"I didn't mean to blow her up," Harry started as they shuffled down the train corridor. "I just lost control."
"Brilliant," Ron grinned.
"It really was. I heard her screams from mine," Grace spoke up, grinning.
"Honestly you two, it's not funny!" Hermione scolded, and Grace's face curled into that of distaste. "Harry's lucky he wasn't expelled."
"I'm lucky I wasn't arrested, honestly," Harry muttered.
"I still think it was brilliant."
"In here," Hermione stopped, nodding to a compartment. "Everywhere else is full," she added as she opened the compartment door. Grace looked at the hooded figure curiously. The cloak they were wearing seemed awfully familiar.
"Who'd you reckon that is?" Ron asked as he moved behind Grace.
"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione answered. Grace's eyes widened as she whipped her head to look at the figure. So this was the job Remus had told her about! She felt herself grin in excitement.
"You knoweverything!" Ron exclaimed. "How is it she knowseverything?" he continued, turning to Harry and Grace, who shrugged.
"It's on his suitcase," Hermione sighed, pointing to the suitcase that was on the rack above him.
"Here," Harry said as he grabbed Grace's large bag. "Let me-"
"I've got it-" she started but Harry ignored her, and lugged her bag up on the rack. "Thank you," she said softly, her cheeks burning.
"You're welcome," he replied softly, smiling at her.
"Hem-hem," Hermione cleared her throat, causing both Harry and Grace to blink and turn to her. The girl looked at them both, then gave Grace a knowing look. Grace groaned mentally, knowing she was going to have Hermione breathe down her neck that night in their dorm.
"Do you think he's asleep?" Harry asked, turning his attention back to the sleeping figure. Grace leaned to the side, and got really close to Remus.
"Personal space!" Hermione whispered.
"He's asleep," Grace replied, ignoring Hermione as she sat down next to Remus.
"Good," Harry said, "because I've got something to tell you," he added as he closed the compartment door. When he sat down, he then started on what Mr. Weasley had told him at the Leaky Cauldron.
"Sirius Black broke out of Azkaban to come afteryou?" Ron asked, frowning in confusion.
"Oh, Harry, you're going to have to beextracareful! Don't go looking for any trouble-" Hermione started, and Grace snorted.
"I don't go looking for trouble," Harry muttered. "Trouble usually findsme."
"How thick do you think Harry is? Going to go look for someone who wants to kill him? He'd have to be bloody mental," Ron spoke up.
"But they'll catch Black won't they?" Hermione asked nervously as she stroked Crookshanks' back. "They've got everyone looking for him."
"Of course they will," Ron started. "But… no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before… and he's a raving, murderous lunatic…"
"Thanks, Ron," Harry said sarcastically. Before anyone else could say something, there was a faint little whistle coming from somewhere above them.
"What's that noise?" Grace asked, frowning. She stood up and stepped on the edge of the seat to try and find the whistle sound. "It sounds like it's coming from your bag, Harry," she said, holding onto the metal rack tightly. She opened Harry's bag and pulled the whistling object from somewhere in Harry's robes. The object was glowing and spinning fast in Grace's palm.
"Is that asneakscope?" Hermione asked, eyeing it with interest.
"Yeah, mind you, it's a very cheap one," Ron answered. "It went haywire when I was tying it to Errol's leg so I could send it to Harry."
"Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" Hermione asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him.
"No!" Ron glared. "Well, I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journey's but how else was I supposed to get Harry's present to him?!"
"Stick it back in the trunk," Harry said, turning to Grace as the sneakscope started whistling louder, "or it'll wake him up."
Grace nodded as she shuffled through Harry's bag and stuffed the sneakscope in a pair of old, yellowing pair of socks, then stuffed it in the middle of his robes again before closing the bag.
"We can get it checked in Hogsmeade," Ron offered, watching Harry stand to help Grace down. He turned his gaze to Hermione, nodding to the two across from them with a confused face. Hermione shrugged as she tried to hide a smile. "They sell that sort of stuff in Dervish and Bangs," Ron continued as Harry and Grace sat back down. "Fred and George told me about it."
"Do you know much about Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked. "I've read it's the only entirely non-muggle settlement in Britain-"
"Yeah, I think it is," Ron replied nonchalantly with a shrug, "but that's not why I want to go. I just want to get inside Honeydukes!"
"What's that?" Hermione asked.
"It's this sweetshop," Ron began with a dreamy smile on his face, "where they've goteverything!Pepper Imps, they make smoke come from your mouth, and great fat chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream! And really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in class and it makes you look like you're just thinking-"
"But Hogsmeade's a very interesting place, isn't it?" Hermione cut him off, pressing for more information. "InSites of Historical Sorceryit says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the Shrieking Shack's supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain-"
"And they have massive sherbert balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you're sucking on them," Ron continued over Hermione.
"Won't it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked, turning her attention to Harry and Grace.
"'Spect it will," Harry replied dully. "You'll have to tell me when you've found out."
"What d'you mean?!" Ron asked, looking at Harry with wide eyes.
"I can't go. The Dursley's didn't sigh my permission form, and Fudge wouldn't either when I asked."
"Not you too!" Ron exclaimed, looking horrified. Harry frowned in confusion, and wondered if someone else wasn't going to Hogsmeade. "I'm sure if you asked McGonagall or someone, they'll give you permission to go!"
"You should've asked my Mum," Grace muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "She would've signed it for you, no questions."
"This isn't fair!" Ron huffed. "I'm sure we can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle! They'll show you two how to get to Hogsmeade-"
"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "I don't think Harry should be sneaking out of school with Black on the loose-"
"That's exactly why Mum won't let me go," Grace muttered bitterly. Harry turned to her, surprised that she also wasn't allowed to go, and if he was being honest there was a little part of him that was glad she wasn't. He wouldn't be alone on Hogsmeade weekends, and it can just be the two of them.
"But ifwe'rewith you!" Ron started, looking between the two of them. "Black wouldn't dare-"
"Oh come on, Ron, don't talk rubbish," Hermione snapped. "Black's already murdered a whole bunch of people in the middle of a crowded street. Do you really think he's going to worry about attacking Harry just becausewe'rethere?" Grace rolled her eyes at Hermione; Grace never understood Hermione's need to be so negative.
"Oi! Don't let that thing out!" Ron exclaimed, glaring at Hermione, who was fumbling with the straps of Crookshanks' basket. However, Ron's please went on deaf ears as Crookshanks sprung free from his basket and yawned while stretching before jumping onto Ron's knees. "Get out of here!" He shouted, pushing the cat away when he felt Scabbers tremble in his pocket.
"Ron, don't!" Hermione hissed. Ron was about to retort when there was a stir and movement from beside Grace. All four teens turned to look at the sleeping figure with wide eyes. They waited to see if he would make another sound or make any move to wake up, but after another minute of nothing, Grace relaxed. He must've went back to sleep.
Now that there wasn't anything exciting to talk about anymore, Grace stood up from her seat and went to stand on seat to grab her bag, but Harry stopped her. He pulled her bag down for her, and she blushed and muttered thank you before diving into it to grab her book. Once her bag was closed, Harry set it back onto the rack for her. "Thank you," she whispered shyly as they sat back down.
"No problem," he smiled at her before turning his attention back to Ron, and the two began talking about quidditch. Hermione looked at Grace and went to say something, but Grace pulled the arm rest down between her and Remus and moved to face Harry, leaning her back against it. Bringing her feet up on the seat, she opened her book and started reading, completely ignoring Hermione.
It wasn't that she didn't like Hermione, she thought the other girl was fine. They got along alright, but the girl was nosy and had the need to always be right. It drove Grace mad. While Parvati and Lavender were more on the girly side, always giggling and whispering to each other, Grace would much rather spend her time with them than Hermione most days. Grace almost left the compartment all together to go find Neville, but she had a feeling he was probably around Dean and Seamus, or Ernie McMillian or Justin Finch-Fletchley. She'd rather stay where she was at.
"Anything from the trolley dears?" The trolley-lady asked, pulling open the compartment door. Grace perked up at voice and smiled, she was starving.
"Do you want anything?" Harry asked, turning to her.
"Oh, I can-"
"I've got it," Harry cut her off, and her cheeks turned red. "What do you want?"
"Uhm… anything-"
"Grace," Harry gave her a look.
"Pumpkin Pasties, and pumpkin juice…" she whispered. "And a cauldron cake…" Harry smiled as he stood up.
"D'you think we should wake him?" Ron asked awkwardly, nodding to Remus. "He looks like he could do with some food."
Grace frowned as she moved to turn around in her seat toward him. "Re-Er…Professor?" Grace asked softly. "Professor Lupin?" She asked again, but Remus didn't move.
"Don't worry, dear," The trolley-witch said with a smile as she handed Harry a stack of cauldron cakes. "If he's hungry when he wakes, I'll be up front with the driver."
"I suppose heisasleep, right?" Ron asked quietly as he took the cauldron cakes from Harry, and the trolley-witch handed Harry pumpkin pasties and pumpkin juice. When the compartment door closed, Ron continued. "I mean, he hasn'tdiedhas he?"
Grace frowned even more as she leaned in closer to Remus. "Personal space, Grace!" Hermione hissed again, but Grace ignored her.
"No, he's still breathing," Grace whispered as she moved to return to her previous position. She smiled when Harry handed her a pumpkin pastie and pumpkin juice. "Thank you," she whispered and Harry only smiled.
