For the rest of the term, I told myself time and time again that I needed to relax. There was only going to be a limited time before the worst actually did happen, and I had to make the most of the peace and quiet while I could. Still, with the threat of Black still at large and the growing frequency in the amount of times I was admitted into the hospital wing with some illness or other, it wasn't all that easy.

"Focus, Harry," Lupin frowned as I helped Harry back to his feet for the fourth time that night. We were stood in the middle of an empty classroom with dark quickly descending outside. On the opposite side of the room, a tatty trunk stood with its lid firmly shut. Looking at it, you wouldn't have known that inside, a Boggart sat waiting to attack Harry with another image of a Dementor.

After a few weeks of getting no closer to producing a full-bodied Patronus, Harry had insisted I accompany him to his lessons. None of us, not even Lupin, knew why this would help or even if it would, but I didn't argue. I did, however, make sure to stay well back when Lupin released the Boggart, terrified of seeing that blinding golden light again.

"This isn't working," Harry groaned irritably.

"That's the spirit, Harry," I grimaced. "Patience and hard-work always did come naturally, didn't they?" He shot me a cool look.

"Okay," Lupin sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure that's helping, Artemis." I shrugged slightly. "But she is right, Harry. This is a very complex spell, I wouldn't expect you to produce a Patronus the first time you cast it. You have to focus on the happiest memory you have, make yourself feel like you did back then."

"Easier said than done," Harry scowled. "It isn't like I have a variety of them to choose from." I found myself exchanging a worried glance with Lupin, but I kept my mouth shut, taking a few steps back and perching myself on the edge of a desk. Harry took a deep breath, clutching his wand tightly and nodding in Lupin's direction. "I'm ready."

"Are you sure?" the teacher asked cautiously, eyeing his determined stance. Harry nodded again. "Okay then. Remember, keep your memory in mind." With a warning look in my direction, Lupin flicked his wand at the trunk and the lid flicked open.

We spent another two hours trying to get Harry to cast a Patronus, and though he managed to shield himself from the effects, I could tell he wasn't happy that he couldn't produce a full-bodied charm yet.

"It's going to take a while, Harry," Lupin told him time and time again. "You'll get there." Harry smiled tightly at him, not at all convinced. Still, the two of us scooped our bags off the floor and took a bar of chocolate each as we started toward the door.

"Hey, Professor?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Why is it that your Patronus looks like a dog?"

Lupin's face fell as Harry and I turned to face him expectantly. A long, awkward pause before he shuffled on the spot and dropped his gaze. "That wasn't my Patronus."

"What?" Harry frowned. "How can it not have been? No one else in that compartment knows how to cast a Patronus! Who else could have cast it?"

Another awkward pause, and I went rigid when Lupin's eyes found mine. "Me?" I gawped with a nervous laugh. "How could I have cast a charm I'd never heard of before?" Silence met my question and as Lupin lifted an eyebrow in my direction, I felt my face straighten. "Oh. Right."

"You didn't mean to cast it, of course," my Uncle sighed heavily. "Actually, I was rather surprised you could do something so difficult so early. Most people never even attempt to cast magic like that in the first year."

"Comforting, thanks," I mumbled.

"Have you noticed that you're able to do anything else?" he asked, ignoring my comment.

"Once," I grimaced reluctantly. "The Quidditch match before Christmas. I'd left my wand in the changing rooms, but when I saw Harry falling, I reached back for it and it was there. I think that's why my arm started bleeding."

Lupin looked torn. "Well, I must say I'm impressed," he said quietly. "Not just the magic, but being able to keep it so quiet. I've been looking out for the two of you to slip up. When you didn't, I thought things were going quite well. I didn't realise you'd been covering it up so well."

"Neither did I," I admitted with a small shrug, though I couldn't help smiling a little. Knowing that we could hide it from Lupin, when he was actually looking for signs, was a huge relief. If he couldn't find anything, not a lot of other people would be able to either.

"Perhaps you should try not to do any magic by accident in future," Lupin continued. "I realise that you had very little control over it, but holding it back is essential until we can start to teach you to control it."

"Which will be . . .?" I trailed.

He smiled wryly. "Your next school year," he told me. "Either I or Professor Dumbledore will be giving you extra lessons."

"Oh," I blinked, glancing sideways at Harry. Private lessons with Dumbledore . . . that would certainly cause suspicion, wouldn't it?

"We'll sort the details later," Lupin told me. "Until then, the two of you should get back to the common room before it gets too late." The two of us nodded, turning toward the door again.

"Goodnight, Professor."

"Goodnight Harry, goodnight Artemis."

The next day, Hermione took full advantage of the Friday afternoon off to lecture me about the use of magic. We were sat in our usual spot under the large tree on the banks of the Black Lake, surrounded by books and sweets from Honeydukes. Since getting back into lessons after Christmas, the teachers had been piling homework on top of us in preparation for the exams at the end of term.

For the first time, however, Hermione was more than a little distracted from her work. "Lupin's right, Artemis," she was scolding as I slid a little further down the trunk of the tree, propping my Arithmancy book up on top of my names to block her from view. "Ignore me all you want, but the last thing either of you need is someone to see you casting impossible magic!"

"Or hearing you rant about it!" I snapped irritably. Her face straightened. "Hermione, believe it or not, I'm well aware of what's going on and I don't need you adding to the pressure. Now drop it, please!"

"If you're still taking too many risks," she insisted, and I pushed myself frowning, scowling across to her, but Harry clenched his hand around my wrist without looking up from his Quidditch book.

"Calm down, Arty," he told me quietly. "She's only worried."

"Well of course I am!" Hermione said in a shrill voice. "The two of you are in and out of the hospital wing so often lately, and it not like you didn't spend any time in there for the past two years!"

"Not much we can do about that," I frowned, sitting back and flicking through my Arithmancy book lazily. "Besides, don't you have exams to worry about?"

If anything, this just seemed to stress her out even more. "You do realise how little time we have?" she asked hysterically. "I have so much to do! There's Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Defence Against-"

"We get it, Hermione," Harry interrupted, still not lifting his gaze from his book.

She scowled at him. "And you think reading a book on Quidditch is going to help you?"

He shrugged. "We still have the Cup to win, Hermione."

"Try revising with that on your mind," Ron scoffed, pulling a face at his Divination book. "Does this mean anything to you guys?" I scoffed, shaking my head at him with a blank look. Harry, the only one who actually did that lesson, ignored him entirely.

I groaned heavily, dropping my book and stretching out. "I can't stand anymore revision, if I don't know it now, I don't need it." Hermione's jaw dropped in horror, but I turned away and pushed myself to my feet. "Anyone fancy coming down to Hagrid's with me?"

"Definitely," Harry and Ron moaned, and the two of them shoved their text books back into their bags and moved to follow me. Mumbling under her breath about how little work we did, Hermione reluctantly did the same.

This late in the afternoon, most of the students had already headed into the castle before the feast. Clouds had gathered in the sky overhead, and thin streams of bright sunlight managed to break through, shining brightly down onto the ground. A cold breeze was beginning to rush through the grounds, and I found myself pulling my jacket closer around my body in an effort to shield myself from the window.

Outside Hagrid's hut, the Hippogriff Buckbeak had been chained to a tall post in the middle of the pumpkin patch. He was lay flat on the ground, obviously bored, and I knew instantly that something was wrong. Hagrid would never have left an animal like that, no matter how dangerous it was. He'd probably refuse to chain a dragon, let alone a Hippogriff. As we neared, Buckbeak lifted his head curiously, and before I could change my mind, I stepped closer, bending down low. Buckbeak almost immediately bowed his head back to me, and I smiled slightly, moving to pet him gently.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," a droning voice came, and the four of us started.

Lucius Malfoy was stood beside the Minister of Magic outside of Hagrid's hut, with the man himself and Dumbledore. Both the Minister and Hagrid looked a little shaken, but Dumbledore was stood with his hands clasped in front of him and a small frown across his face. On the other hand, Lucius Malfoy looked rather smug.

Ignoring Malfoy, I knelt down beside Buckbeak and allowed the Hippogriff to nudge my hand affectionately. "Then it's a good job I'm not you, isn't it, Mr Malfoy?" I managed to answer in a fake polite tone.

Something in his expression flinched. "You shouldn't be allowing students near that beast, Dumbledore," he said shortly. "We wouldn't want Miss Williams to get hurt now, would we?"

I glowered as Buckbeak tensed beside me, obviously sensing something was wrong. With an indignant squawk, he laid his head across my legs protectively, eyeing Malfoy with his front claws dug into the ground, like he was ready to jump. "Then perhaps it is unwise to aggravate Buckbeak while she is sat beside him," Dumbledore replied calmly, shooting a quick warning look in our direction. Breathing deeply, I ran my hand down Buckbeak's neck and I felt him relax gradually as my fingers ran through his feathers gently.

"Come now, Malfoy," Fudge laughed nervously. "We should be heading back up to the castle."

"Um," Malfoy frowned, glancing between me, Harry, Ron and Hermione. His eyes lingering on Harry a second too long, he turned and started up toward the castle.

Fudge smiled nervously at me, his eyes unable to meet mine for too long. "It's probably best you don't stay near . . . err, Buckbeak, was it? The animal is dangerous, after all."

"Buckbeak isn't dangerous, Minister," I insisted, watching as the Hippogriff's eyes closed lazily as I stroked him. "He's the same as any animal, you just have to know what you're doing." Hagrid smiled sadly at me from behind the Minister, and Dumbledore's eyes shone, but Fudge just shook his head.

"Well, you don't want to be staying out too late," he told us, moving to follow Malfoy. "There's a killer out there, you know."

"Not likely to forget," I grumbled sourly as he walked away. "What was that all about?"

Dumbledore cast a glance back at Hagrid before sighing heavily. "Perhaps I should leave you to discuss that with Hagrid," he replied gently. "However, I would ask you to allow Hagrid to accompany you back up to the castle. It is unwise to be wandering the grounds in the dark."

"Sure," Harry nodded, shooting me a warning look as Dumbledore smiled, turning away from us and starting up toward the castle.

"So what's going on?" Ron demanded the moment Dumbledore was out of earshot. "What was Malfoy so smug about?"

"He hasn't got you fired, has he?" Hermione gasped. "For what happened to Draco at the start of the year?"

Hagrid shook his head furiously. "Nah, Dumbledore made sure of that. The four of you should come in, it's not a good idea to hang around outside." Reluctantly, I shifted Buckbeak's head from my lap gently, and the Hippogriff squawked again, nudging my fingertips gently. Smiling, I ran my hand through his feathers one last time before pushing myself slowly to my feet.

Inside Hagrid's hut, Hagrid, Harry, Ron and Hermione had already settled around the large, circular table in the corner. Behind them, a fire roared comfortingly, a black kettle hanging over it cautiously.

"So," I sighed heavily, dragging myself to the chair between Ron and Hermione and dropping into it. "Care to explain?"

Hagrid sniffed loudly, his hands shaking as the kettle began to whistle over the fire. Smiling gently, Hermione pushed herself upright and moved to take it off the fire, busying herself making the tea. "Draco ran crying to his father after the accident, didn't he?" Hagrid mumbled as he watched Hermione trotting around the kitchen.

"Not surprising," Ron shrugged, receiving a jab in the side from Harry's elbow. "What?"

"What happened?" Harry questioned.

"His Dad ran to the Ministry, and you can imagine what happened then," Hagrid snorted sourly. "Got passed to a committee and they talked a lot about how dangerous Buckbeak was, and how he had it in for Malfoy."

"Anyone with at least one functioning brain cell has it in for Malfoy," I groaned, and Hagrid managed a small smile in my direction. "What did the committee decide?"

I immediately wished I hadn't asked. The moment the words were out of my mouth, Hagrid burst into uncontrollable tears that made me, Harry and Ron leap back in surprise. "They're killing him!" he wailed and my stomach dropped through the ground. "He's been sentenced to death!"

"Oh Hagrid!" Hermione breathed with glistening eyes, setting the tea on the table and doing her best to wrap him in a hug. The rest of us exchanged awkward looks, none of us sure of what to say or do next.

All I could think was that a perfectly innocent creature was being sentenced to death, and Black was still wandering around unchecked.