The train ride continued, the weather outside darkening and the rolls of thunder were heard as rain started falling, pattering on the glass windows. Grace had moved into a more comfortable position, the arm rest was digging into her back and was becoming quite uncomfortable. Now, she was leaning against Harry, in a position that they had grown accustomed to over the summer holiday's when they would lounge lazily on her couch. A shiver ran down her spine when she felt Harry tug gently on one of her curls and heat rushed up her neck to her cheeks. She found that she didn't mind the touch, in fact, she found it quite soothing.
The train rattled as the wind roared outside around them and the rain fell harder, and despite all the train movement, Remus Lupin still slept soundly.
"We must be nearly there," Ron said, breaking the comfortable silence as he leaned forward to look past Remus, trying to look out of the now completely black window. Not even seconds later, the train began to slow down. "Great! I want to get to the feast, I'm starving!" He cheered as he carefully moved around Remus to see outside.
"We can't be there yet," Hermione spoke up as she checked her watch.
"So why are we stopping?" Ron asked. The train began to get slower and slower, and the wind and rain began to get louder against the windows. Harry let go of Grace's curl, and she moved to lean fully against the seat as he stood up to peek out of the compartment door. Then the train jolted to a stop, and the lights flickered before going completely out, surrounding the all in darkness.
"Whats going on?" Ron asked nervously.
"Ouch, Ron! That was my foot!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Harry!" Grace spoke up, feeling her cheeks flush when she felt Harry's hand brush her collarbone.
"Sorry," He replied. "Do you think we've broken down?"
"Dunno…" Grace mumbled nervously. She wished she could see, but as she blinked quickly, her eyes weren't adjusting to the darkness well. There was a squeaking sound and a shadowing figure moved in her peripheral, she knew it was Ron.
"There's something moving out there," He whimpered nervously. "I think people are coming aboard…"
The sound of the compartment door opening was heard, the ruffling of fabric and Harry hissed when something tumbled.
"Sorry! D'you know what's going on? Ouch, sorry!"
"Hi, Neville," Grace greeted lightly. She felt something shift on the seat, and then felt something warm brush against her.
"Gracie? Is that you? What's happening-who's touching me?"
"Me," Harry replied, and Grace knew that it was Harry who had moved closer to her. "We don't know what's going on, sit down." There was a yelp of pain followed by a loud hiss. Grace knew that Neville mistakenly tried to sit on Crookshanks.
"I'm going to ask the driver what's going on," Hermione spoke up. The compartment door opened, and two loud, girlish squeals of pain were heard.
"Who's that?"
"Who'sthat?"
"Ginny?"
"Hermione?"
"What are you doing?'
"I was looking for Ron-"
"Come in and sit down-"
"Not here!" Harry spoke up. "We'rehere!"
"Ouch, I'm here!" Neville spoke up.
"Quiet!" Grace jumped at the sound of Remus' hoarse voice. Silence fell in the compartment. "Stay where you are," He instructed firmly, as a soft, blue light illuminated from his wand. Grace looked up at him with wide, fear filled eyes. Her fingers were becoming numb from the sudden cold that was filling their compartment. The sound of the compartment door sliding open tore her attention away from Remus, and she turned to see a towering, black cloaked figure. She couldn't see a face as it was covered by the black hood, and her eyes trailed it and the sight of its skeletal hand made her stomach churn.
It moved its head in her direction, and suddenly her body felt like it was ice. Her breath was stuck in her chest, and dread crashed over her. Then she heard the ear piercing sound of a wolfs howl.
Howling.
Yelps of pain.
More howling.
Screams.
Blood. All the blood.
Crack.
"Gracia!" Grace blinked when she felt her body shake. "There you are," Grace blinked again when she felt warm hands push back her hair. "Here, you're shivering," a warm cloak draped over her shoulders, and the familiar warm scent of tea and chocolate filled her. It was Remus' cloak. "Are you alright?" She looked around her, the lights were back on, and she could feel the train moving again. Hermione was kneeling on the floor trying to shake Harry, who was out on the floor. Ron was across from her, looking pale, as he looked between her, Harry and Ginny – who had also looked pale and frightened as she curled in on herself. Neville and Remus both looked at her with concern. "Gracie?" Remus called softly, making her blink again.
"What?" She whispered, her voice hoarse. "What happened?"
"Are you alright?" Remus asked again.
"Harry!" Hermione called when Harry stirred. "Harry! Are you alright?"
"Wha-what?" Harry muttered as he pushed his glasses back onto his nose while Ron and Hermione helped him sit up, and helped him back onto the seat next to her.
"Are you two, okay?" Ron asked them nervously.
"Yeah," Harry replied, looking at the door for the hooded figure. Grace merely nodded, tugging Remus' cloak around her tighter. "What happened? Where's that- what was that thing? Who screamed?" Grace's heart stopped as dread filled her again. She hoped she didn't scream.
"No one screamed," Ron answered nervously.
Harry looked around the compartment, his eyes stopping on Grace, who was shaking beside him. "But I heard screaming-"
A snap made them all jump and turn to the source of the noise. Remus broke a large chocolate bar into small pieces. "Here," he said to Harry, handing him a large piece. "Eat it, it'll help," then he started passing pieces to everyone else. Remus handed another large piece to Grace, and set the chocolate bar beside her.
"What was that thing?" Harry asked Remus again.
"A dementor," Remus answered. "One of the guards of Azkaban, it was searching the train for Sirius Black. It's gone now," he continued, looking at Grace and pushed her hair out of her face again. "I need to have a word with the driver, excuse me," he said, standing up and walking out of the compartment. "Eat," he turned, looking at the children. "It'll help," with that, Remus had closed the compartment door and walked down the hall.
"What happened?" Harry asked again, looking at everyone, his eyes falling back to Grace, who was staring blankly at the floor.
"You – both of you," Ron looked at him and Grace, "both sort of went rigid. We thought you were going into a fit or something…"
"Grace looked like she was going to go into a seizure…" Neville spoke up softly, glancing at Grace.
"Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the dementor, and pulled out his wand," Hermione started, "and he said 'None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' But the dementor didn't move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his wand at it and it turned around and sort of glided away…"
"It was horrible," Neville spoke up again, his voice higher than usual. "Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?
"I felt weird…" Ron muttered as he shifted uncomfortably. "I felt like I'd never be cheerful again…"
There was a sniffle, and Harry turned to see Ginny curled in a corner, looking about as bad as Harry felt. A small sob escaped and Hermione instantly sat next to the girl and wrapped an arm around her. Another sniffle was heard, and Harry turned and saw Grace wipe the tears from her cheeks. He reached over and took her hand, making her jump from the contact and look over at him with wide eyes. He'd never seen this look of fear on her before, he'd also never seen her cry either. Harry realized that he didn't like seeing Grace cry, it seemed unnatural. Harry tugged on her hand gently and she moved closer to him and leaned into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. Grace pulled Remus' cloak tighter around her and she tried to hide her face in Harry's shoulder. He could feel her shaking, and he wasn't sure if it was the affects of the Dementor or if she was still cold.
It wasn't much later when Remus returned to the compartment. He paused when he entered, looking around with a small smile. "I haven't poisoned that chocolate, it's safe to eat," he teased lightly and the others started to nibble on the pieces that were given to them. Grace had still yet to touch hers. "We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes," Remus announced, then turned to Harry and Grace. "Are you all right, Harry?"
"Fine," he muttered, feeling embarrassed.
"Gracie…" Remus spoke softly, kneeling in front of Grace. Harry looked at them, then at Ron, who shrugged and was also looking confused. Harry didn't need to wonder how Professor Lupin knew his name, most people did; he wondered how Professor Lupin knewGrace'sname. "You've got to eat the chocolate," he whispered. "You won't feel better until you do."
"I keep hearing it…" she whispered so faintly that Harry struggled to hear her. Remus frowned in concern.
"It's not going to hurt you anymore, Gracie," Remus whispered softly. "I've sent it off," Grace only nodded numbly, then brought the chocolate to her lips.