"I always knew Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron announced as the four of us fought through the teeming hall of students to drop our bags before dinner. "But I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the sorting hat said Slytherin, I'd 'ave gone home."
I shook my head. "We don't know his reasons for it. At the time that Hogwarts was founded, there were still witch hunts going on. He would have had good reason to not like muggles. And honestly, how would you act if three-quarters of the school thought you were evil? They are defensive because they have to be."
"Hiya, Harry!" Colin Creevey was back.
"Hullo, Colin." Harry's answer sounded automatic.
"Harry, Harry some boys in my class are saying that you're-" But Colin was swept away by the crowds before he could finish his thought.
"Right," I snagged my bag close to me before it could get caught on a passerby. "I'm headed to my common room, I'll catch you guys later." And I headed down the fork in the hallway.
I was almost to my dorms when I stumbled to a stop, blackness overtaking my vision.
Spiders, scuttling along the floor... A deep hiss... A little girl's scream of terror... The cover of a black book... The book was hissing?..
I lurched with a gasp. These visions were getting stronger.
"You okay there?" I jumped away from the voice and ended up jumping into someone else.
"Whoa, hey." George was the one who spoke, which left-
"Hey, Kitty." Fred behind me. "It's been a bit since we had a trip to the trees, if you catch my meaning..."
I grinned. "Oh yes!" It took all my restraint to not immediately sprint for the front doors. "You have a free period now?"
Fred grinned. "We are done for the day. McGonagall really wishes we took more electives, would 'keep us out of trouble, to be in classes all day'."
"Sweet, me too. Let me drop my bag in my dorm and I'll meet you outside?"
"Sure."
I rushed away to put up my books. A good romp in my Animagus form was just what I needed after all this stress.
The boys were anxiously waiting at the bottom of the stairs, and we probably tripped ten times on the way out as we kept dragging each other to go faster.
We were barely in the cover of the trees when we shifted. A good hour was spent wrestling and chasing and laughing, well, huffing, and then I noticed it. There were some really big spiderwebs out here.
"Hey, guys?" I shifted back to ask my question.
"You ever seen a web this big?"
Unwilling to give up their forms, the twins shook their heads.
I was confused. I followed a line of webbing up with my eyes, and not only were the webs themselves bigger, but the silk was thicker than I had ever seen before too. Then I heard a scritching sound and decided that was enough spooking in the enchanted forest for me.
I shifted quickly into a bobcat and led the boys back toward the castle, trying to keep an eye out for massive spiders. Normally I would shrug it off but after that vision...
Not that I could explain that to the twins. I hadn't found a way to tell them without feeling like I was underselling them or that they would laugh at me.
George looped an arm around my shoulder as we came back in sight of Hogwarts.
"We'll walk you to your dorm, Kitty."
"Only polite, you know." Fred quipped.
I rolled my eyes. Once Remus told me about the Map, I realized keeping my dorm location a secret was impossible, but the passwords would not be shown.
They probably just wanted to use the Room of Requirement to plan pranks anyway. We discovered that the Room would provide a brewing station, but not ingredients, so no high-level potions work could be done ahead of our class learning schedule. The castle seemed to know better than to fuel that much chaos.
I went to the library to work on my homework, but all the books I needed seemed to be missing. Like, all of them. There was only one thing to do.
"Hermione!"
Hunting the witch down proved a challenge, but when I finally found her, she was predictable. Out in the courtyard, probably with the reasoning that the weather would soon be too cold to hang out there, Hermione had a captive audience in the forms of Harry and Ron.
Clearly, my appearance was interrupting a rant, because the boys lit up when I appeared and dragged me over.
"Hermione won't stop going on and on..." Ron began.
"Help us with homework?" Harry had a little more tact but seemed equally desperate for relief from the lecture.
"Hi guys, yeah I was going to do my homework, but all the books I needed were out. I thought I might find them..."
I trailed off, rolling my eyes in Hermione's direction.
Ron snickered.
Hermione, let out an exasperated huff, but when I told her which books I needed, she did in fact have the library's copies. I just laughed it off, while Harry teased, "Ravenclaw."
"So," I redirected the conversation from whatever ramble Hermione had been on this time. "Charms essay?"
We worked quickly, and between each of us, the work was distributed well.
Harry had the practical Defense down, while Hermione could be counted on for the Theory, as well as Transfiguration. Ron was covering the Charms and Astronomy work, and I helped with Potions and Herbology.
We got quite a bit done, but my mind was drifting often to dinner. My romp in the woods burned a lot of energy it seemed, and without noticing, my eyes slipped closed.
"Leo? Leo!"
I jerked slightly as the world drifted back into focus.
"Wha?"
Harry was looking at me with concern.
"You had your eyes closed and you were swaying back and forth like you might pass out."
I nodded to myself and realized just how bad it was affecting me when I kept nodding for a good minute before realizing I needed to stop.
"I think I need to eat, I feel funny."
Hermione jumped. "Of course! Her blood sugar is low. You really should carry snacks with you if your sugars get this bad frequently."
She frowned. "Why did you not say something?"
Ron was already reaching in his bag and pulling out a chocolate frog. "Here, that's got sugar."
"Thanks, Ron." I took the frog but fumbled when I opened it and it hopped out of reach.
Harry snagged the frog and shoved it at me.
"Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?"
I shook my head. "Don't think so. I just need dinner and a nap."
The boys decreed study time over, and walked closely beside me all the way to the Great Hall, fussing in their own way to make sure I was okay.
