Professor Dumbledore sent all of them back to the Great Hall, where they were joined shortly after by the students from the other three Houses, all of whom looked a mix of confused and excited.
'The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle,' said Professor Dumbledore. '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 disturbances are to be reported to me immediately,' he added to Percy, who's chest swelled with pompous pride, 'Send word with one of the ghosts.'
Professor Dumbledore turned to leave and was about to step out before pausing and saying, 'Oh yes, you'll be needing…' he waved his wand, and all four House tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood up along the walls. Another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of purple sleeping bags. 'Sleep well,' he added as he closed the door.
The hall immediately began to buzz with chatter as the Gryffindor's began spreading the word of what had happened to the other houses.
'Everyone into their sleeping bags!' shouted Percy. 'Come on now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!'
'Come on,' muttered Ron and he and Harry grabbed two sleeping bags and began dragging them off into a corner.
'You want to join them?' Y/N whispered to Hermione, who sighed.
'Not particularly, but we probably should.' They both scooped down to pick up sleeping bags when Y/N caught sight of Ginny, she was stood a few feet away looking around as though kind of lost.
'Hey Gin, over here!' he called, waving her over. She looked around and her face cracked into a smile as she grabbed her sleeping bag and dragged it over with them.
'What's she doing here?' asked Ron sharply, staring at his sister as they arrived.
'She's here at my invitation,' snapped Y/N, glaring at him, 'If you've got a problem with it, we'll all leave,' he added, indicating himself and Hermione.
'Don't have a problem…' muttered Ron.
'Anything you have to say can be said in front of her. I trust her, and she's been through as much as we have and even more last year. She can look after herself.' And Y/N dropped his sleeping bag down, finishing the conversation there. Ron flushed but did not argue, and the five of them settled in, Hermione putting her sleeping bag right up against Y/N so she could wrap herself around his exposed arm.
'Do you think Black's still in the castle?' Hermione whispered around anxiously to the rest of them.
'Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be,' said Ron.
'The fact he slashed up the Fat Lady though, he must know they'd go looking for him after that,' said Y/N. 'He may have left just to cover himself.'
'Speaking of, it's very lucky he picked tonight,' said Hermione, 'The one night we weren't in the tower…'
Y/N's eyes widened. She was right! He didn't like that, didn't like that at all. He caught Ginny's eyes as she glanced in his direction and her eyebrows raised, she knew he'd thought of something.
'I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run,' Ron was saying, 'Didn't realise it was Halloween. Otherwise he'd have come bursting in here.'
But would he?
Black was dangerous yes, reckless, but would he have really risked attacking the entire school? Plus, the feast was never exactly quiet and tonight's was no exception. Y/N wouldn't be surprised if Black had heard them whilst moving through the school.
'What's up, Y/N?' whispered Ginny, still looking at him.
'I… I don't reckon he did lose track of the days,' said Y/N. 'Attacking the entire Great Hall would be foolish, even for him. I think he was trying to get into the Common Room ahead of us. It's too risky to creep around at night, but if he got in whilst everyone was in the Great Hall, he could just wait in our dormitory until… well.' He looked around at Harry whose face was stony.
'You could be right there,' said Hermione weakly. 'It would be his best chance to catch anyone unawares whilst ensuring no one found him. He'd have only had to deal with Filch, everyone else was at the feast.'
'It's a good thing the Fat Lady didn't let him in then…' said Ron. 'Would have hated to open our dormitory door to him.'
'Think anyone would have. Still don't know how he got into the castle though…' said Y/N. They fell quiet, instead listening to the whispers of their fellow students.
'Maybe he knows how to Apparate,' said a Ravenclaw a few feet away. 'Just appear out of thin air, you know.'
'Disguised himself, probably,' said a fifth year Hufflepuff.
'Is that actually a Ravenclaw that just said that?' hissed Y/N. 'I thought they were the smart ones?'
'What do you mean?' asked Ron.
'Oh my lord…' sighed Y/N.
'You can't Apparate in and out of the Hogwarts Grounds, Ron,' hissed Hermione, 'We've told you this before, and I'd like to see a disguise that could fool those Dementors.'
'I don't like it,' said Y/N. 'He's clever, very clever. I thought Azkaban was supposed to make you insane.'
'Dad said it never seemed to bother Black,' said Ginny. 'Fudge mentioned it. Apparently, Black was calm as anything whenever he was visited.'
'Even more cause for concern-'began Y/N.
'The lights are going out now!' shouted Percy. 'I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!'
The candles all went out and Y/N felt Hermione pull herself in closer to him, resting her head on his arm. The only light now came from the enchanted ceiling above, reflecting the stars. Though, very few of the students actually fell quiet, whispering still echoed around the room.
Around two hours later, the Great Hall doors opened and Professor McGonagall stepped inside, she gestured Percy over and whispered something to him. Percy nodded and then began moving in Y/N's direction. Y/N pried Hermione gently off his arm, and got to his feet.
'Ah Y/N, good, Professor McGonagall wants a word,' whispered Percy.
'Figured so,' said Y/N. 'Let's go.'
He followed Percy towards the Professor and she smiled at him as he approached. 'We've found something, could use your expertise' she said warmly and she led him out of the Great Hall.
'My expertise?' asked Y/N as he followed her up the marble staircase.
'Certain enchantments can be made to hide from or are automatically hidden from prying and detection spells. However, they cannot be hidden from your ability,' said Minerva as they climbed.
'And you found something of Black's?'
'Yes,' she said gravely, 'We believe we may have found the dagger he used to slice the Fat Lady's portrait.'
She led Y/N up to her office where they stepped inside, already gathered were Professor's Lupin, Snape, and Dumbledore. They looked around as Minerva and Y/N strode towards them.
'Ah, wonderful,' smiled Dumbledore, 'Very kind of you to join us, Y/N.'
'Of course, Professor. I'm happy to help. Mum told me you had some form of item Black left behind?'
'Indeed,' said Dumbledore, turning to pick up a rather rusty looking dagger. The blade was jagged, and the black handle looked worn and old. 'We found this near a smashed window, it is our belief that Black dropped it before he fled.'
'Out of a window, sir?'
Dumbledore shared a look with the other teachers before sighing.
'If experience has told me anything Y/N, you will investigate this yourself even should I not tell you, so I will tell you the truth now if you promise not to go poking your nose in.'
'I promise, Professor.'
'Good, we do not believe that Black escaped using the window, we believe it was a decoy. Even more reason to suspect something dangerous from this dagger. Black still had to get into the castle and no one was after him when he first made his escape from in front of the Fat Lady. There is no reason to believe that he felt desperate enough to jump out of a window.'
'So that begs the question of why he left the dagger instead of just taking it with him? Why he wanted to pretend to have escaped one way when he clearly didn't need to?'
'Exactly,' said Dumbledore. 'Black is not a stupid man, he is very intelligent. He knows we would not fall for a trick like this.' Dumbledore replaced the dagger upon McGonagall's desk and took a step back, as did Lupin and Snape. 'Please, do as you will Y/N.' and he gestured him forwards.
Y/N stepped up to the table and looked down at the dagger. It hadn't smacked him in the face yet, so that at least was promising. He closed his eyes and felt outwards towards the dagger. It swam into view, the still image of it. But he could detect nothing. No magic, no underlying abilities. But then…
'Professor?' Y/N asked, opening his eyes. 'Do you have anything mundane? A quill or anything like that?'
'I'm sure Minerva-' began Dumbledore, but Snape stepped forward and withdrew a quill from the inside of his robes, placing it on the table.
'There you are, Y/N,' he said, stepping back.
'Thank you, Professor Snape,' said Y/N with a nod and he closed his eyes again, now feeling out for the quill… Nothing happened.
'Have you got anything Y/N?' asked Minerva.
'I don't know,' said Y/N, opening his eyes and looking around at them all. 'When I focus on a non-magical object, nothing happens. I can't detect anything, but when I focus on a magical one the image of it comes swimming into view whilst my eyes are closed. I can see the dagger, but I can't pick up on anything with it. Hang on.'
He closed his eyes again and felt out once more, the image of the dagger swam into view. But why? It shouldn't unless it was enchanted, but he couldn't feel an enchantment. He couldn't feel anything…
'Finite!' he said, pointing his wand at the dagger. The dagger flickered and faded from view.
'An illusion,' said Remus slowly. 'A very good one at that.'
'Of course…' said Dumbledore slowly, almost glaring at the point where the dagger had vanished. 'A false trail to buy himself time. And we fell for it.'
'The enchantment was subtle enough that none of us found it, Headmaster,' said Professor Snape. 'Only someone with Y/N's abilities could have known. We would have been completely in the dark for longer if not for him.'
Y/N looked to the Potions master, who gave him an approving nod. He felt himself grow hot, had Snape just complimented him?
'Still, it is something we should have considered,' said Dumbledore, still looking cross. 'Thank you for your assistance, Y/N. You may return to the Great Hall, we will call for you again should we have need of you.'
'Of course, Professor,' said Y/N and he turned, stepping out of the office, followed shortly after by Remus.
'It is unwise to wander the corridors alone with Black on the loose,' he said as he strode up alongside Y/N. 'I will see you back.'
'Professor… do you know why Dumbledore looked so annoyed back there?' asked Y/N.
'Professor Dumbledore is one of the greatest wizards of all time, Y/N. The one who defeated Grindelwald and the only one Lord Voldemort fears. As simple as it may sound, I imagine Albus was angry that he'd been fooled by an illusion.'
'We can all make mistakes-' began Y/N.
'And Albus would be the first to both admit and tell that to anyone else,' said Remus, 'However, you have to understand he takes the safety of his students very seriously, and knowing that he could have been lead down the wrong trail by someone who broke into his school with a knife, is not something he will take kindly to.'
They arrived outside the Great Hall and Y/N slipped inside, tiptoeing over to where the other four still lay. He caught Harry's eyes as he wandered and saw he was still wide awake. He gave him a nod and then slipped into his sleeping bag. Hermione's eyes fluttered open.
'You okay?' she whispered, pulling herself back in towards him.
'Yeah, you?'
Hermione nodded slowly and replaced her head on his arm.
'Where… did…-' her breathing became slower and heavier as she drifted back off to sleep against his arm. He gave a quiet chuckle and ran his free hand through her hair before adjusting himself to get more comfortable and falling asleep…
The next morning, Hermione told him and Ginny all about a conversation she, Ron, and Harry had overheard in the early hours of that morning and Y/N told them both about the dagger.
'Snape's suspicious that someone inside the castle is helping Black get in?' asked Ginny, looking shocked.
'Yes, but Dumbledore doesn't agree,' said Hermione quickly. 'He says everyone within the castle is innocent.'
'I have to agree with Dumbledore on this one,' said Y/N. 'Whilst I can't say everyone in here is innocent, Black would have had no need for the illusion I dispelled if he had an inside man.'
'Maybe the inside man set it up,' suggested Ginny, 'As a distraction.'
'Feels like an awfully good way to get yourself caught,' said Y/N. 'Dumbledore said himself, Black made it away with time to spare, someone else setting up a fake trail even after he'd had a head start feels too risky. Black probably set it up before he even made his move on the common room.'
'Unless Black had been delayed getting out the school?' said Ginny.
'By whom though?' asked Hermione. 'If he'd run into anyone or been waylaid, we'd know. Someone would have reported it.'
'I think it's still too early to be thinking about all this,' said Y/N heaving a sigh, 'besides, I promised Dumbledore I wouldn't go poking my nose in.'
'You? Being responsible? As if,' scoffed Ginny.
'I'm always responsible! Top marks in my classes, performing spells at a higher level than mine-!'
'And all whilst breaking every school rule to have ever existed,' smirked Hermione.
'You were with me every step of the way, unless you've forgotten,' said Y/N as Ginny roared with laughter.
'I believe I got petrified by a Basilisk. The Chamber wasn't my fault.'
'And who ripped a page out of a library book to tell us what was in that Chamber?'
'Hermione ripped a page out of a library book?' asked Ginny, looking shocked.
'I know right? And she's saying I was causing trouble,' said Y/N.
'I needed to show the others and they were down at Quidditch! I didn't want to go looking for it again and-' but Hermione slowed and glared as both Y/N and Ginny fell into a laughing fit. She opened her mouth, looking cross, but was interrupted as someone came jogging up the bench towards them.
'Y/N!' said Oliver Wood, as he came to a stop alongside where they sat.
'Hi Wood,' said Y/N, looking around at him. 'Everything alright?'
'Practice, after breakfast, we need to prepare for Slytherin and I want you on the team. You know how to beat them and you've got the broom to match them.'
'Who's sitting out this time then?'
'Katie has agreed to sit the next one out for you, she wants Alicia to have a crack at the Slytherins and says she's been feeling a bit off on her flying at the moment anyway.'
'But she outflew all of us last practice!'
'Yeah, but she doesn't think she's on top form. And besides, it works out in our favour.'
'If you think it's best Oliver-'
'I do, grab your broom and head down to the pitch once you're done.' And he moved off up the bench to speak to the twins.
'Takes his Quidditch seriously, doesn't he?' asked Ginny, looking after the retreating figure of Wood.
'Don't think he'd let us leave practice if we didn't have lessons,' said Y/N. 'Still don't see why he's bringing me on, especially over Katie.'
'Maybe he thinks you're better,' suggested Hermione, who still looked grumpy.
'Well if I'm going to be, I'll need to go practice.' He kissed Hermione on the cheek and her expression brightened at once as her cheeks flushed. 'See you later.' and he slid off the bench to head upstairs. He was halfway up the marble staircase when two figures appeared on either side of him.
'Morning gents,' said Y/N, looking around at the twins.
'Some morning…' said Fred bitterly. 'We were planning something else today but then Oliver had to show up and ruin it.'
'Oh come on now,' said Y/N. 'You both love the sport.'
'Doesn't mean we love Oliver stealing our free time,' muttered George.
The three of them grabbed their brooms and made their way down to the changing rooms, they changed into their robes and then sat along the benches. The rest of the team bar Harry were already there.
'Y/N, know where Potter is?' asked Wood.
'I assumed you'd caught him,' said Y/N.
'I did, but I haven't seen him since. I just finished telling him when Professor McGonagall called him into her office.'
'Then that's where he is,' shrugged Y/N. 'He'll be around, I'm sure.'
'Let's just start, Oliver,' said Fred, looking slightly annoyed. 'He'll catch up.'
Wood looked unsure but conceded and led the team out onto the pitch. It was a chilly day, but that was whisked away as they all mounted their brooms and kicked off into the air. Y/N looped around the pitch before hearing cheers from the stands, he looked around to see a white, red, and brown speck beneath him.
'Morning Ladies,' he said, swooping in alongside them. 'Pleasure to see you again, Luna.'
'And you, Y/N,' said Luna happily. 'I ran into Ginny and Hermione at breakfast and they told me you'd be down here, I asked to come watch with them.'
'No Harry?' asked Hermione as she scanned the other players.
'Wood said he got called in by my mum. I imagine he'll be along. Worst case he can miss one practice. It won't kill him.'
'Don't let Wood hear you saying that,' said Alicia as she swooped past, 'He's already angry we aren't practicing 5 times a week.'
'That man would chain us to our brooms if he could,' said Y/N and, with a final nod to his three friends, he span his broom around and took off after his fellow chaser.
()()()()()()
The next week or two didn't help to improve Wood's mood however.
It turns out Harry's meeting with Y/N's mum had been her attempting to tell Harry about Sirius Black hunting him down. Harry had explained that he already knew that, and Minerva instead decided to attempt to bar Harry from taking part in their training exercises.
Harry had managed to convince her to let him keep attending, but that was only because of her love of the sport, and on the condition that Madam Hooch was now with them for every one of their practices. Now whilst this wasn't a major bother, it did seem to put Wood on edge, as though Madam Hooch would give away their strategies.
And the peak of it all, came during their final training session before the match.
'We're not playing Slytherin!' he bellowed, looking furious. 'Flint's just been to see me, we're playing Hufflepuff instead.'
'Why?' called the rest of the team in unison.
'Flint's excuse is that their Seeker's arm's still injured,' said Wood, 'But it's obvious why they're doing it, don't want to play in this weather.'
'There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm,' snapped Harry. 'He's faking it!'
'I know that, but we can't prove it,' said Wood bitterly, 'And we've been practicing all those moves assuming we're playing Slytherin, and instead it's Hufflepuff and their style's quite different. They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory.'
'Play Katie,' said Y/N at once, ignoring the girls giggling over Cedric's name. 'I'm trained for Slytherin, she's played against Hufflepuff before.'
'No!' cried Katie at once getting to her feet. 'Y/N, I'm not-'
'In the nicest way possible Katie, shut up,' said Y/N, shooting her a look before turning back to Wood. 'Oliver you know I'm right. Katie has been on fire these last few training sessions. Everyone but her can see it.' He gestured around to the rest of the team who were all nodding. 'She's played against Hufflepuff before and she's on top form. Take her and let me sit this one out. I'll come back in when it's time to thrash Slytherin.'
Wood stared at him for a few seconds before sighing.
'Looks like you're up Katie. You heard Y/N, and I don't think he's taking no for an answer.'
'No I'm not,' said Y/N, turning to face his teammate, 'You'll flatten Hufflepuff, you've done it before and you'll do it again. I've told you. You're on top form, we all have. You'll do amazingly.'
Katie opened her mouth to argue but no words came out, she stood there staring at him for a few seconds before closing her mouth and nodding.
'What do you mean you're not playing?' asked Ron incredulously as Y/N and Harry joined him and Hermione by their seats at the window. The two had seemed to have been silent for most of the evening and Hermione immediately attached herself to Y/N's arm.
'Katie's flying better than any of us at the moment and she knows Hufflepuff. She's got this.'
'I hope you're right,' said Harry, staring out the window at the torrential rainfall crashing against it, 'And not just about Katie. We're going to need all the luck we can get in that weather.'
()()()()()()
The final week before the match was a fairly quiet one for Y/N. Whilst Remus didn't exactly set him homework, the loss of his lessons for the week meant there was actually a chunk of time in which he didn't actually have to use the Time Turner. Which sadly did mean that he had no cushion before he had to attend Double Potions alongside the Slytherins.
'Muggle Studies isn't improving,' muttered Hermione as he took his seat alongside her. 'I almost corrected the teacher three times in today's lesson, and then she tried to tell us about how phones use a little-known sub-branch of magic.'
'They don't?' asked Y/N, eyebrows raised.
'Of course they don't, don't you think Muggles would have-' but she broke off as Y/N's face cracked into a smirk. 'I hope it improves soon, Professor Burbage gets the majority of it right, but the small slip ups drive me insane.'
'Well, we've got Snape now, so I don't see your mood going up,' muttered Y/N as the bat like Professor swept into the dungeon classroom.
'Just two hours.'
How wrong he was.
Upon the lessons completion, the third year Gryffindors made their way up to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. They stepped inside and pulled out their books.
'Who do you think will be taking the class with Remus not being here?'
'We already know, Y/N. He told us at the end of your last lesson remember?' said Hermione.
'Oh for Merlin's-' groaned Y/N as Professor Snape swept in through the classroom door.
Snape swept straight up to Lupin's desk with a look of immense satisfaction before settling himself behind it.
'At least there's no Slytherin's in this class,' muttered Y/N.
'No but there is Harry and plenty of Gryffindors. So try to keep you head,' Hermione whispered back.
'Speaking of, where is he? Hardly the day to be late.' The two of them looked around to where Ron sat alone, throwing nervous glances towards the classroom door.
'Well then,' said Professor Snape, looking up from his seat behind the teacher's desk. 'As you can no doubt tell, Professor Lupin has fallen ill and therefore I shall be taking the class in his stead-'
'Fallen ill?' hissed Hermione, her eyes turning onto Y/N, 'I thought he said he had business.'
'Maybe it's a cover up. Just saying he's sick so no one asks,' Y/N whispered back.
'- however. Professor Lupin has failed to mention exactly what it is that he's taught you. He's left no note of what you know so far and what I am to do next-'
'Sorry I'm late, Professor Lupin, I-' Harry had come charging into the classroom, but stopped mid stride and sentence as he saw who was seated behind the teacher's desk.
'This lesson began ten minutes ago, Potter, so I think we'll make it ten points from Gryffindor. Sit down.'
Harry stood completely still, staring at Snape. Y/N sighed.
'Where's Professor Lupin?' he said.
'He says he is feeling too ill to teach today,' said Snape, his face twisting into a sneer. 'I believe I told you to sit down?'
But Harry still refused to move.
'What's wrong with him?'
Snape's black eyes glittered.
'Nothing life-threatening,' he said, looking as though he wished it were. 'Five more points from Gryffindor, and if I have to ask you to sit down again, it will be fifty.'
Harry walked slowly to his seat and sat down, causing Y/N to let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding. Snape looked around at the class.
'As I was saying before Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far —'
Hermione's hand shot up next to Y/N and she began speaking at once.
'Please, sir, we've done boggarts, Red Caps, kappas and grindylows. And we're just about to start-'
'Be quiet,' snapped Snape, glaring at her. 'I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organisation.'
'Complains he doesn't have the information then kicks off when he gets it,' muttered Y/N darkly and Hermione threw him a slightly sad smile, her cheeks still faintly pink.
'He's the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had,' said Dean Thomas.
'Yeah, we haven't even had to throw stuff at this one,' said Y/N and Dean threw him a smirk.
'You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you. I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and grindylows. Today we shall discuss-' Snape opened the textbook in front of him and flicked all the way to the back pages '-werewolves.'
'But, sir,' said Hermione, seemingly unable to restrain herself, 'we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start hinkypunks—'
'Miss Granger,' said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, 'I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394.' He glanced around again. 'All of you! Now!'
'It's not worth it,' whispered Y/N as Hermione looked mortified, 'Remus will put us back on track once he's back, don't worry about it.'
Hermione took a deep breath and nodded before flicking open her textbook and pushing it centre so the two of them could read together.
'Now, which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?' said Snape.
Hermione's hand shot into the air and Y/N slowly raised his own. He didn't want to deprive Hermione of the chance to answer, but he had a bad feeling with how Snape had been treating her already.
'Anyone?' asked Snape completely ignoring the two of them, his lip curling into the same sneer he'd worn when Harry had entered 'Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between-'
'Main differences are in the snout, pupils and tufted tail. Werewolves also transform. Normally they just walk around as a person however under the full moon they transform into their lycanthrope form,' reeled off Y/N, looking Snape dead in the eye. 'Professor Lupin hasn't taught us that chapter yet because it's in the back of the book, sir. If you'd have listened to Hermione, you'd know we're due to start hinkypunks.'
The whole classroom was deadly silent, no one even seemed to be breathing. Snape stepped slowly around the teacher's desk and wandered right up to where Y/N sat.
'Did I give you permission to speak L/N?' he asked coldly.
'When you asked the question and then tried to claim that no one knew the answer, yes you did. Sir.' Y/N put heavy emphasis onto the last word.
'Detention, L/N. If I ever hear you criticise the way I teach a class again, you will be very sorry. I shall be sure to make a note to Professor Dumbledore as to how behind your class are.'
Snape turned and swept back up towards his desk without another word. Y/N let out a breath and turned his eyes onto the textbook, ignoring Hermione's disapproving scowl. They spent the rest of the lesson in complete silence however as the class made notes.
Finally the bell rang, they all began to put their books, parchment, and quills away but Snape called out, 'You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize 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. L/N, stay behind, we need to arrange your detention.'
'Please be careful,' whispered Hermione as she scooped up her Crookshanks bag and slid out of the classroom.
Y/N gave a short nod and approached the teacher's desk. Snape did not look up from his notes until the door closed with a soft click after the last student.
'I think,' said Snape looking up slowly, a vindictive smile curling his lips, 'a lesson in humility is due L/N. How does cleaning out the bedpans in the Hospital Wing sound, L/N?'
'Adequately horrible, Professor,' said Y/N, glaring at the greasy haired Potions master.
'Well. I give you an ultimatum, L/N. You may forgo this detention, but in return I want your werewolf essay by tomorrow. Manage that and I will let you off.'
Y/N felt uneasy. It wasn't like Snape to let someone off like that, especially not after what Y/N had said and done. There must be another angle.
'Very well, Professor,' said Y/N slowly. 'May I go now?'
'You may. On my desk by 6 o clock tomorrow L/N, or I expect to see you in the Hospital Wing at 9.'
Y/N swept out of the classroom where he almost ran straight into Hermione who was pacing nervously just outside the door.
'What's he doing? What do you need to do? Are you okay?' she said all in one breath whilst looking cautiously at Y/N's face.
'Yeah, come on. We need to discuss this.'
Later that night, the two of them were in a quiet corner of the common room working on their werewolf essays. Harry had already gone to bed owing to the Quidditch match the next day and Ron had followed not long after. He did not seem to want to be around Y/N without Harry, which suited Y/N just fine.
Around an hour or so later and Hermione spoke. Her voice was slow, careful, almost fearful.
'Y/N… come take a look at this.'
Y/N slid himself off his chair and moved around behind her. Hermione had a series of the lunar cycles laid out in front of her with the timestamps of the full moon circled.
'What about it?' asked Y/N.
'Well… I was wondering what Snape meant. Allowing you to bypass a detention for homework means there has to be something with it, and look. We're in the middle of a full moon phase at the moment. And our last one-' she pointed to the previously circled date on the card '-ended August 31st.'
'Okay, and?'
'Well. Professor Lupin is 'taking care of some business or ill' at the moment, and he was tired the day we arrived at the train. Said he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.'
'What are you saying 'Mione?'
'Harry mentioned about the potion Snape had Lupin drink.' And she pulled out another piece of paper labelled 'Wolfsbane potion', 'and from the description Harry gave, this is almost identical. He's not able to take classes, no one knows where he is. And you've seen his boggart, Y/N.'
'That white orb? But…' and suddenly, it clicked. '…The full moon,' he breathed. 'That's why Snape wanted me to do the essay. He wanted me to figure out that Remus is a…'
Hermione looked sick.
'Horrible thing to do. I imagine the staff know. All of them must to try and help keep us safe. Remus is probably somewhere secure, and plus the Wolfsbane potion allows him to keep control of himself during it so he's no harm to anyone. But this is why Snape was so insistent about covering werewolves. He wanted us to figure it out.'
'Think I'd have rather done the detention,' said Y/N, glaring at his half-finished werewolf essay. 'That's hardly Snape's secret to tell. The fact that Remus' boggart is the full moon and that he hasn't said anything speaks volumes. Fenrir Greyback doesn't exactly care.'
'Who?' asked Hermione.
'Fenrir Greyback, he's a werewolf too. Mum's told me all about him. Moved around with Voldemort last time, very anti-wizard. To be totally honest he seems anti-anything other than werewolves. Wanted to take control. Put werewolves into positions of power so they can feed on those below them. No one's really heard much of him since. He's still alive, at least Dumbledore thinks he is, he's just working from the shadows now. But was always proud to yell about how werewolves were better and stronger. Proud of what he was.'
Hermione's hands were clasped over her mouth, she let out a long shaky sigh before lowering them.
'But why is Snape doing this? Why does he want us to know?'
'Maybe in the hopes we report Remus,' said Y/N. 'Wants us to tell Dumbledore. Get him sacked. But I don't intend to, Remus has proven to be nothing but good to me. He's teaching me. Helping us.'
Hermione was nodding along.
'We'll cover for him, just pretend he can still make your additional lessons, just classes are a bit hard. Say we've seen him and he doesn't look good. We won't let Snape win like this.'
'What if anyone else figures it out though?' asked Y/N.
'Like whom Y/N?' asked Hermione, raising her eyebrows. 'I highly doubt anyone else will put this much effort into their essay,' she said gesturing around at the lunar charts and wolfsbane potion. 'And even if they do, they don't know about Remus on the train or him drinking the Wolfsbane Potion. The only other ones are Harry and Ron and I doubt they're going to do anything other than try to copy ours.'
'I hope you're right,' said Y/N. 'I really don't want him to get in trouble for it. The Ministry are very anti-werewolf. They either mustn't know or Dumbledore said he was doing it no matter what they said.'
The two of them finished off their essays are headed off up to bed. Y/N lay awake for a long time, his brain still reeling from their discovery. It was a good thing he wasn't in tomorrow's match or he knew he'd be flying tired. He listened to the hammering of rain against the dormitory window, dreading being out in the stands tomorrow. He knew a few tricks that may help. But he hadn't exactly practiced, and in this much rain…
Finally, sleep found him, and when he awoke the following morning, he got dressed as quietly as possible and slid downstairs where he found Harry with Crookshanks in his arms, dropping him down by the entrance to the girls' dormitory.
'Didn't see you as a cat person,' said Y/N as he sank into the chair across from where Harry had been sat.
'He keeps trying to get upstairs,' said Harry, retaking his own chair and staring suspiciously at Crookshanks. 'Think he does genuinely have something in for Scabbers.'
'He's half Kneazle,' said Y/N, also turning his eyes onto the ginger cat. 'He knows Scabbers is with Ron. All he has to do is find Ron and he finds Scabbers.' But now that Y/N had appeared, Crookshanks seemed to have little interest into entering the boys dorm and instead hopped up into his lap, 'but he may also have been looking for me,' said Y/N as he scratched the cat behind his ears.
'You don't think him going after Scabbers all the time is weird?'
'Not yet I don't,' said Y/N. 'He's a cat, cats chase rats. Until we see how he is around other animals or rats we won't know. And it's far too risky to just send him after someone else's rat.' His mind wandered back to his conversation with Ginny.
'What's got you up so early anyway?' asked Harry. 'You nervous as well?'
'Sort of,' said Y/N evasively. 'I want us to win, but I'm not playing. Can't exactly stress out too much. Most I can do is watch.'
'Be grateful you aren't playing in this,' said Harry, throwing a dark look at the window. The rain had gotten even harder overnight. It sounded like they were in the middle of a storm, thunder rolled so loudly it sounded like the windows were shaking, and brief flashes of light kept streaking across the windows.
'Oh believe me, I am,' said Y/N. 'Though it may not stick. Depends on if anyone drops.'
'Come on,' said Harry, getting to his feet. 'Can't stay here any longer.'
The two of them made their way over to the portrait hole and crawled out.
'Stand and fight, you mangy curs!' yelled Sir Cadogan.
'Shut up,' said Harry, stifling a yawn. 'What's going on with you and Ron by the way?' he asked as they continued on.
'How do you mean?' asked Y/N.
'He seems terrified of you. Whenever it's just you or you and Hermione, he doesn't want to be anywhere near you.'
'Probably 'cause he knows I'll hex him if he comments on Scabbers and Crookshanks again. You have to remember, me and Hermione are together now, Harry. And he isn't kind to her at the best of times. Or have you forgotten the reason we were in the bathroom versus that troll in the first place?'
'Of course I haven't,' said Harry quickly 'But you two are supposed to be friends-'
'Friends don't treat each other like trash,' said Y/N flatly. 'Only reason I even see him anymore is because of you. Quite frankly I could live without him. Doesn't even show respect to his own sister. I probably know more about Ginny than he does.'
'He has his faults, but you can't blame him. He is just trying to protect his rat.'
'The rat that he has openly mocked and talked down on for years. This is exactly my point, Harry. He claims he hates the rat, that he's a waste of space and he'd do anything to get rid of him. Then it's threatened and suddenly he cares. So, to be his friend, we're meant to just deal with getting insulted and treated like garbage cause secretly he cares?'
'He… he has a weird way of showing affection yes but-'
'Not to you he doesn't. Never once heard him say anything bad about you. Been on your side since day one. Not saying he shouldn't be. Just saying for the fact that me and Hermione are meant to be his friends too, he's much kinder to you. He has his moments where he'll stand and defend you, he showed that last year, but he certainly wasn't my biggest fan whilst I was stressed. Started to like me once he saw how angry I was though.'
Harry simply sighed and shrugged. 'Reckon you're ever going to talk again?'
'Probably. Probably going to have to at some point as I intend to stay friends with you. But I'm not going to like it. Not unless he changes how he treats his 'friends'.'
The two arrived outside the Great Hall and made their way over to the Gryffindor table. They spent the next hour or so chatting before people began to trickle in to join them. First was Hermione, followed by Alicia, Angelina, and Katie. Wood appeared not long after. Then Fred, George, Ginny and finally Ron.
Around twenty minutes after Ron's arrival, the team all got to their feet and made their way outside. Ron followed almost immediately afterwards without a word to any of them.
'Bye to you too, brother,' muttered Ginny darkly, glaring at his retreating back.
'We're still here at least,' said Hermione reassuringly.
'And so is Luna,' said Y/N, repressing a laugh.
Luna was wandering dreamily over towards them wearing a large half hat, half mask, supporting a stuffed Lion hat. Several people were pointing and snickering, but Luna seemed to either not notice or care. She slipped onto the bench alongside Ginny and smiled around at all of them.
'Hello, I'm supporting Gryffindor,' she said, pointing at the hat. 'Ginny told me Y/N is on the Quidditch team, so I made it to support you all.'
Y/N felt his heart swell slightly and couldn't help the smile that formed on his face.
'That's very kind of you Luna, though I'm afraid I'm not playing today. I'm only a reserve.'
'That's okay,' said Luna, sweeping the hat off her head, 'I only wished to show you today, it still needs some more work. I want to enchant it, and I also don't know how it would hold up in this rain.' And she looked dreamily towards the windows.
'Speaking of,' said Hermione checking her watch, 'we should probably head down.'
The four of them got to their feet and were just moving off when Y/N heard a breathless voice behind him.
'Hiya Y/N.'
'Neville!' said Y/N as the round-faced boy caught up to them. 'How have you been?'
'Alright,' smiled Neville. 'I appreciate your help with the boggart. I felt better with you there.'
'Hello,' said Luna airily, looking over at Neville.
'Ah right, Neville this is Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw from the year below us. Luna this is Neville Longbottom, he's a Gryffindor in my year. And I assume you already know Ginny?'
'In passing,' said Ginny brightly. 'Lovely to meet you, Neville.'
Neville went a little pink but smiled happily around at the group, and together the five of them made their way down to the pitch. They'd barely reached the bottom of the stone steps and were already soaked to the skin.
'Here!' Hermione called over the gale force wind and she pointed her wand at Y/N. 'Impervious!'
All of a sudden, the rain seemed to just go around Y/N's face. His clothes were still getting soaked, but his face remained untouched and free of the downpour.
'Brilliant!' he said happily, drawing his own wand and turning it on Luna whilst Hermione did the same with Ginny.
'Much better,' said Ginny breathlessly, pushing some stray wet strands of hair out of her face. 'Come on.'
Y/N cast the charm on Neville, and they continued their way along. Whilst the feeling still wasn't pleasant, they at least could keep their heads up. They filtered into the stands and settled themselves in.
'Don't envy them, flying in this weather seems horrible,' said Y/N as the wind whipped up around them. 'It'll be a task to even stay on their brooms, never mind play.'
A few moments later and several yellow and red specs appeared in the mist walking towards each other. It was lucky the robes stood out so much in the greys. It was already impossible to tell who was who. The robes would hopefully provide a tiny amount of insight.
A faint whistling sound rang through the rolling waves of thunder and the specs of colour began to soar upwards.
'Not sure if it's even worth watching in this,' called Hermione.
'No, but we're here to support Harry. Even if we can't see him,' replied Y/N.
The match went on for about ten minutes with very little happening. Y/N was simply using Lee's very muffled commentating to know the progress. The fact Lee could see what was happening was impressive by itself. When it came time for Madam Hooch to blow for a timeout on the Gryffindor side, they were 50 points ahead.
'Be right back,' muttered Hermione and she slipped over towards the nearest staircase and vanished from sight.
'Where's she gone?' asked Ginny, twisting to look behind her at Hermione's empty seat.
'No idea,' called Y/N, 'possibly something to help keep this rain off us.'
A few minutes later and the mane of bushy brown hair reappeared, slipping back onto the bench next to him.
'I used Impervious on Harry's glasses,' she called around to the other four. 'Hopefully it'll help defend his eyes enough to actually search for the snitch.'
'You're a genius,' said Y/N proudly as he kissed her cheek, Hermione went scarlet but beamed and turned her eyes back towards the pitch as the 7 specs of red soared back into the air.
They watched the dots tear off around the pitch, moving this way and that the sound of the crowd thundering in their ears…
Until it wasn't.
It was so gradual that Y/N almost didn't notice. The noise slowly fading away, until he felt Hermione tense next to him. The rush of cold swept over him too, and he recognised it at once. He grabbed Ginny and Luna from the row in front of them by the hem of their robes and pulled them back before stepping in front of them. Dark shadows were moving through the fog across the pitch, the sound of the storm was falling away.
Something silver ripped through the gathering shadows and they scattered, and through it all, Y/N could see a spec of red descending towards the ground.
'Arresto Momentum!' he bellowed, his wand pointing at the descending spec, and it slowed. He ran to the edge of the stands and leapt off, careening towards the pitch. He heard screams behind him but ignored them. He repeated the spell on himself and he slowed, allowing himself to shoulder roll across the ground and recover.
He sprinted off across the pitch towards the spec of red, he didn't care which of his teammates it was. But he had a feeling he knew. The Dementors were gone, and Y/N staggered to a halt alongside the fallen member of the Quidditch team.
'Harry!' he yelled, kneeling down next to him. He was still breathing but was unconscious.
'How dare they,' came a cold, angry voice from behind Y/N.
He turned to see Professor Dumbledore striding across the pitch towards them.
'Those Dementors dare to step foot within my grounds and harm my students.' Dumbledore's eyes fell on Y/N and he nodded. 'Well cast Y/N, I didn't even need to do so myself'
'Thank you, Professor,' said Y/N standing back, 'will he be okay?'
Dumbledore nodded and waved his wand, a stretcher appeared and Harry's limp body floated onto it. Dumbledore turned and with a gesture for Y/N to follow they began making their way back up towards the castle.
Around halfway, Hermione caught up to them.
'He's not-'she began at once, but Y/N shook his head.
'He's okay 'Mione, just fainted. The Dementors again.'
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief then intertwined her hand with Y/N's, and together the three of them made their way into the Hospital Wing.
The stretcher carrying Harry drifted over to one of the beds before vanishing. Dumbledore swept wordlessly over to Madam Pomfreys office and stepped inside.
He emerged alongside her a short while later, Y/N and Hermione had taken up chairs next to Harry's bed.
'I am going to discuss this with the Ministry,' said Dumbledore, his voice still supporting that same unfamiliar coldness. 'I will leave him in the capable care of you three.' and Dumbledore left.
Madam Pomfrey immediately began bustling around, fussing over him. Y/N and Hermione simply tried to make themselves as small as possible. Over the next few minutes, the other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team apart from Oliver Wood showed up. The last to arrive were Fred and George, who had Ron following at their heels.
'What happened?' asked Y/N at once, the moment they'd all arrived.
'We lost,' said Alicia. 'Cedric caught the snitch right as Harry fell.'
'Tried to call for a rematch,' said George, 'He wasn't having any of it, didn't agree with it. But Hufflepuff won fair and square.'
'And Wood?' asked Y/N tentatively.
'Showers,' said Fred.
'What happened?' asked Angelina. 'I didn't even see.'
'Dementors,' said Y/N. 'They swept onto the pitch, Harry's always been sensitive around them and there were so many…'
'Must have been about a hundred,' said Hermione shakily, 'So many shadows.'
'What got rid of them?' asked Katie.
'Dumbledore,' said Y/N. 'He was furious. Still is, he drove them all off and brought Harry up here.'
At that moment, the doors to the Hospital Wing opened again and Professor Flitwick came striding towards them, a small brown wrapped bundle in his hand.
'Terribly sorry,' said Flitwick, 'But when Mr Potter fell, the wind caught his broom. It was blown off course towards the Whomping Willow.' He unwrapped the package to show them all and Y/N let out a groan. Harry's broom has nothing more than twigs and shavings. The tree had completely destroyed it.
Professor Flitwick passed the bundle over to Ron and then swept from the room. Ron stared down at it, open mouthed.
'That's going to hurt him even more,' said Y/N.
'Even more?' asked Fred.
'He lost. It's going to shake his confidence. It's the first match he's actually lost whilst playing the entire thing. And you best hadn't let it shake yours either,' he added, turning to look at Katie who look mortified. 'I know the score and I know how much we were winning by. You flew brilliantly.'
Katie smiled weakly, but Y/N could tell she didn't believe him.
'How did he survive the fall?' asked Fred.
'That was me. I slowed his movement. Useful spell, used it to save Neville back in first year as well.' Y/N picked up a loose vial and threw it into the air. 'Arresto momentum!' The vials descent slowed and it landed gently on the floor. 'Caught him before he hit the floor.'
'And you!' said Hermione sniffily.
''Mione, I was fine. We had to get to him, didn't know what kind of a state he'd be in. Stairs would have taken too long. And besides, we have magic. Why not use it?'
'Good thing you were there too,' said Ron. 'He didn't even break his glasses.'
There was a shifting of the sheets as Harry began to stir, and his eyes drifted open.
