Bella waited alone in the common room for her friends to return from their exams. Hermione arrived first, beaming from ear to ear, extremely proud of how her exam had gone. Ron, Emily and Freya trickled in, one after the other, accepting in the fact they had probably failed their exam.

"You really saw something?" Ron gasped.

"Yeah." Bella replied. "It was really weird."

"What did you see?" Freya asked.

"There was the shape of a man." Bella said slowly. "And then there was mum -"

"You saw mum?" Ron scoffed. "Surely not."

"Why would I lie?" Bella snapped. "Mum was there, and there was a man, I think it was Professor Snape."

"Professor Snape?!" Hermione asked. "Your mum and Professor Snape?"

"I know." Bella sighed. "Weird, right?"

Before anyone could say a word, Hedwig flew in the open window, a note clasped tightly in her beak. Ron stood from his seat and took the note from her and yelped when she nipped his finger. Ron had only finished reading the note aloud when Harry burst into the common room.

"Professor Trelawney -" he panted. "just told me -"

He stopped abruptly when he saw the solemn looks on their faces.

"Buckbeak's lost the appeal." Ron said weakly. "Hagrid's just sent this."

Harry took the note from Ron and read it aloud; 'Lost appeal. They're going to execute at sunset. Nothing you can do. Don't come down. I don't want you to see it. Hagrid.'

"We've got to go!" Harry said firmly. "He can't just sit there on his own, waiting for the executioner!"

"But, sunset." Ron said, looking out the window with a faraway look in his eyes. "We'll never be allowed to leave - especially you, Harry."

"If only we had the invisibility cloak." Harry sighed.

"You don't have it?" Bella cried.

Harry shook his head.

"Well, where is it?" Freya asked.

Harry told them all about leaving his invisibility cloak underneath the statue of the one-eyed witch.

"... if Snape sees me anywhere there there again, I'm in serious trouble." he finished.

"That's true." Hermione said, getting to her feet. "If he sees you... how do you open the witch's hump again?"

"You - you tap it and say 'Dissendium'," Harry said. "But -"

Hermione didn't wait to hear what he had to say; she strode across the room, pushed open the Fat Lady's portrait and vanished.

"She hasn't gone to get it, surely?" Ron said, staring after her.

She had, in fact, gone to get it. Hermione returned not fifteen minutes later with the silvery cloak tucked under her robes.

"Hermione, I don't know what's gotten into you lately!" Ron said, stunned. "First you hit Malfoy, then you walk out on Professor Trelawney -"

Hermione looked rather pleased.


The six of them went down to dinner with everyone else. Harry had the cloak tucked under his robes, his arms crossed in front of him to hide the large lump. They skulked in an empty chamber off the Entrance Hall, listening, until they were sure it was deserted.

"I'm going to stay here." Bella said quietly. "We won't all fit under the cloak, we all know that."

"Bella's right." Freya agreed. "I'll stay too, you guys go."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Freya replied as Bella nodded her head.

Hermione stuck her head out into the silent corridor and nodded her head; "Cloak on." she said sharply.

"Tell Hagrid I'm sorry." Bella said, giving Ron's hand a squeeze before he disappeared under the cloak and out of sight.

Bella and Freya waited five minutes before they left the chamber, heading for the seventh floor.

"Would you mind if I went to find Fred?" Freya asked.

"Of course not." Bella smiled.

"Thank you." Freya replied, giving Bella a quick one-armed hug before heading off down the corridor in the opposite direction.

Bella ambled up the corridor, no particular destination in mind. She didn't want to go back to the common room and so she wandered the quiet corridors.

"Bella!" a voice yelled from behind her and she turned to see Draco hurrying to catch up to her.

"Hi." she said softly, continuing up the corridor.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Buckbeak's being executed soon - of course, you already know that." she said.

"Come on, Bella. You know there's nothing I can do." he sighed.

"I know." she replied. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." he said.

"Is there a reason you're walking the corridors alone?" Draco asked after a few minutes of silence. "Where's that Scott girl you're always with?"

"Freya?" Bella chuckled. "She's with Fred."

"What about the other, less likeable, Weasley?"

"Ron's in the common room." Bella laughed.

"So you're on your own willingly?" Draco checked.

"Yes." Bella replied. "I like my own company."

"That's one way to say no one wants to speak to you." Draco teased.

"Oh, shut up you." Bella laughed.

They kept walking until the reached the seventh floor.

"Aren't you going to go into the common room?" Draco asked as they passed the Fat Lady's portrait.

"I don't want to." Bella replied, continuing up the stair case.

She settled on a windowsill further up the corridor and Draco sat down across from her, leaning back against the wall. They sat for a long while on the sill, chatting like old friends.

"I saw Professor Snape in the crystal ball during my Divination exam today." Bella commented.

"Professor Snape?" Draco laughed. "What did Trelawney say that meant?"

"She didn't actually say anything." Bella replied. "My mum was there too. It looked like her and Snape were arguing."

"What would your mother and Snape have to argue about?" Draco asked, intrigued.

"I really don't know." Bella laughed lightly, shaking her head. "It's mad, isn't it?"

Draco didn't have a chance to agree as at that moment, Emily, looking extremely anxious, approached them.

"Emily?" Bella said. "What's going on?"

"You need to come with me - right now." Emily said, grabbing Bella's wrist and trying to pull her to her feet.

"What? Why? What's wrong?" Bella said, getting to her feet, looking to Draco who looked equally confused.

"It's Ron." Emily said, pulling her down the corridor. "He's in the Hospital Wing."

"Is he okay?!" Bella asked worriedly.

"He was attacked." Emily explained. "By Siruis Black."