Chapter 27- The traitor flees

It looked like the stress of constantly being hunted by Crookshanks was taking it's toll on Scabbers. The rat had been loosing weight and hair rapidly, and Harry remembered what the woman at the pet store had said. The average rat only lives about three years, and Scabbers had lived with the Weasleys much longer than that without showing the slightest sign of magical talent. Then, just on the day Harry had gotten his Firebolt back, it looked like the worst had finally happened. Ron volunteered to take it up to the dorm, and within moments everyone in the common room heard the scream.

Rushing to see what was wrong, they saw Ron pointing at the sheet where a spot of blood. On the floor were ginger colored hairs. Harry, Neville, and Hermione all helped Ron search for the rat, even though it looked obvious that Scabbers had been killed. Ron was inconsolable, and made it clear that he blamed Hermione for not keeping a closer eye on Crookshanks. Hermione was determine to believe that cat was innocent, saying there was no way to be sure how long the hairs had been there, and got angry with Harry when he said all the evidence seemed to point at Crookshanks. Harry hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings, though. He'd just been pointing out the facts.

Trying to cheer Ron up, Harry promised Ron he could have a turn on the Firebolt after Quiddich practice. Having a Firebolt on the team seemed to inspire the others, and the team had their best practice yet. Even Oliver couldn't find anything bad to say, and had to admit he had never seen the team fly better. He grinned as he told the team the Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang, would be riding a Comet Two Sixty. It looked like there was only one worry for the team now, what could happen if the dementors showed up again.

"I'll be able to handle it," Harry had told Oliver when he asked. He hoped he was right. The patronus lessons hadn't gone quite as well as Harry had hoped. Even after several sessions, he still hadn't been able to produce a full patronus, although the silver shadow seemed to be a bit more solid and he didn't feel as weak after the lessons anymore. He still felt drained, but tried to tell himself with practice he could cast a patronus strong enough to keep the dementors away. His dad tried to be reassuring, reminding him that he hadn't passed out since the first lesson. When the day of the big game arrived, Harry tucked his wand inside his Quiddich robes, thought of all the happy memories he could use, and made up his mind to focus on the game and not worry about the dementors until he had to.

It had gone far better than Harry could ever have hoped for. His patronus had charged down the dementors and he hadn't felt even the slightest effect from them. He'd had to catch the snitch, so he hadn't seen what his patronus was, but it must have been the true patronus he'd hoped he could cast. As soon as he was back on the ground, all the Gryffindors swarmed him happily. But above the cheers and congratulations, Harry heard one voice that stood out.

"That was quite some Patronus."

Harry turned to his dad grinning, but Remus looked almost as shocked as he did proud and pleased.

"What's the matter, Dad?"

The shock faded somewhat from Remus's face and he said "I just didn't expect it to take the form it did, that's all."

"Why? What was it? Did it mean something to you?"

Remus was beaming at him.

"Come to my quarters once the crowd thins out a bit," he said happily "You'll understand why when you see what it is."

"Well, whatever it was, at least it got rid of the Dementors. I never felt a thing."

"Er- yes, well, there's a reason for that. I'm sure your Patronus would still have done the job , but those- weren't really Dementors."

"What?"

"I think you should have a look."

Harry looked where Remus indicated, and saw Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint in a tangle of black cloth, McGonagall standing over them and lecturing them. Harry grinned and thought to himself what a perfect day it had been. Gryffindor had won and had more than a good chance of winning the Quidditch Cup. Malfoy and his group were in trouble. But the best part to him was knowing he had cast a Patronus. He couldn't wait to see what form it took.

"Harry! Party in the common room!" George called.

"Be there in a minute. There's something I have to do first," Harry called back, and followed his dad. When they were in Remus' quarters the wizard grinned and said "Go ahead, son."

Harry nodded. He knew he could do it now, because he'd done it moments before. The joyful feelings were still there so he didn't have to try all that hard.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Harry blinked a moment, and stared, not sure he was seeing right for a second. A silver wolf with a slightly short snout and tufted tail trotted around the room before disappearing into a mist.

"A wolf!" Harry said, grinning. "Makes sense though. You said a Patronus is the embodiment of what makes a person feel safe and happy."

"Still, I never expected it," Remus said, and then gave a soft chuckle. "I think it's safe to say you're the first person to ever feel protected by a werewolf."

The victory party went long into the night, and Harry was sure he would sleep well, but he was woken up by a scream.

"Ron? What's wrong?"

One of the others lit a lamp, and Harry could see his friend was white faced and terrified.

"Sirius Black! With a knife!"

"What? How could he be here?" Harry knew there were anti- Animagus wards surrounding the castle and grounds now. But then again, the wards were only effective if he tried to cross them in his Animagus form. This late at night, had he been able to cross them unseen as a human? But how could he have gotten into the dorm without the password?

"I think it was probably a night-"

"It was not a nightmare!" Ron shouted. By now everyone in Gryffindor Tower was awake and wanting to know what had happened.

"What's going on in here?" McGonagall asked as she came into the room, closely followed by Remus.

"You all right Harry?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Ron says he saw Black though."

Remus blanched.

"What!"

"It's true," Ron said. "He was standing over me with a knife."

After making sure again that Harry was fine and nobody was hurt, Remus went to the portrait whole and asked Sir Cadogan "Did anyone besides us just come in here?"

"Certainly, good sir."

Remus barely controlled the anger in his voice.

"You let someone in without the password?" What had he been thinking? With a murderer on the loose and people's lives at risk, he has just let a stranger into the dorms?

"But he had the passwords sir. The entire week's. They were on a piece of paper he had."

McGonagall looked accusingly at Neville. It was no secret that he sometimes had trouble remembering things.

"B- But they were on the table by my bed," he protested. "There's no way he could have gotten them."

Harry was glad to see Neville start to stand up for himself. Personally, he couldn't blame Neville for Black getting in. He couldn't understand how Black could have gotten the password list from the dorm. However he had gotten the list, everyone was determined Black would never get a chance to get near Harry or his friends again. Protective spells were cast on all the doors and windows so they would recognize Sirius, both as a human and as a dog, and he was back to having teachers escorting him from class to class.

Remus, meanwhile, was looking more tired than ever. He'd taken to patrolling almost every moment he wasn't teaching or with Harry, especially at night. In spite of everything, it seemed Sirius was getting closer and closer to getting to Harry. Something had to happen before much longer. The traitor would have to be caught, and soon.

AN: Sorry about this chapter being so short. What happens next seemed to belong in a new chapter rather than this one. I hope it will be worth it. My thanks to everyone still reading and reviewing and as always thanks to PadyandMoony for her help.