A fire flickered merrily in the fireplace, casting dancing shadows across the faces of the cabin's occupants. They sat around the scarred table, cooling mugs of undrinkable tea placed in front of them. No one spoke, and the cabin was engulfed in silence, save for the occasional sniffles that resulted from sobbing. Each person replayed the events of the day in their heads, remembering limp hands and dead eyes and anguished wails. Hermione let out a choked sob, burying her face in Ron's shoulder. Harry wrapped an arm around her, and Ginny in turn lay her head on his shoulder. Across the table, Remus watched them, hair mussed and the bags under his eyes seeming much darker than before. From her position between them, Luna lay a comforting hand over Neville and Remus's hands. The ministry workers had disappeared into the castle shortly after, taking Darren's limp form, covered with black material, with them. They had looked furious, yelling at the headmaster, who had only smiled serenely in return and invited them into his office to talk.
"What will they do with him?" Harry asked the room at large. No one seemed to have an answer for him.

Deep within the Forbidden Forest, an enormous black dog dashed through the trees after a cloaked figure. Sirius barked out his desperate pleas, unable to change back and simply speak for fear of losing Evra in the overgrowth of trees/forest. Up ahead, almost invisible within the shifting shadows, the snake boy ran. Tears streamed down his cheeks, catching on the scales of his face. Darren was gone, and he didn't know what to do.
The only thing he could think to do was to tell Mr. Crepsley and hope that the vampire had some sort of solution. He didn't want Darren's body to disappear with the wizards, like he had never even existed. He couldn't bare the thought. The sun was still high in the sky when he burst into the abandoned building, eyes wild and dog at his heels, screaming the old vampire's name. There was no response.
"Evra. Evra, please, calm down!" Sirius pleaded as he regained his human form, eyes darting wildly around the room, searching for some sort of help he instinctively knew would not be arriving anytime soon. He knew better than anyone the pain of losing loved ones, but he also knew that there was no point in the tears shed; Crying would not bring anyone back from the dead, after all. Heaving a deep sigh, Sirius did the only thing he could think to- he slapped the snake boy across the face. He winced, examining his hand, which was now riddled with scales embedded deep within his skin. He wiped the blood on his threadbare trousers, not too concerned. (He'd had far worse after all.) Turning his attention back to Evra, he was pleased to see that the boy was no longer completely hysterical. Instead, he was rubbing at his cheek, eyes wide and trained uncertainly on Sirius, who offered him a smile.
"Better?"
"Not really, no."
"Well, you're not screaming anymore, which is what I was aiming for, so you're fine."
Evra scoffed and didn't reply. From whatever dark corner she'd been hiding, his snake emerged to wrap herself lovingly around his person. A world weary sort of smile twitched on the corners of Sirius's lips, but his eyes were still sad.
With a great, steadying breath he asked tentatively, "What do you want to do about your friend?" and watched as Evra seemed to deflate before his very eyes. The boy shook his head slowly, mumbling something to himself in a series of mixed hisses and words.
Sirius waited, and finally Evra took a great, shuddering breath and said firmly, "I'm going to get him back."
With a bitter grin, Sirius clapped a hand comfortingly over the younger's shoulder. "Then I'm going to help you."
Together, they began to plan on how to do just that. Within the hour, they were ready.

"We should be getting back to the school." Remus Lupin announced, rising from his seat. Hagrid nodded, sniffling and rubbing at his eyes with an enormous, spotted handkercheif. One by one, the others rose to join him. With wet faces and red eyes, they headed towards the front door of the cabin. Outside the cabin, the wind blew, churning a few grey clouds across the sun, which was low in the sky. The world was beginning to turn dark. Harry couldn't help but think that it was appropriate. As they filed out the door, Hagrid called out. "Jus' a moment. I've got something for ya, Ron." The golden trio paused, waiting. With a glance towards the slowly darkening sky, Professor Lupin spoke softly, his words directed towards the three friends. "I trust you can see yourselves safely back to the castle?"
Harry nodded absently in response, and Lupin smiled before turning to lead the other three students of Hogwarts back to the castle. Hermione turned to watch them go while Hagrid searched through the multitudes of jugs atop his shelves. Finally, with a cry of triumph, he found the correct one and pulled it down, dumping something into his enormous hand and coming over to the three. Despite the tear tracks that disappeared into his beard, he offered them a weak smile as he produced-
"Scabbers!" Ron exclaimed in wonder, taking the squirming rat from Hagrid. "I though I'd lost you!"
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, the anger and frustration that was evident in her eyes magnified by the stress and sorrows of the day, but was cut off by a loud, inhuman noise that echoed from the Forbidden Forest. They all froze, and Fang whimpered before answering with a low, mournful howl. Sighing quietly but seeming undisturbed by the noise, Hagrid said "You lot should be going."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione nodded in response, following him to the front door. From Ron's hands, Scabbers was squeaking loudly, squirming. Ron just frowned and tightened his hold.
"Do you need me ta walk you back to the castle?" Hagrid asked. Noting the handkerchief that was still held firmly in the half-giant's shaking hand, the trio declined as one. Hagrid offered them a shaky smile and waved to them from his door until they disappeared from his line of sight.
As they passed by the clearing that held Darren's cage, Harry repressed a shudder at the unnerving sight of it standing open and empty. The tree stopped and stared for a moment. Hermione slipped her hand into first Ron's hand, then Harry's. Together, they took a moment to mourn the loss of their friend, just the three of them. The wind whipped through the trees, and the whomping willow shivered, shedding more of it's leaves.
The moment was broken as Ron let out a quiet yelp and Scabbers dropped to the ground and scuttled away. "He bit me." Ron said, looking shocked. Blinking away his befuddled expression, he quickly gave chase.
"Ron! Ron, wait!" Hermione called, going after him, Harry hot on her heels. She stopped suddenly, eyes wide as she realized where they were headed.
"Oh...that's not good." Harry whispered.

Sirius froze where he was. His nose twitched, and his eyes grew wide. Evra glanced over to him, looking worried.
"Are you alright?" he questioned in a whisper. They had been searching for signs of where the ministry might have gone, and where they could have taken Darren's body. Sirius shifted as the wind blew past them again, carrying with it a painfully familiar scent. Hackles raised and a growl ripping from his throat, Sirius lunged past Evra and ran, following the smell carried on the wind.
"Sirius?" the snake boy called after him, looking bemused at his companion's sudden actions. He received no answer as the form of a large black dog disappeared into the trees, not sparing a him backwards glance.
Dashing through the trees, breath coming fast and uneven, Sirius's mind was blank. He focused only on the revenge that had been twelve years in the making. He thought only of retribution for the things done to James and Lily and so many others. "I'm coming for you, Peter."

"The Grim!" Ron cried, eyes enormous and hands shaking as he pointed towards the dark omen. Harry and Hermione turned, then stumbled backwards a few steps at the sight of the snarling creature. Drawing his wand and doing his best to ignore the terror that was roiling in his belly, Harry prepared to defend himself. The dog stepped forward, dead leaves and grass crackling under it's monstrous paws. Drool dripped from it's jowls as it licked it's chops, showing sharp yellow teeth. Ron was whimpering, and Harry could hear Scabbers squealing with terror. Hermione had a death grip on Harry's shoulder, and he could feel her fingers shaking. Raising his wand as the creature crouched, preparing to jump at them, Harry could hardly catch his breath as his heart beat faster, feeling as though it may leap into his throat at any moment. The creature lunged-

and sailed right over his head. There was a split second of shocked relief (it wasn't going after me. I won't die today!) before a scream full of terror and pain sounded behind him.

"RON!" he lunged after his friend, hands outstretched towards the wailing boy. The Grim was far too quick, though. It had Ron by the leg and was dragging him across the frozen ground, straight towards the Whomping Willow!

Today was turning out to be a very bad day, indeed.