year. I wasn't surprised to see a broad grin on his face as he whispered to Crabbe and Goyle. This wasn't good.

'Can I have your attention?' called Professor Dumbledore. All the students in the Hall turned to look at him. He had re-entered the Hall which doors were now being sealed by Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. 'The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle. I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the Prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the Hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately,' he added to Percy. Percy beamed, puffing his chest out in his newfound importance. 'Send word with one of the ghosts.'

Professor Dumbledore turned to leave the Hall, then paused.

'Oh yes, you'll be needing …'

With a casual wave of his wand the long House tables flew upwards against the sides of the Hall and the benches were stacked at the far end near the teacher's table. Dumbledore waved his wand a second time and soon the floor was covered with hundreds of large padded purple sleeping bags.

'Sleep well.' and he left.

With Dumbledore gone the buzz started once again in the Hall with the Gryffindors telling the rest of the school about what had happened.

'Everyone into their sleeping bags!' shouted Percy. 'Come on now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!'

'C'mon,' said Ron.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I grabbed a sleeping bag each and dragged them into the corner as far away from the other students as we could manage for the time being. I positioned my bag on the other side of Hermione's so that Harry wouldn't notice anymore of my probably very strange behaviour to the situation then climbed inside. The four of us lay down on the stone floor but none of us were in any rush to go to sleep.

'Do you think Black's still in the castle?' whispered Hermione anxiously.

'Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be,' said Ron.

'It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know,' continued Hermione. 'The one night we weren't in the Tower ...'

'I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run,' said Ron. 'Didn't realise it was Hallowe'en. Otherwise he'd have come bursting in here.'

I frowned at Ron's words. Not that it wasn't possible for Black to lose track of time while being on the run, there would be sources around him in the Muggle world that would allow him to learn what day it was. A man as smart as him to be able to escape Azkaban would surely have enough sense to keep track of the date? It was curious though that, if that had been the case and he had known it was Hallowe'en, why he decided to go to the Tower instead of the Great Hall where all of the school would be. Harry wouldn't be alone in the Tower, not when there was a feast being held. So why would Black go there? What else was in the Tower?

Around us I could hear several groups of students wildly guessing how Black had gotten into the castle in the first place. Some were saying he Apparated, others were guessing he'd flown in somehow, and more were thinking he'd disguised himself to get past the Dementors.

'Honestly, am I the only person who's ever bothered to read Hogwarts: A History?' said Hermione angrily.

'Probably,' replied Ron with a shrug.

'Because the castle's protected by more than walls, you know,' said Hermione, irritated. 'There's all sorts of enchantments on it, to stop people entering by stealth. You can't just Apparate in here. And I'd like to see the disguise that could fool those Dementors. They're guarding every single entrance to the grounds. They'd have seen him fly in, too. And Filch knows all the secret passages, they'll have them covered ...'

'Lights out!' shouted Percy's voice, and the Great Hall plunged into darkness.

I didn't get much sleep that night. The whispers amongst the students didn't end for another couple of hours despite Percy and the other Prefects prowling amongst the sleeping bags to tell off anyone who wasn't asleep and the teachers checking in every hour, and the glow of the ghosts was annoyingly bright in the otherwise darkened Hall. It was almost three in the morning by the time Dumbledore returned. He stood in wait for Percy a few feet away from where Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were lying in the corner, the others fast asleep from what I could see in the dim light. I turned my head just enough so I could see Percy approach Dumbledore and listen in to the results of the search of the castle.

'Any sign of him, Professor?' asked Percy in a low whisper.

'No. All well here?'

'Everything under control, sir.'

'Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow.'

'And the Fat Lady, sir?'

'Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr Filch restore her.'

Just then, the door to the Great Hall gave a loud creak as someone entered. I moved my head a tiny bit more to see who it was. It was Snape.

'Headmaster?' Snape's voice was even quieter than Percy's. I strained to hear what he was saying. 'The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there, either.'

'What about the Astronomy Tower?' asked Dumbledore. 'Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?'

'All searched ...'

'Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger.'

'Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?' questioned Snape.

'Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next,' replied Dumbledore. There was an odd clipped tone to his voice though, almost as if they'd had a conversation like this before.

'You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster,' Snape persisted, 'just before – ah – the start of term?'

'I do, Severus,' said Dumbledore, his tone almost warning now.

'It seems – almost impossible – that Black could have entered the school without inside help,' said Snape. I narrowed my eyes. He wasn't suggesting what I thought he was, was he? 'I did express my concerns when you appointed –'

'I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it,' said Dumbledore, and with that it was clear this conversation was over. 'I must go down to the Dementors,' Dumbledore then said. 'I said I would inform them when our search was complete.'

'Didn't they want to help, sir?' said Percy.

'Oh yes,' said Dumbledore coldly. 'But I'm afraid no Dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am Headmaster.'

The door to the Great Hall opened once more and shut moments later. I lay still for a minute or so more before settling back into my sleeping bag, my mind restless with concern. It appeared Snape had voiced his disapproval for Lupin being appointed to the position because of his connection to Black. But this raised some strange questions. How did Snape know Lupin knew Black? Lupin despised Black; he wouldn't be a topic of conversation Lupin would willingly admit in that they were at school together. And also, why would Snape be so concerned about the connection when Black was after Harry and Snape had made no secret of his dislike of him for the last two years? So why would he attempt to almost protect him now?

The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder but nevertheless I listened to them all as I was interested in how other people thought Black had gotten into the castle and past the Dementors a second time. I did somehow think Hannah's theory in our Herbology class later that week of Black being able to transform into a shrub was a bit on the ridiculous side. An animal, however, now that was plausible. I knew full well that Black was an Animagus like me and he had now been on the run long enough for him to regain some strength so he could transform again. But what animal he could turn into, I didn't know. I was sure Lupin had told me once what his friends could change into but that had been a long time ago and so I couldn't remember exactly what had been said.

The Fat Lady's portrait had been removed from the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower and in its place hung the portrait of that deranged knight we'd met at the start of term, Sir Cadagon. According to Percy, he had been the only portrait brave enough to take the job. That may have been so, but he made impossible to get into the Tower. If he wasn't challenging the Gryffindors to duels, he was changing the passwords at least twice a day making it difficult to remember them. Neville especially was having trouble considering he struggled to remember just one password normally, let alone one that was different in the afternoon to the one he used in the morning.

Something else I noticed after Black's attack was the change in some of the teachers' behaviours. Lupin understandably had taken to keeping an eye out for me at every meal and between every lesson when he could. The fact the full moon was so close made that difficult for him and so by Tuesday afternoon he was locked away in his office so he could rest. The only other teacher I had noticed keeping an eye on me for some reason was McGonagall. In our next Transfiguration lesson with her, I saw she gave me a look of what almost looked like pity when I took my seat next to Hermione at the front of the class. Why she was pitying me though, I couldn't say.

I wasn't the only one who McGonagall's attitude seemed to have changed towards. On Wednesday morning before lessons Harry was summoned to her office and when he came back he told Ron, Hermione and me that she had informed him Black was after him, not that we didn't already know that. It had meant she was reluctant to let him be out in the grounds in the open for Quidditch training because of the danger it posed. Of course, McGonagall's love of Quidditch and desire to win the Quidditch Cup had managed to win out and she had compromised by saying Madam Hooch was to oversee their practices. It didn't stop Harry feeling like he was being suffocated by the teachers always watching him though.

The weather worsened as the first match of the Quidditch season approached which meant Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team frequently returned from practices soaking wet. Nonetheless the team persevered under Wood's instruction so that they'd be fully prepared for whatever weather they had to endure in their match against Slytherin that coming Saturday. Or at least that's what they'd thought. After his final training match, Harry and the rest of the team came back from practice all looking rather peeved about something. When Ron, Hermione and I asked what was wrong, Harry told us that Slytherin had pulled out from playing in the match this weekend and so their match was to be against the very differently skilled Hufflepuff team as opposed to the offensive-heavy Slytherin team. The reason was the worst bit.

'Wood said it's because of Malfoy's arm,' said Harry angrily. 'Flint was claiming that it was still injured.'

'Still injured?' repeated Ron. 'What a bunch of Flobberworms. They just don't want to play because they know they'd lose. There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm.'

'That's what I said,' said Harry, 'but you've seen how thick Malfoy's been laying it on about his injury.'

'Malfoy's arm is more than healed,' I said, annoyed that he was still playing up his injury. 'My injuries healed completely about two weeks after Madam Pomfrey let us out the Hospital Wing, and he got off much lighter than i did. It took ages before I was able to bend over properly again after that.'

'Wood didn't believe them either,' said Harry. 'He said they just didn't want to play us in the bad weather because it would damage their chances of winning the Cup.'

'I still say they're a bunch of Flobberworms,' muttered Ron.

While I agreed with the boys that the Slytherins were postponing their match against Gryffindor for pathetic reasons, I had other things on my mind that took precedence on my thoughts. The full moon was tonight, and it was to be the first one I spent with Lupin here at Hogwarts. The previous one I had been unable to be present for as it had occurred before Lupin had gotten permission from Dumbledore for me to be with him during them. As the evening wore on I kept a close eye on the time and waited for the common room to empty and for Harry, Ron and Hermione to go to bed before I made a move to go Lupin's office. It was the only time I'd ever received permission to be out of bed after curfew, a rare treat. I had been given strict instructions to follow in order to not cross paths with Filch or any of the Prefects on my way to the Dark Arts Tower and so all I had to do was wait until the common room was empty so that I could leave. That was easier said than done, however, and there was only so long I could draw out struggling on my Charms homework in order to stay downstairs.

In spite of this and Hermione's continual offer to help me with what should have been a very easy essay for me, I managed to remain in the common room until the others went to bed. I packed away my things and snuck upstairs to put my bag in my dormitory and close the drapes around my bed so that it looked like I was there, being careful not to make any noise that could wake Hermione, Parvati, Lavender or Sally-Anne as I crossed the room and closed the door behind me. I then hurried back downstairs, across the common room and out of the portrait hole. Sir Cadagon had dozed off and was lying asleep against his fat pony meaning I could sneak away unnoticed.

My walk though the castle was slow and silent. I followed the instructions Lupin had given me for the path to take to his office but still kept checking around every corner before I took it to make sure the coast was clear. I couldn't help but think in my head that this would be so much quicker if I just transformed into an animal and ran there unnoticed as a random cat or owl in the castle. I knew Lupin wouldn't be pleased if I did that though. I finally reached the Dark Arts Tower at just gone half past eleven. Once inside its walls, I raced up the spiral staircase to the top and into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. I walked quickly across its wooden floorboards not caring about it creaking and up the small staircase into Lupin's office. I pushed open the door to see all the furniture had been magicked to the edges of the room like Dumbledore had done with the House tables on Hallowe'en evening when we stayed in the Hall and all of Lupin's possessions had been sealed away. I was a bit taken aback by this precaution, considering Lupin was taking the Wolfsbane Potion that allowed him to keep his mind, but didn't bother to question it.

Lupin wasn't in the main room of his office. At the very back was a door that led to his sleeping quarters where I assumed he would be in bed. Cautiously, aware that the moon could appear at any moment, I approached the small room and pushed open the door. Lupin was indeed inside and lying on his bed. However, before I could prepare myself, the full moon shone through the window and the familiar screams of pain started as Lupin began to transform. I stood transfixed as I always did if I witnessed the transformation itself, scared for Lupin's safety. Before I knew it, the large grey wolf I knew to be Moony was in front of me. Its teeth were bared as it growled at me and its brown eyes focused on where I stood at the door.

Without thinking I slammed the door shut and ran for it across Lupin's office. I heard Moony slam his full body against the door and it burst open before I managed to close it properly, throwing me forwards on to the floor. Moony growled viciously at me and lunged. Quickly I pulled out my wand and sent a Stunner at it. Lupin had always said if I wasn't transformed by the time he had, use a Stunner to try and subdue the werewolf for long enough for me to transform. The red sparks struck Moony in the face and he let out a whimper of pain. In that brief moment I thought of a wolf and transformed. I got to my paws and backed away from Moony as he rubbed his leg over his muzzle. I steadied myself for when he noticed me. After a second or two Moony caught my scent and he looked up at me.

Where am I? he demanded angrily. Where's the girl who attacked me?

Moony, it's all right, I told him as calmly as I could. You're where Lupin works. You're in his office.

Why am I here? snapped Moony. He was clearly disturbed by the situation and the unfamiliar surroundings. Why has he brought me here? I do not wish to be shut away in this human's room. I demand to be returned to the forest!

Moony, calm down, I said. You're not in any danger. Lupin's teaching here, that's why you're in this office, to keep him away from the students.

He cannot just lock me up when he pleases! snarled Moony. Take me back to the forest now!

Moony, please – but he wouldn't listen.

That night was the first time Moony had ever properly attacked me. We'd had a few scuffles before, nothing major, but the unfamiliar surroundings had agitated Moony and so the wolfish side of him was stronger than Lupin's mind and so he was more vicious than I was used to. My guess is last time Lupin must have destroyed his office pretty badly which explained why all his things had been sealed away. I did my best to hold him back and keep him within the office long enough for me to calm him down to the point where I could properly reason with him about being locked up in the castle, but it didn't change the fact that my wolf form was less than half the size and strength of Moony as a fully grown werewolf. He pushed and scratched me about like I was a ragdoll and it didn't even phase him. Needless to say I was relieved when the full moon finally waned and Lupin transformed back.

I lay there on the floor for a good ten minutes, exhausted and sore from Moony's attacks. In front of me, Lupin was collapsed in a heap unconscious. Slowly I got to my paws, ignoring the stinging cuts beneath my fur, and transformed back. My clothes were torn from Moony's claws and I could see several cuts were bleeding quite badly. I would deal with those later. I had to get Lupin back into bed and healed first. Using the spells he'd taught me I Levitated Lupin's unconscious form back into the small room behind his office and into his bed. I then went to his briefcase and found his bottle of Dittany and a small snuffbox I knew to hold powdered silver in it. I poured some of the Dittany into a pestle then mixed in a teaspoon of the silver that was needed to seal the wounds otherwise they'd stay open. Without it, Dittany wouldn't be able to fully heal the scratches caused by a werewolf's teeth or claws. Carefully I cleaned the newly re-opened scars on Lupin's body and face, dabbing them one by one gently with a cotton ball soaked in the mixture. Every so often Lupin would wince but he didn't wake.

With his wounds seen to, I went over to the mirror on the wardrobe to examine my own. Most of my scars would be covered my robes by the looks of it but I did have one set of three scratches crossing my left cheek. I was going to have to come up with an excuse for those otherwise Harry, Ron and Hermione were bound to get suspicious. At least my wounds always healed properly unlike Lupin's that left a permanent mark if you looked closely. I checked the time to see it was almost four in the morning. I needed to get back to the Tower. Dabbing my scratches with the same solution, I cleared away the potions and left Lupin to sleep off his transformation. There was no way he would be teaching today.

I'm not sure how much sleep I got once I'd snuck back into the Tower and up to the girls' dormitories. All I did know was that when Hermione's alarm went off I silently cursed it from beneath my duvet as I didn't want to get up. If it hadn't of been for Hermione's nagging I would have stayed there too. My body ached all over from the previous night and the scratches stung as I attempted to pull on my uniform. I winced slightly when I caught sight of the one on my cheek as I brushed my teeth; I knew the others were going to question it. Still, I was getting used to their suspicions and questions so I merely shrugged it off and went down to breakfast.

Already knowing that Lupin wasn't going to be teaching today meant that unlike the Gryffindors I wasn't surprised when a different teacher turned up to take our Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson that day. What made me react in surprise was who it was to be: Snape. Ron, Hermione and I shared a look of shock when Snape swept up the Dark Tower staircase towards where we were waiting, an impatient look already on his face at having to take us for more than one class this week.

'Come on, all of you, inside now,' barked Snape, flicking his wand at the door to open it and let us inside. The rest of the class walked in while Ron, Hermione and I hung back to wait for Harry, who had been detained once again by Wood for what must have been the seventh time in the last two days. Snape walked past us inside and barked for us to hurry up, giving us no choice but to go in when he waited by the door to close it. 'And how is Professor Lupin this morning?' I looked up when I heard him ask this. His voice had been quiet though, and so Ron and Hermione hadn't heard him. A thin smile turned up the corners of Snape's lips when his black eyes fell on the cut on my cheek. I didn't say anything and went to take my seat next to Ron.

'What was that about?' asked Ron.

'I don't know,' I whispered back.

'Sir,' said Dean. Snape's eyes looked up from Lupin's desk where he'd been examining the class notes. 'Where's Professor Lupin.'

'Professor Lupin is currently indisposed,' said Snape shortly.

When he gave no further answer the entire class turned round to look at me. As much as I wanted to give them the usual answer of Lupin's weak immune system I thought it best not to say anything, especially when Snape was currently examining Lupin's work with us and didn't want to encourage him to make any snide remarks about Lupin's health when he was bound to about his teaching. Snape was silent for several minutes as he looked through Lupin's parchments and the plan he'd left for today's lesson.

'Very disorganised,' muttered Snape as he riffled through the piece of parchment on his desk. I frowned. Lupin was not disorganised. 'No record whatsoever of –'

'Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I –'

I looked round when I heard Harry enter. He had stopped when he'd seen Snape standing in Lupin's place, confusion clear on his face. Just like everyone else, he then looked at me for an explanation. I didn't react.

'This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor,' said Snape coolly. 'Sit down.'

Harry didn't move.

'Where's Professor Lupin?' Harry asked.

'He says he's feeling too ill to teach today,' said Snape. That smile from before lifted the corner of his lips again. 'I believe I told you to sit down?'

Again Harry didn't move.

'What's wrong with him?'

'Nothing life-threatening,' said Snape. 'Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be fifty.'

Slowly Harry walked away from the door and took the vacant seat next to Hermione. I kept my eyes firmly away from him to avoid any more questioning looks.

'As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far –'

'Please, sir,' said Hermione, raising her hand, 'we've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas and Grindylows, and we're just about to start –'

'Be quiet,' said Snape coldly. 'I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organisation.'

I felt a simmer of anger rise in my chest at Snape's continual belittling of Lupin's organisation but did my best to bite my tongue. I had a feeling that today's lesson was one it was best I stayed silent in. The other Gryffindors, however, jumped to Lupin's defence.

'He's the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had,' said Dean boldly. The rest of the class voiced their agreement. Snape glared at us.

'You are easily satisfied,' he sneered. 'Lupin is hardly over-taxing you – I would expect first-years to be able to deal with Red Caps and Grindylows. Today we shall discuss –'

Snape picked up Lupin's copy of our textbook and began to look through it. I watched nervously. He was nearly at the back of the book before his lip twitched at what he'd seen.

'– werewolves,' he finished.

I froze, my heart sinking. He wasn't –

'But, sir,' protested Hermione, as if she couldn't stop herself, 'we're not supposed to do werewolves yet. We're due to start Hinkypunks –'

'Miss Granger,' said Snape, his voice almost a deadly calm. 'I was under the impression that I was taking this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page three hundred and ninety-four.' None of us moved. Snape glanced at us. 'All of you. Now!'

The class muttered sullenly as they turned to the back of their textbooks. I went straight to the page, my eyes staring at the photo of the man transforming into a werewolf with what could only be described as fear. Beside me Ron lazily turned the pages of his textbook. He jumped though when it suddenly snapped to the correct page thanks to Snape's impatience.

'Which of you can tell me how to distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?' Snape asked, walking round the front of Lupin's desk. His black eyes scrutinised the class as he waited for one of us to answer. None of the class raised their hands; I kept my eyes focused on my textbook. Hermione's hand suddenly shot into the air. 'Anyone?' asked Snape, ignoring her. His twisted smile appeared again. 'Or can Miss Black tell us?'

I looked up as everyone turned to me once more. I stared back at Snape as he smirked at me. I knew exactly what he was doing. As calmly as I could, I replied, 'No, sir.'

'Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinctions between –'

'We told you,' said Parvati, 'we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on –'

'Silence!' barked Snape. 'Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognise a werewolf when they saw one, especially with a student who lives with animals in the class.' His eyes fixed upon me again. While the rest of the class probably thought that met I had a lot of pets at home, only I knew exactly what Snape meant by that. I glared back at him from beneath my fringe. 'I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are ...'

'Please, sir,' said Hermione, whose hand was still in the air, and the one time I would have gladly made her shut up, 'the werewolf differs from the true wolf in several small ways. The snout of the werewolf –'

'That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger,' said Snape coolly. 'Tell me, are you incapable of restraining yourself or do you take pride for being an insufferable know-it-all. Five more points from Gryffindor.'

Hermione went very red and bowed her head, tears slowly forming in her eyes. As much as normally I would be sympathetic to her, even though everyone in Gryffindor in our year had called her a know-it-all at least once while Ron reminded her of it all the time, I didn't have any for her this time. It was Lupin's neck she was putting on the line there and I would prefer Lupin to keep his job and his secret. If anyone found out he was a werewolf and told their parents, he would surely be fired.

'You asked us a question,' shouted Ron, 'and she knows the answer! Why ask if you don't want to be told?'

The class instantly knew Ron had gone one spell too far. Snape's eyes turned on him menacingly. Slowly he approached the desk Ron and I were sat at. He rested his long fingertips on the wood and leaned forwards until his face was mere inches from Ron's.

'Detention, Weasley,' said Snape silkily. 'And if I ever hear you criticise the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry indeed.'

No one made a sound for the rest of the lesson as Snape set us making notes on werewolves from the textbook while he prowled up and down the aisles between the desks like some sort of bird of prey, examining our previous work we'd done for Lupin. When he looked at mine, he took little interest in my previous work and instead scanned the notes I was making currently. I knew they were bad, but they were bad on purpose; if I showed my true knowledge of werewolves, that would just be another way that Lupin could get exposed. As Snape read through my notes, I heard him give a snort of amusement.

'Very disappointing,' he muttered. 'One would have thought Professor Lupin's niece would at least be able to answer the most basic of questions. Particularly on werewolves.'

Finally the bell rang. I placed my parchment in my textbook and began to pack up my things, eager to get out of the class. Snape, however, held us back.

'You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognise and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand. Weasley, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention.'

Ron groaned, shouldered his bag then sloped off towards Snape. Harry, Hermione and I followed the rest of the class in making a speedy escape then dropped back from them when we were about halfway down the spiral staircase to wait for him. Below us I could already hear the abuse about Snape starting now that we were out of earshot of the classroom.

'Snape's never been like this with any of our other Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, even if he did want the job,' said Harry. 'Why's he got it in for Lupin? D'you think this it's all because of that Boggart?'

'I don't know,' said Hermione, 'but I really hope Professor Lupin gets better soon ...'

'Jenna, d'you have any idea what's going on between Snape and Lupin?' Harry then asked me. 'You're Lupin's niece, have they ever met before?'

'No,' I said, shaking my head. 'I'm as confused as you are about why Snape's being so harsh on him. They've never met before Lupin started working here, not as far as I know. Lupin certainly has never mentioned Snape before.'

Hermione nodded in understanding to my answer. Harry, however, wasn't as convinced. He seemed to watch me for a few seconds after I'd finished talking, his eyes narrowed in a way that told me he didn't believe what I'd said, even though it was the genuine truth. I honestly didn't know why Snape seemed to hate Lupin so much. I didn't look away from him as he stared at me, not wanting it to appear as if I was lying. As I did so, I noticed Harry's eyes flick to the scars on my cheek. When he, Ron and Hermione had asked me about them early, I had said I'd been helping Lupin with the Grindylow to send it back to be released when it managed to take a swipe at me and caught me on my face. But as I was telling them, I could see Harry didn't believe my story then either. It has not been the first time this year I have noticed Harry being suspicious of me; knowing me so well, Harry had always been able to tell when something was bothering me, and usually knew when I was hiding something. While I had never lied to him before about anything since I first met him, there were certainly a lot of things now I wasn't telling him but not because I didn't want to or didn't trust him, but for the safety of Lupin's career and our friendship.

Just then a furious Ron came storming down the staircase.

'D'you know what that –'

'Ron!' gasped Hermione as Ron called Snape something rather rude.

'– is making me do? I've got to scrub out the bedpans in the Hospital Wing. Without magic! Why couldn't Black have hidden in Snape's office, eh? He could have finished him off for us!'

I frowned at Ron's comment. I may not be able to acknowledge Black to be my father but that didn't mean I wanted him to murder anyone else, even if I did despise Snape and his unfounded tirade against Lupin.

A storm greeted us on Saturday morning when Ron, Hermione and I made our way down to the Quidditch pitch along with the rest of the school. It was so windy and the rain was so heavy that you could barely see anything a few feet in front of you and the Quidditch pitch at the bottom of the hill was just a massive blur of faded colour. I pulled my scarf up over my face and wrapped my coat tightly around myself just to keep warm. I couldn't even begin to imagine how Harry and the other players were going to manage to see the balls during the game. The three of us took our seats in the stands beside Neville, Dean and Seamus, and waited for the match to start.

Madam Hooch and the seven Gryffindor and Hufflepuff players were merely coloured blurs on the muddy green pitch when they finally came out of the changing rooms. Somewhere beneath the sound of the rain and the wind blew Madam Hooch's whistle and the match began. I didn't bother to attempt to listen to the commentary that Lee Jordan no doubt was providing as usual and instead did my best to follow the action by squinting through the rain while I hugged my coat and hood to my body. I could just about hear the occasional drone of the horn that signalled that a team had scored but other than that I had no idea what was going on. About twenty minutes in, however, play stopped and the Gryffindor team flew to the ground. It looked like Wood had called a timeout.

Hermione prodded my side and told me she would be right back before disappearing. I merely nodded and allowed her to get past. A few minutes later a little black streak ran across the pitch. I guess she'd had an idea or something to help the team. After all, Harry was probably having worse trouble than us trying to see through the rain with his glasses. The black streak ran back off the pitch and play resumed. Sure enough, Hermione rejoined us a few minutes later.

'I used Impervious on Harry's glasses,' she panted, wiping rain from her face. 'Hopefully he'll be able to see the Snitch if it appears now.'

'Did they say what the score was?' asked Ron.

'We're up fifty points,' said Hermione.

'Let's hope it stays like that,' I said, shivering from the cold.

The weather got worse as the match progressed and soon enough thunder rumbled loudly over the pitch and lighting cracked through the iron-grey clouds. Ron, Hermione and I did our best to cheer on Harry whenever we thought we saw him streak past but it was almost impossible to distinguish between the players. I glanced into the sky thinking how much the flagpoles on the top of the Quidditch Stadium would be great lightning masts in this storm when something in one of the top stands caught my eye. A dark figure was sitting there. With a bright flash of lightning, the figure became illuminated and I saw the silhouette of what looked like a large shaggy black dog. I became transfixed, my eyes staring at it in those brief seconds it was illuminated, until it vanished back into the darkness.

Suddenly I felt a cold start deep in my bones. The sound of the wind and the rain and the thunder began to ebb away though the storm still raged around the stadium. I looked away from the players and down to the bottom of the pitch. From all sides of the stands a swarm of Dementors was slowly filling the grass clearly unable to keep away from the mass of students and the excited emotions they were experiencing. Instantly I felt myself begin to faint. I reached out wildly and grabbed on to Hermione who turned round just in time before I fell to the ground. I fought to stay conscious long enough to look into the sky to find Harry; if I was being affected by them by being in the stands then he must too be feeling their presence up in the sky. It didn't take long to find him as he was the only broom not moving. All of a sudden a bright white light filled the stadium that I knew straight away wasn't lightning. A large silver animal swooped over the pitch, glitters of red and gold just visible, and the Dementors began to flee. Just in time too as I finally gave in and allowed myself to collapse.

I awoke about ten minutes later in the Hospital Wing with Ron and Hermione by my bedside. They both looked concerned but I assured them I would be fine once I'd had some chocolate because the Dementors hadn't been too close to me. Besides, I was more concerned about Harry. I grabbed a block of the chocolate on my bedside table then got up and walked over to the bed surrounded by the rest of the Gryffindor team apart from Wood.

'Lucky the ground was so soft,' Angelina was saying.

'I thought he was dead for sure,' said Alicia.

'But he didn't even break his glasses,' added Katie. 'That was the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life.'

'He looks peaky, doesn't he?' said Ron, peering at Harry's pale face from around his brother's shoulder.

'What do you expect?' asked George.

'He fell at least fifty feet,' said Fred.

'Yeah, Ron, let's walk you off the Astronomy Tower.'

'And see how you look.'

'Probably a right sight better than he normally does.'

Everyone looked round to see Harry had regained consciousness, a small smirk on his face at Fred and George's threats to throw Ron off the Astronomy Tower. A wave of relief that he was all right swept over all of us.

'Harry!' said Fred. 'How are you feeling?'

'What happened?' Harry said suddenly, sitting bolt upright. He then winced when he realised how stiff he was.

'You fell off,' said Fred. 'Must've been – what – fifty feet?'

'But the match,' said Harry. 'What happened? Are we having a reply?'

The rest of the Gryffindor team exchanged nervous looks.

'We didn't – lose?'

'Diggory got the Snitch,' said George. 'Just after you fell. He didn't realise what had happened. When he looked back and saw you on the ground, he tried to call it off. Wanted a re-match. But they won fair and square ,,, even Wood admits it.'

'Where is Wood?' asked Harry.

'Still in the showers,' said Fred. 'We think he's trying to drown himself.' Harry sat back on his pillows, his face showing his disappointment at Gryffindor's defeat, then put his head to his knees. 'C'mon, Harry,' said Fred, rubbing his shoulder, 'you've never missed the Snitch before.'

'There had to be one time you didn't get it,' added George.

'It's not over yet,' said Fred. 'We lost by a hundred points, right? So if Hufflepuff lose to Ravenclaw and we beat Ravenclaw and Slytherin ...'

'Hufflepuff'll have to lose by at least two hundred points,' George pointed out.

'But if they beat Ravenclaw ...'

'No way, Ravenclaw are too good. But if Slytherin lose against Hufflepuff ...'

'It all depends on the points – a margin of a hundred either way –'

I zoned out slightly as Fred and George continued to argue about how many points which team would have to get to be able to make sure Gryffindor didn't win the Quidditch Cup and so began to suck on my chocolate to regain some strength. A few minutes later the Gryffindor team was shooed away by Madam Pomfrey and Ron, Hermione and I were left alone with Harry. I'd never seen him look so defeated before.

'Dumbledore was really angry,' Hermione braved in an attempt to make Harry feel better. 'I've never seen him like that before. He ran out on to the pitch as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground. Then he whirled his wand at the Dementors. Shot silver stuff at them. They left the stadium straight away ... he was furious they'd come into the grounds, we heard him –'

'Then he magicked you on to a stretcher,' said Ron. 'And walked up to the school with you floating on it. Everyone thought you were ...'

Ron didn't say what everyone had thought. He didn't need to, we all knew what he meant. Harry remained silent as Gryffindor's defeat sunk in before finally asking, 'Did someone get my Nimbus?'

I saw out the corner of my eye Ron and Hermione share a nervous look. I frowned. Where was Harry's broom?

'Er –'

'What?' asked Harry.

'Well ... when you fell off, it got blown away,' said Hermione nervously.

'And?'

'And it hit – it hit – oh, Harry – it hit the Whomping Willow.'

It didn't, I thought. That broom was everything to Harry.

'And?' asked Harry weakly.

'Well, you know the Whomping Willow,' said Ron. 'It – it doesn't like being hit.'

'Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came round,' said Hermione.

From beneath Harry's bed Hermione picked up what looked like a large bundle of branches wrapped in a blanket. It was the broken and splintered remains of Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand, the handle snapped cleanly in two and the twigs of the tail torn from their shaft. The broom had been destroyed.

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AN: apologies for the delay in this chapter but I've had a rough few months since I last posted. Now though, I have moments where I can dedicate to writing this and finishing it off so you can see a better developed story. Hope people are liking the changes.