© Sunrisepainter: Because of Snape

Telepathy

There were at least twelve of them. The all had greyish short fur and yellow glowing eyes with eyeballs traversed by red veins. The two Gryffindors were surrounded by them with no way out. The biggest wolf bared its teeth and let out a deep growl. Fred felt Hope clenching his arm tightly.

"Don't move!" He murmured from the corner of his mouth. "After I counted to three, we'll turn around in one go and quickly climb up the crag again. That's our only opportunity!"

With her eyes she told him that she got it.

"One..." Fred started.

The wolfs were getting closer. Fortunately, there was nothing but the crag behind them and no other wolfs. That would have been worse.

"...Two..."

Both of them tensed up simultaneously.

"...Three!"

Just when the first wolf was about to attack them, Hope and Fred turned around and panicky tried to scale the rock. Everything went too rapidly too think sober any more. Fred heard the wolfs howl and the sound of their heavy paws on the ground behind him. He was already on the first ledge. When he had steadied himself, he tried to pull Hope up to him. The first wolf had already reached the crag and now snatched at Hopes leg which was hovering just a few inches above the forest floor. Unfortunately, it was the injured leg, so she could not move it out of the way right in time. The wolf bit on to her jeans.

"Help me already!" She yelled at Fred while she tried to get rid of the wolf.

Fred did not hesitate any longer. With one hand he held Hope and with his other hand he now directed his wand towards the beast:

"Stupor!"

The curse struck the wolf right in its face and it plunged down facing backwards and emitting a loud roar. Now, the other wolfs got even more furious. Snarling and grumbling, they attempted to climb the rock using their claws. Hope cried in panic and she desperately tried to find something to hold onto. However, she had to move to achieve some steadiness.

"I can't hold you any longer when you're struggling like that!" Fred shouted above the noise of the wolfs and seized the girl with both of his arms again but this made her slip down even more.

"No!"
It was already to late, though. His grip had eased and felt herself falling down like in slow motion. Her head banged down on the stone and she stayed lying down unconsciously. Immediately, the wolf pack mobbed her. The ripping sound of clothes. Blood.

"Leave her alone, you fleabags!" Fred hollered and rushed down again. He did not care if they would attack him, too. He was ready for a fight now. Hope said she would die for him. Why could not he do the same for her then?

The wolfs let go of their victim and focused on the new potential victim instead. What should he do now? The animals surrounded him again. The wand in his hand shook like crazy. He could not curse all of them at once. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his head.

Hastily he fiddled around at his jacket and pulled out some of Filibuster's firecrackers. He could always rely on these before. With the help of his wand, he sparked them,

"That's for you, you beasts!" He trew one of the firecrackers at the wolfs and himself flatly onto the floor.

Immediately, a nice and fine firework kicked of. The blasting and banging got mixed with the howl of the wolf pack. This time, it was not because of their hunting but from fear. Eventually, he heard the wolfs escape trough the trees and their noises were getting fainter and fainter.

Fred held his arms above his head and waited for the firework to stop. Then, he raised to his feed and brushed some leaves off his clothes,

It was silent again on the glade. Only the wind rustled trough the forest canopy and somewhere in the distance, there was still the howl of the wolfs to be heard. The air smelled like firecrackers and mould.

Suddenly, Fred remembered his companion and straight away, he rushed over to her.

Her sight was dreadful. Her clothes were all torn. Blood was dripping from a wound at the back of her head. Her glasses were broken and a scratch on her right temple was bloody as well. However, this was nothing compared to the bruises and scrapes at her arms and legs.

He knelt down next to her and ascertained in relief that she was still breathing. He took her hand.

"Everything's going to be okay, Hope. Don't be afraid. I promised you that nothing would happen to you." He whispered and realized bitterly that he already broke this promise.

Carefully he lifted her up. She was lighter than he had thought, but it would still be hard to carry her all the way back to Hogwarts. Whatever! He somehow felt guilty and wanted to make it up to her by all means, so he set off with her.

At the same time in the castle:

George restlessly turned around in his bed. He woke up just a few miutes ago as he had a terrible nightmare. About wolf attacking Fred and a blond girl. Since then, he could not go back to sleep any more. Something was happening, he knew it. The dream had been very real. Who was this girl anyway? And why did he dream about something like this? How the hell could Fred be attacked by wolfs when he was sleeping in the bed right next to him?

Nonetheless, George had a strange feeling. He had to check if Fred was really okay. Quietly he got up and went over to his twin's bed. He opened the curtains and – empty!

The bed was empty!

Panic boiled up in George. So, it had not been an ordinary dream after all! His brother must really be in danger! Where was Fred anyway? And what should George do now? As fast as he could, he rushed to the common room, but Fred was still no where to be found. George tore his hear. What was to do now? Professor McGonagall!

He had to consult their homeroom teacher.

Just as he was about to climb trough the portrait hole, a voice piped up from behind him.

"George?"

He turned around and saw Hermione in her loose pyjama. Her hair was all messy and her brown eyes glistened mysteriously in the light of the fireplace. If he did not been so worried about Fred, he would have really thought it to be quite beautiful.

"Um...yeah...Hermione! Did you coincidentally see Fred anywhere?"

She shook her head which made her curls swirl wildly around her head,

"Why? Is he gone?"

"Yeah, I was just about to go to McGonagall. I dreamed that he was attacked by giant wolfs and...and...I'm just a little worried, Hermione." He could barely suppress the tears any more. Hermione made one step towards him and gripped his shoulders. She softly pushed him down into an armchair and knelt down in front of him.

"Just calm down, George. Fred disappeared and was attacked by wolfs?"

George nodded.

"You sure? I mean-" She hesitated for a moment. "Maybe, it was only a bad dream and Fred is just took a walk at night because he couldn't sleep."

"No, I don't think so." He said with his voice trembling and looked into her eyes. "We're twins. We just sense when the other one of us is in danger. Do you understand?"

Hermione gulped and slowly nodded her head.

"Yeah, kind of, but what should we do now? And first of all, where is Fred now?"

"How should I know?" George jumped onto his feet again and paced up and down the common room.

"Is there anything else you remember about your dream? Something more particular?"

George stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes. He slowly started to describe what he had seen:

"Well...it was dark and cold. There were a lot of threes, like a forest. And wolfs."

"The Forbidden Forest? Could it be the Forbidden Forest?" Hermione wondered.

"Yeah, that could be." George mused.

"Then let's go to Professor McGonagall now!" Hermione proposed.

"Stop!" George held her back. "There's something else." Curiously, Hermione looked at him:
"What?"

"A girl."

"A girl?"

"Yeah, I also saw a blond girl. She wasn't that tall. That's all I remember. I couldn't see her face."

"A girl with blond hair...maybe Katie?"

"No."

"Um...what about Luna? Luna Lovegood?" He just shook his head.

George tried to recall the girls features and then, he slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah, that cold be her."

"Who is it?" Hermione wanted to know. She was quite pale now.

"Hope. Hope Shycates. The hair, the built, the clothes...it could be her after all."

"I'll go take a look. Wait for me." Hermione rushed up the stairs to the girl's dormitory.

George exhaustedly sat down on a couch and buried his face in his hands. The longer he said around doing absolutely nothing, the smaller was the possibility that his brother could be saved right on time. This thought made his stomach turn. Fred was still alive, George could feel it, but...

"She's gone!" Hermione whispered under tears.

George did not know what he was doing until he held Hermione in his arms. It was the only right thing to do. She sobbed and he also felt tears welling up in his eyes. It was nice holding Hermione close like that and his stomach did somersaults. However, he wished there would have been happier circumstances for them to be this close.

"I'm sorry." Hermione sobbed and let him go. "Usually, it's Parvati's and Lavender's part to cry easily, but I was just a little shocked. You know, I really like Hope a lot and of course, I care about Fred, too."

She smiled feebly.

"You don't need to be ashamed of yourself, Hermione. I'm worried as well. We should really inform McGonagall now!" Hermione wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.

Just when George wanted to open the portrait hole, it yet swung to one side.

"Fred!" George gasped startled.

His twin brother carried Hope in his arms. She looked quite battered. Hermione put her hand to her mouth and stared in shock at her Fred and Hope. On the one hand, she and George were too alarmed to say anything first and on the other hand, they were kind of relieved that the other two came back on their own. Fred just ignored their presence and crossed the whole common room to lay Hope carefully down on a sofa. In exhaustion, he fell down onto an arm chair and took deep breaths.

"Wh-what happened." George was eventually able to ask.

"Forest...Snape...wolfs attacked...Hope fell down..." Fred croaked. He was too worn out to use full sentences.

Now, Hermione was also able to move again and so she fell down on her knees in front of Hope's face. Softly, her fingers inspected the scratches and bruises. The injured girl winced under her touch.

"We have to take her to the Hospital Wing." Hemione mumbled.

"No way!" Fred exclaimed instantly. "I don't want us to get in trouble!"

"Are you reallly that irresponsible?" Hermione snapped at him which made the twins flinch. "If we don't take to Madame Pomfrey right now, she might die! Look at her!"

"But-"

"But me no buts! She's badly wounded and most likely she's in a critical condition right now! Are losing house points or getting punished harder than losing a friend?"

Fred lowered his head. Hermione was right. If they would not take Hope to the Hospital Wing, she...he did not complete his thought.

"Okay!" He raised to his feet and wanted to lift Hope up again, but George got there first.

"Take it easy, dear brother. I'll carry her."

As soon as he said that, George slid his arms beneath Hope's body and lifted the unconscious girl up. Her head dangled over his arm which caused Hermione to feel nauseous. Nonetheless, all she could think about was the fears and the worries that her blond friend.

As they arrived in the Hospital Wing, George softly placed the injured girl on one of the beds. Hermione ran off to wake up Madame Pomfrey.

"Man, you don't look too good at all, you better take a seat." George said scrutinizing his twin. Fred looked as pale as ghost and about to faint. His bones were aching all over his bod, even the ones he did not know they existed. Hence, he gladly accepted George's suggestion.

Hermione came back having the matron in tow.

"Good Lord, my dears! You're killing me!" She scolded them but she treated the patient anyway.

Fred stared into space with a vacant expression, Hermione nervously bit her bottom lip and George left the room on the pretext of getting Professor McGonagall but he actually could not stand the tension any more.

Eventually (it felt like an eternity to Hermione), Madame Pomfrey let her patient be.

"Is it really bad?" The female Gryffindor quietly.

"Well, she has a light concussion, so she needs some days of peace to get better. Although she was attacked by wolfs, as you told me, she fortunately wasn't bitten. There are only some minor scratches. It wasn't a werewolf, right?" The matron looked at the teenager questionably. Fred could only shrug his shoulders but his eyes still looked indifferent. Madame Pomfrey sighed:

"Aright, I guess we have to consult an expert. Just to make sure. Miss Granger, would you be so kind as to send an owl to Professor Remus Lupin? Tell him to come as fast as he can. He's very well-schooled in this kind of field, it seems."

Hermione nodded her head and hastily left the Hospital Wing. Now, Fred was the only left, squatting on his chair looking like a picture of misery.

"You look pale, Mr. Weasley." Madame Pomfrey noticed. "It would a good idea for me to give you a sleeping potion. Thus, you may relax a little."

"No, that's really not-"

"No talking back, Mr Weasley!"

Fred sighed in defeat and Madame Pomfrey happily hurried away to get the said potion.

Fred used the time she was gone to get a better look at Hope. She laid on the bed like a dying angel. Eyes closed, the pale face illuminated by the moonlight and her hair as golden as the sun.

The matron soon came back and handed him a small goblet and a pyjama.

"Now, sleep save and sound, Mr. Weasley."

Fred closed the curtains on the bed next to Hope's and changed before going to bed. In one go he emptied the goblet and put it on his night table. Immediately, a surge of fatigue overwhelmed him and he cosily sank back on the pillow. He was quite glad to finally get some quiet and peace.

End of Chapter Fourteen.