Memoirs of a Muggleborn Ch 3

                                                                   Chapter 3

My summer holidays were quite enjoyable that year. I went with my parents to France and spent hours a day lying on the beach and wandering through open air markets. Ron sent me letters every once in awhile, I couldn't deny that my heart leapt every time I saw their poor old owl Erol passed out on the window sill of my room. No letters from Harry came, and I was beginning to worry, but then Ron told me about a disastrous phone call that he had attempted to make to Harry and I guessed he was probably just forbidden from sending letters by those ghastly relatives of his. The summer had given me a lot of time to think about the events of the past year as well, mainly about Ron. I was now going on fourteen years old, and I was finally beginning to accept that I had some sort of feelings for Ron Weasley. They weren't the silly shallow crush feelings I had had for Gilderoy Lockhart, but they also weren't as simple as the brotherly feelings I had for Harry. I didn't see Ron as my brother. These feelings were all very new to me and at the time I found them frankly embarrassing, so I tried to put them out of my head as much as possible.

Ron wrote me and told me they were going to Diagon Alley the day before the train was scheduled to leave, and staying the night at the Leaky Cauldron. He asked me if I'd like to come along, after quickly running down and asking my parents if it was alright with them, I wrote him a hasty reply telling him that I would be there. When I met him outside the Leaky Cauldron a few days later, he seemed like he had grown an entire foot, I had to look up into his blue eyes as I said hello. I said goodbye to my parents and then Ron helped me carry my trunk up to my room. We then set off walking through Diagon Alley, he told me all about his summer in Egypt with his family, and all the amazing things they had seen and I told him all about France. I felt slightly shy walking there with him, things were different between us now, at least in my mind they were. I actually had no clue how he felt about me. This was another awkward and uncomfortable fact that I didn't want to think about. Once we had gotten all of our books we decided to have ice cream. Ron told me the whole story that he'd gotten from his Dad about Harry blowing up his Aunt and then running away from home, and ending up in the Leaky Cauldron. I was skeptical, we knew he WAS staying at the Leaky Cauldron because we'd asked Tom the bartender, who had said Harry was out in Diagon Alley for the day but I didn't think he could have blown up his Aunt and not get expelled from Hogwarts for it.

Minutes later, while Ron and I were talking, Harry showed up. We greeted him enthusiastically, and then I confronted him on the blowing up his Aunt story. He told us it was true and I was furious with him but he said it was an accident, and that he didn't mean to. That quelled my temper somewhat, Ron said we were all staying at the leaky Cauldron and I happily confirmed it and went on to show Harry all my new school books. Ron showed Harry his new wand and I felt the color rising slightly in my face so I quickly pretended to be rummaging through one of my bags. Ron's new wand was fourteen inches, and it was made of willow with a unicorn hair, just like my wand. While I knew it was ridiculous to read anything into this I couldn't help but wonder. I sat back up and announced that I still had ten galleons, to change the subject. Ron sarcastically suggested I should by a book, but I thought I might like a nice owl, so I didn't have to use the school ones anymore.

We went to the Magical Menagerie, and Ron decided to have the lady at the counter look at his rat Scabbers. The lady seemed to think there wasn't much to be done for him that he was just old. I felt very bad for Ron, as much as he complained about Scabbers I knew that the rat meant a lot to him. Just then a huge orange cat jumped on Ron's head and tried to get the rat, but Scabbers scampered out of Ron's hands and ran out the door. Ron bolted after him and Harry quickly followed. I turned back to the counter and looked at the large ginger cat that was now purring happily and rubbing up against the lady. She told me he had been there for years because no one seemed to want him, he was a bit rough around the edges, she said. I walked over and put my hand out and the cat rubbed his head into it affectionately and purred. I looked into his squashed face and decided I wanted him. Something I never told anyone was, the reason I decided to buy him was because something about him reminded me of Ron. Not just his ginger colored fur, but his demeanor, rough around the edges, hard for people to understand but truly sweet and wonderful on the inside.

I met the boys outside and Ron, of course, was furious that I had bought the cat. I promised him that Crookshanks and Scabbers wouldn't even be near each other at school, and then we met up with the rest of the Weasley's for a very enjoyable dinner. One of the main topics of conversation seemed to be about Sirius Black, a known murderer and the only person who had ever escaped from Azkaban. I had read about him in the Daily Prophet and it was starting to make people panic that he had not yet been caught. The next day getting to the train station was a bit of a hassle, I expected that was the way it always was with a big family. Once we had gotten our stuff on the train we went out to say goodbye to the Weasley's. Mrs. Weasley gave me a kiss on the cheek as she said goodbye, and I remember I was very touched. No one but my own mother had ever done that. I also noticed that Mr. Weasley had pulled Harry off to the side and was talking to him intently, we all got back on the train and Harry jumped on at the last second, and then joined us in the train corridor. He told us we needed to speak in private and we went to find an empty compartment, the closest thing was a compartment with a man fast asleep in it. We investigated and found he was our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. (Gilderoy had run amuck of his own memory charm and was now in St. Mungos) I was wary of talking in front of a teacher, even a sleeping one, but Ron and Harry seemed to think it was fine. Harry told us that Mr. Weasley had said Sirius Black had escaped to come after him! I horrified a killer that the whole Ministry of Magic and the Muggle police force couldn't catch and he was after my friend. We were all feeling very apprehensive when we got a welcome distraction. Something in Harry's case was making a funny sound, we figured out it was his Sneakscope but we were confused because no one untrustworthy seemed to be around. Ron told him it wasn't a very good Sneakscope, and I asked him to put it away quickly before he woke up the teacher. I took advantage of the distraction to change the subject and began talking about Hogsmeade, now that we were third year students we got to visit the village on special weekends. Harry gave us more bad news when he told us he couldn't go because his horrible Aunt and Uncle refused to sign the paper. I felt really bad for him, and disappointed that he wouldn't be coming along, a tiny part of the back of my mind was slightly excited that Ron and I would get to go to Hogsmeade just the two of us, but I ignored it. We talked for awhile longer about Hogsmeade, and then suddenly the train began to slow down. Ron immediately thought we were at Hogwarts but I knew we hadn't traveled for long enough, he was just asking why else we would stop when all the lights went out. A great amount of shuffling and bumping into each other ensued, along with a lot of confusion. Neville and Ginny somehow found their way into our compartment and in the tussle I ended up squished right up against Ron with all the people now in our compartment. Everyone was talking in confusion when suddenly we heard someone say to be quiet. Professor Lupin was holding a handful of what I knew to be Heatless fire. I looked around the compartment and saw that the person squished on my other side was Neville, and Harry was sitting directly across from me. Ginny was next to him, she her knees pulled up to her chest and she was huddled in the corner. Lupin told us to stay where we were and he made to leave the cabin, before he could even open the door, it was opened from the outside, a towering dark hooded figure entered the compartment. In that next moment two things happened, the first was that the thing took a long deep breath, and it felt like everything good had been sucked out of the world, like happiness no longer existed. The second thing that happened was that as soon as the thing took it's breath, Ron grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard. I squeezed his right back, I was terrified and hopeless and I needed someone to cling to. Suddenly Harry fell to the floor and began to shake like he was having a seizure. Lupin stepped over him and looked at the huge thing, he told it none of us were hiding Sirius Black. When it didn't leave he did a spell that sent some kind of shimmering thing at it, and it turned and left. A few seconds later the lights came on and the train began to move again. Ron quickly dropped my hand and we both made to help Harry, he came to and asked us what happened. We explained it to him, as best we could and Professor Lupin filled in what we couldn't. Harry seemed very upset that he was the only one who fainted; he seemed to take it as a sign of weakness, which I thought was completely preposterous. I move to comfort Ginny who was shaking and crying in her corner, for the rest of the ride to Hogwarts none of us said much. Ron and I made eye contact once or twice, but I knew now was not the time to bring up what had happened when the Dementor showed up.

It turned out that I didn't get a chance to talk with Ron at all. As soon as we got to the castle McGonagall pulled Harry and I away to her office. Everyone had of course heard what had happened to Harry on the train and they were fussing over him, which simply seemed to annoy him more. He finally convinced them that he was fine and they let him leave. Then McGonagall turned her attention to me, she told me that she had reviewed my schedule for the year, and that I was taking two more credits than would be physically possible in one day. I was crestfallen, I didn't want to give anything up I liked them all so much, but then she pulled out a small hour glass on a chain. She said it was called a time turner and it allowed the user to go back in time. Each turn equaled one hour. She said that this was not something that was given to every student but I was a very special exception, and that she trusted me. She explained that I had to keep it a secret and be VERY careful about who saw me when I jumped back in time, because tampering with past events could be devastating. I took the Time Turner and thanked her and when I met Harry in the hall I was grinning from ear to ear.

The first few weeks of the term were a haze for me. It was stressful having to take so many classes and also be careful not to bump into anyone who I might have seen in that hour previously. Not to mention I was keeping the secret from Ron and Harry which was much easier said than done. On top of it all I was now living twenty six hour days which was wreaking havoc on my internal clock and I always felt tired. There were a few interesting moments over those first few weeks. Hagrid had been made the new Care of Magical Creatures professor and I thought his first lesson on Hippogriffs was wonderful until Draco Malfoy decided to show off and got himself slashed by the hippogriff. We were all worried that Hagrid would be fired… but he got off with a warning. Defense Against the Dark Arts was particularly good that year. I remember the first lesson was about Boggarts, which take the shape of whatever you fear most. I was towards the back of the line when we practiced so I watch with amusement all the things my classmates feared. Ron's was of course a giant spider, which made me chuckle slightly. I was surprised because when the Boggart got to Harry Professor Lupin vanished it, and didn't give Harry a chance to fight it. I thought that was rather unfair, did Lupin think Harry couldn't do it? I never got a chance with the Boggart but afterward Ron teased that it would have turned into a paper with a nine out of ten on it. I glared at him but never told him that he wasn't that far off, my worst fear was that McGonagall would some day come and tell me that I simply wasn't good enough to be a witch, and I would have to leave Hogwarts.

The first Hogsmeade visit was on Halloween. I was actually thinking of not going because at the time Ron and I were having a fight. He was annoyed because Crookshanks kept trying to get at Scabbers, and I was annoyed because I felt Ron was somehow making it out to be a personal grudge when it was obviously just the cat's nature. Harry had tried to get McGonagall's permission to come with us, but she had said no. I thought this was probably for the best, with Sirius Black on the loose; I was terribly worried about Harry. Yet my attitude seemed to make Ron even more cross with me. I was sitting in the Common Room the Friday night before Halloween trying to finish up my homework; I had just made up my mind to tell Harry I was going to stay at the castle with him the next day, when Ron came down the stairs. I was the only one left in the Common Room, he and Harry had gone to bed ages ago. He sat down in a chair opposite me and said that he was sorry he had been so grumpy with me over the past few weeks. That he understood that I was worried about Harry, that he was too. Then he asked me if I was still going to Hogsmeade with him, he said he wouldn't go if I didn't because it was no fun by yourself. I told him I'd go with him, and he smiled at me and went back to bed. I got up a few minutes later and retreated to my dormitory with a big grin on my face.

Ron and I returned from Hogsmeade the next day around dusk. It had been a perfect day, we had visited all the amazing shops bought as much candy and joke products as we could hold in our pockets, we even stopped at the Three Broomsticks and got butterbeers from the very pretty bartender named Madam Rosemerta. Ron spent half the time in the bar ogling her, and I had to poke him in the ribs more than once to get his attention. It annoyed me slightly, but I had to admit he probably put up with the same thing last year every time I was near Gilderoy Lockhart. I had been planning to ask Ron about the incident on the train while we were in Hogsmeade but the more I thought about it the more I decided we didn't need to talk about it. Ron was terrified just like I was and he needed someone to cling to, that was all that had happened and I was fine with that. We found Harry in the Common Room and quickly gave him all the sweets and joke products we'd brought him. We told him about our day and he told us that he had tea with Lupin and then added that Professor Snape had brought Lupin a potion which he drank. This alarmed both Ron and I because Snape's outright loathing of Lupin had been apparent since the moment Lupin entered the castle. Ron seemed to think that Snape might have tried to poison him, but I pointed out that if Snape were going to poison him he wouldn't do it in front of Harry. They both agreed and we went downstairs to eat the Halloween feast. When we got back to the Gryffindor portrait after the feast we realized immediately something was wrong. Someone told us that the Fat Lady had been attacked, and we then saw the big slashes through her painting. Filch found her hiding in another painting and she had said it was Sirius Black who had done it. I was beyond terrified, Black was in the castle? I looked at Harry in fear, I wanted so much to protect him, to hide him somewhere he could never be found. Dumbledore ordered us all back to the Great Hall and the other Houses met us soon after. We were given sleeping bags and told we would sleep here for the night. Ron, Harry, and I took ours to the corner and began to talk in hushed whispers about how in the world Black could have gotten in to the castle, I told them he couldn't Apparate or fly in because of the charms on the castle, and with dementors at the gates it seemed impossible. A few minutes later we heard the teacher come in and say there was no sign of Black anywhere. We didn't know what to make of it. I was very unsettled but I decided we should all get some sleep and I told the boys so. I said good night to Harry and then to Ron. Ron held my gaze for a moment and I knew he was as worried about Harry as I was. He said goodnight and I rolled over to go to sleep, but I was acutely aware of him next to me all throughout the night.

The next day things seemed to be back to normal except for the crazy rumors that were flying around about how in the world Sirius Black could have gotten into the school. I was also very worried about that exact thing but I put it to the back of my mind. My work load was getting out of control and I was frantic, I had never had this much stress in my life, and I was barely getting to spend anytime with my friends. All my stress culminated one day when we walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts and saw that Professor Snape was standing at the front of the room instead of Lupin. He told us to open to a page that was several chapters ahead of where we were, I tried to correct him and he was very rude to me. Therefore when he started asking questions about werewolves I decided to throw it in his face by showing him I'd read up on them already. He ignored my hand when he asked questions, and mocked our class for not knowing the material. Finally I stopped waiting to be called upon and just answered his question. I thought I had done a good job of putting him in his place when he turned and called me a know-it-all. I felt tears coming to my eyes as I sat down. It wasn't as if this was a new insult people called me a know-it-all, everyday and mostly it didn't bother me because it was true, but that day, to hear it from a teacher was just too much. Suddenly Ron stood up next to me, and shouted at Snape that if he didn't want to hear the answers to his questions he shouldn't ask them. I was completely floored, not only was I shocked that Ron would talk to Snape that way, but Ron called me a know-it-all at least every other day. Snape gave him detention and viciously told him that he'd better not ever criticize his teaching again or it would be the last thing he did. As Ron sat down I silently mouthed his name in a questioning manner, he gave me a grim smile and shook his head, and he mouthed back 'it's ok', and we went back to the lesson.

A few days later Ron and I were making our way down to the Quidditch pitch to watch Harry's game. It was a horrible day, the rain was coming down in sheets and we could barely see, but it would have taken a lot more than rain to keep us from supporting Harry. We found seats and soon Neville and Ginny joined us. The game began and it was intense, I felt bad for the poor players, I knew as cold, wet and miserable as I was in the stands it was nothing compared to what they were feeling. About twenty minutes in Wood called a time out. Harry was having an awful time because he could see nothing with the rain on his glasses. I suddenly had an idea and I squeezed past Ginny and Neville and ran down the stairs to the field. I put a repelling charm on Harry's glasses so the water would stay off them. The whole team looked at me like I was some sort of divine goddess and on my way back up to the stands I rolled my eyes at how seriously they all took Quidditch. The game continued and after a few more minutes both Harry and the Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric Diggory saw the Snitch. It was headed straight up and they both shot sky high after it, they rose until they were only little dots in the sky. Suddenly everything went cold, I looked down and to my horror I saw hundreds of dementors entering the stadium. Ginny gasped and clung to my arm, and I instinctively moved closer to Ron, and away form the oncoming dementors. I was confused, what were they doing here? They were supposed to be at the gates. As the waves of despair and hopelessness washed over us suddenly Ginny let out a blood curdling scream and pointed upwards, I looked up and froze in terror. Harry had fainted and fallen off his broom and he was now plummeting hundreds of feet towards the ground. Quick as a flash Dumbledore stood and sent a spell at the Dementors that caused them to retreat and another at Harry which caused him to slow down, but he still hit the ground with a sickening thud. Dumbledore created a stretcher and took Harry up to the school immediately. Ginny was beside herself sobbing she kept saying that he had died. I reassured her that Dumbledore didn't let that happen, but when I looked up and met Ron's eyes I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. We weren't sure if Dumbledore had gotten there in time.

Ron and I ran up to the hospital wing as fast as we could and moments later the whole Quidditch team joined us. Madam Pomfrey informed us that she had healed all of Harry's broken bones, he had eight, and he was perfectly fine and should wake up at any moment. I began to sob almost as much out of relief as worry, Ron put an encouraging hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. I remember seeing out of the corner of my eye that his twin brothers both raised their eyebrows at this and smirked at him. I didn't see his reaction, but he quickly took his hand away. A moment later Professor Flitwick walked in looking very grave and set a bag next to us with what looked like a pile of sticks in it. He explained that Harry's broom had flown into the Whomping Willow, a tree notorious for demolishing anything or anyone who got near it. A few moments later Harry woke up and we had to break the bad news to him that not only had he fainted again in the presence of dementors, but Gryffindor had lost the match, and his broom was destroyed. By the end of the conversation he looked positively morose. We stayed with him all weekend but nothing we did seemed to make him feel any better.

The next Hogsmeade visit was scheduled for right before Christmas. I was excited to go buy Christmas presents. The day of the trip dawned dark and snowy. Ron and I walked down the hill together in the blizzard, we talked about our Christmas holidays and what we wanted to buy for our families, it was very pleasant, we went into the sweet shop which was completely packed we walked around for awhile looking at things. Ron was just jokingly asking me if Harry would want some Cockroach clusters, when Harry himself appeared behind us. We of course wanted to know how in the world he got there, and he showed us the Marauders Map. Apparently Fred and George had given it to him, and it showed all of Hogwarts and everyone who was in it, as well as all the secret passages out. I was very alarmed by this and told him he needed to hand it in, because Sirius Black could be using one of those passages to get in! Harry told me no one knew about the passages but I was unconvinced. Then Ron pointed out that all the passages into the castle originated in Hogsmeade and that dementors were patrolling the streets every night, so it was doubtful Sirius Black was sneaking past them. I had to admit he had a point so I dropped the subject and we decided show Harry around Hogsmeade. We had just taken him into the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer, when a group of teachers came in. Ron and I both reacted quickly and we pushed Harry under the table butterbeer and all. Ron and I exchanged a quick look; we knew that if the teachers saw us they would undoubtedly come over. So I quickly levitated the Christmas tree in front of our table. What we heard on the other side of that tree I will never forget, the teachers were talking with Cornelius Fudge about Sirius Black. They began to tell his story and we found out that he had been friends with Harry's father in school. That he had been best man in his wedding, and he had been Harry's godfather, but the worst was yet to come. They talked about the death of Harry's parents, apparently they had trusted Black to be their Secret Keeper when they knew they were being hunted by Lord Voldemort, and he betrayed them. My hands flew to my mouth when I heard this and I looked at Ron, he had a grim and pained look on his face. We both felt Harry trembling with rage beneath us. The teachers went on to say that Peter Pettigrew, another friend of Harry's father from school hunted Black down for vengeance but Black was the better wizard, so he annihilated Pettigrew leaving nothing but a finger. He took out twenty Muggles as well and when the Ministry finally arrived he was standing there laughing. A few moments later the teachers left and Ron and I looked careful under the table at Harry. I tried to ask him if he was ok, but I didn't even know how to begin. He didn't talk to us he simply shoved himself out from under the table with such force that it knocked over our butterbeers and stormed out the door. I looked at Ron in distress and asked what we should do. He said he thought we'd better head back to the castle, so we walked side by side in silence back up the road.

The next day the Christmas Holidays began. I got up early because I had a hard time sleeping and went to the Common Room. Ron joined me a few minutes later, and he sat down opposite me and began eating some of the candy that he had gotten from Honeydukes. I began work on my homework and we sat there in silence for awhile, but my mind would not settle, finally I put down my quill and looked up at Ron. I told him we needed to talk and he said ok, but I noticed that there was a nervous hesitance in his voice. I asked him what he thought Harry was going to do about what we heard the day before. He seemed to let out a sigh of relief and I thought I heard him mutter, 'about Harry…right...' and I wondered what else he might have thought we needed to talk about, but I continued. I told him my fear that Harry was going to try and find Black himself, and he admitted that he was worried about the same thing. We both agreed that we had to try and show him why that was so crazy. When Harry came down a little while later our fears were confirmed, we tried our best to dissuade him, but I got the feeling we didn't do much good. Ron tried to distract him with talk of a trip to Hagrid's, but Harry simply said that would give him a chance to ream Hagrid out. Hagrid had been one of the teachers in the bar. I wasn't so sure this was a good idea but when we got to Hagrid's everything changed, he was an awful mess. Apparently Draco Malfoy's father had ordered that his Hippogriff be put to death and he had a court date to defend it. He asked us to help him look up facts for the case and we said yes right away. We began to go to the library each day, but we didn't find much. On Christmas morning the boys came running downstairs extremely excited about an anonymous gift Harry had gotten, it was a Firebolt, apparently it was the best broom there was. They seemed to think it was from some well wisher of Harry's that wanted to remain anonymous but I had a feeling it could be a trap sent by Sirius Black. They both scoffed at the idea and I was annoyed because I thought their love of the broom was clouding their judgment. Things only got worse when Crookshanks went after Scabbers again, and Ron tried to kick him. By the time we went to Christmas dinner Ron and I were so annoyed with each other we were barely speaking. After the meal I hung back, I had been going over something in my head the whole meal and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I thought maybe I should tell McGonagall about the Firebolt, on the one hand I knew Ron and Harry would be furious with me, but on the other I was terribly worried about Harry's safety and if he was hurt just because I didn't want to make him and Ron angry I would never forgive myself. I finally decided to tell her and she came with me back to the Common Room and informed the boys she was confiscating the broom and they would strip it of all magic to make sure it was safe. Both Ron and Harry looked at me with such utter loathing that I felt myself whither under their gaze, and then they turn and left without another word.

The next few weeks were awful for me. Neither of them spoke a word to me so I holed up in the library working on all my homework and also on research for Hagrid. Finally after I felt like things might never be put right again, McGonagall returned the broom to Harry saying it was perfectly fine and after a smattering of I-told-you-so's both boys forgave me. Things seemed like they were back to normal, but then it all went wrong, Ron went up to his dormitory and found blood on his sheets and his rat was missing. He also found some ginger hairs and came back downstairs screaming at me that my cat had eaten his rat. I yelled back at him that there was no proof Crookshanks had done it, the hairs could have been left from when he had been up there at Christmas. From that point on anything that might have been brewing between me and Ron Weasley was over, I wouldn't speak to him and he seemed perfectly fine with that. Even Harry seemed to be taking his side in blaming my cat. I was holed up in the library more than ever, and I was crying as much as I was working. Here I had for the first time in my life found a boy that maybe I could actually feel something for and now it was completely messed up beyond repair. I spent a lot of time with Hagrid over those weeks. He was my one source of comfort. Harry was still talking to me some which I was happy about. Then one night there was a horrible commotion apparently Sirius Black has broken into the boys dormitory and was standing over Ron's bed with a knife. I was so scared for him that I didn't know what to do, I ran down to Hagrid's cabin the next day and just poured out everything to him, my stress about school, the fight we were having, and even that I thought I might be beginning to have feelings for Ron. Hagrid gave me a big hug and assured me that he was going to have a talk with Ron and Harry.

Whether Hagrid had that talk I never found out, but Ron's attitude didn't change much. A few weeks later I got a letter from Hagrid saying Buckbeak had been found guilty. He had an appeal but he didn't sound very hopeful, I was so upset that I threw my pride to the side and ran to find Ron and Harry. Ron gave some snippy remark when he saw me but when he read the letter his whole demeanor changed. He told me that we would win the appeal because he and Harry would be helping me, and he gave me that determined and encouraging look that I had missed so much. I was overcome and before I knew what I was doing I threw my arms around his neck and sobbed telling him that I was sorry. I felt him patted my head slightly and I quickly pulled away. He looked rather red faced and I was blushing slightly too. We had to wait until Care of Magical Creatures to talk to Hagrid. He was completely beside himself, he kept saying it was his fault, and that we would never win the appeal. As we tried to comfort him we saw Draco Malfoy laughing and mocking him. I was so filled with rage that I ran towards him, Ron and Harry were right behind me but I got there first. I hit Malfoy across the face with all the strength I could muster. Ron tried to stop me but I brushed him off and reached for my wand. Malfoy retreated quickly with his friends but I was still fuming. After a few more seconds I began to clam down. I looked at my two best friends who were still staring at me in wonder, Ron said my name slowly as if he was still trying to process that it was me who had just done that. He added that we were due in Charms and we began to walk back up the hill, but Ron was still staring at me almost like he had never seen me before, I felt myself blush.

I ditched the boys on the second floor with the excuse that I had to go to the bathroom, and I ran up to the dormitory where I usually did my time turning, unfortunately I was so exhausted from my week that the minute I sat down at my usual table I fell asleep. Ron and Harry woke me after Charms asking why I hadn't been there. I was mortified, and said I had to apologize to Flitwick. Ron commented that he thought I was taking on too much at once, and I snapped at him that I wasn't. I felt bad for being short with him, especially since I knew he was right. Divination that day was a disaster, I was already having a bad day and I found Divination to be the most pointless subject imaginable, also I was fairly convinced that our batty old professor was an errant fraud. After she had tried to predict Harry's death once again as she did every class period I had finally had enough and I called her bluff. She told me I didn't posses the proper skills for Divination, and that did it I yelled at her that I was leaving and I stormed out the door slamming it hard behind me. I had to admit I felt very satisfied as I walked back down to the dormitory.

The next month passed in a haze. We began studying for our finals and I could not remember a time when I had been that frantic I swore to myself I would never take on this much again not even I could handle this much school. In the end finals turned out not to be as bad as I had thought. The night after the last day of exams we got a letter from Hagrid saying that he had lost the appeal, and Buckbeak was sentenced to death. We all knew that we needed to be there for him, but Ron pointed out that it was near dusk and we weren't allowed to be out, and without Harry's Invisibility Cloak, which he had been forced to leave in the tunnel after his last visit to Hogsmeade, there was no way we could sneak out. I asked Harry about the wear abouts of the tunnel entrance and then set off out the portrait hole. As I was leaving I heard Ron ask in disbelief if I was really going to get it, and I couldn't contain a smile. I returned with the cloak about ten minutes later, and Ron looked at me with admiration. He said he didn't know what had gotten into me lately, but the way he said it told me that was a very good thing. We made our way down to Hagrid's and he was miserable he told us we shouldn't have come but it couldn't have been more apparent how much he needed us there. We sat with him for as long as we could. I began to make tea, all the while crying steadily. I couldn't believe they would do this to Hagrid. I went to get the milk and a jumped and screamed, they all looked at me and I proceeded to dump a frantic Scabbers out onto the table. Ron picked him up quickly and held him close like an old friend. He looked at me with a guilty face but before he had time to speak we heard people coming down the path. We saw Dumbledore and the Minister and a grisly looking executioner. Hagrid pushed us towards the back door but we didn't want to go we wanted to stay to be there for him but he wouldn't have it. We made our way quickly up the hill, I wanted to be in the castle before it happened, but Ron kept stopping because he couldn't keep hold of Scabbers who was squirming and squeaking widely. Suddenly I heard the swish and thump of the ax, my knees went weak and I remember gasping that they couldn't have really done it. Then I fell against Ron's chest sobbing, and for the first time he responded and put his arms around me. Even in my anguish I remember thinking how wonderful he smelled, he smelled soft and fresh but also like pine needles and the woods. A moment later we heard Hagrid's anguished cry, and Harry made to run back down the hill. Ron let me go and we both grabbed Harry and held him back we told him there was nothing he could do and pulled him back towards the castle. We walked towards the grounds and by the time we got there it was dark. Suddenly Ron cried out that Scabbers had bit him and dove out from under the Cloak after him. Harry and I raced after Ron calling for him to come back.

Ron finally got hold of Scabbers again but then suddenly out of no where a huge black dog attacked us. At first I thought it was going for Harry because it had jumped on him, but when he hit the ground it leapt past him and grabbed Ron by the arm and began dragging him away. I didn't even think I bolted after the dog, suddenly something slashed across my face in the darkness and I cried out in pain. Suddenly Harry lit his wand, the sight that met me was awful, the dog was pulling Ron through a hole in the base of the Whomping Willow and he was yelling for us to help him, but the tree was flailing at us wildly and there was no way to get through. Ron was doing his best to get away, he hooked his leg around a the roots of the tree, but moments later we heard the horrible sound of his leg snapping, and him being drug away. I was too horrified to think of what that dog might be doing to him. I gasped to Harry that we had to get help. He said we couldn't leave Ron, and I didn't want to either, but I felt like every moment we stood here something worse could be happening to him. I was just beginning to break down in panic when who should show up, but Crookshanks. He ran right through the branches in the agile way only cats can and pressed a knot on the tree with his paws that froze it. I wondered aloud how he could have known to do it, but Harry informed me that he'd seen him paling around with the dog. I didn't want to believe my cat would do such a thing, but at the moment my only priority was getting to Ron. Harry and I dove down the hole that the dog had drug Ron into and found ourselves standing in a tunnel. We walked down the tunnel as quickly as possible, when we got to the end and exited I knew where we were immediately even though I had never been there, we were in the Shrieking Shack. We made our way up the stairs and found Ron in room at the end of the hall. We ran to him immediately, he seemed none the worse for wear, except for his leg. He gasped to us that the dog was an Animagus, and I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Sure enough we turned around to face none other than Sirius Black. Harry of course started screaming at him and Ron and I had to hold him back from attacking him with his bare hands, I was so scared I couldn't move. I begged Harry to be quiet. I couldn't watch Harry die in front of my eyes… I couldn't bear it. Suddenly Harry wrenched out of our grip and tackled Black to the floor, I couldn't help but scream, I was so sure he would be killed. I did the only thing I could think to do since Black disarmed us, I ran to where they were tussling on the floor and kicked Black in the face with all the force I could muster. Ron threw himself on his wand. Harry got his wand back and told us to get out of the way. Ron flopped on the bed and moaned in pain, I quickly joined him and he handed me his wand. Harry pointed his wand at the now defenseless Black and accused him of murdering his parents. Black agreed with him, and Harry raised his wand. I sat horrified unable to think, I could not be about to watch my dearest friend commit murder. Suddenly there was a noise from downstairs and I screamed desperately to whoever it was. It ended up being Lupin, for a second I thought we were saved, but then he took Harry's wand from him, and both my and Ron's wands from me. He then went and embraced Black like a brother. I was boiling with rage, I had been protecting him because I thought he was good. I screamed at him, I told him I knew his secret, I knew he was a werewolf. I told him I'd protected him, and all the while he'd been helping Black, I had never hated anyone as much as I hated Remus Lupin in that moment. He simply told us that he was not helping Sirius Black. None of us believed him so he began his explanation. He told us that he had believed, like us, that Black was guilty. He explained to us that he saw someone on the Marauders map, which he had confiscated from Harry when he'd caught him with it a few weeks earlier. The person on the Map was Peter Pettigrew, who was dead. I told him the Map was wrong, but he said the map was never wrong. Harry asked him how he knew, and he said he'd written it. He then told us he'd followed us because he'd seen both Peter and Sirius come with us through the Whomping Willow tunnel. We were completely confused, Peter Pettigrew was not with us. Lupin said that Scabbers was really Peter, we all thought he was absolutely insane, but he begged us to let him explain. Sirius seemed hell bent on killing the rat, but Lupin got him to calm down, he said Harry deserved and explanation. I was completely confused, but I figured if it would buy us time, I would listen to anything they had to say. He said that Peter had faked his own death and turned it a rat, putting the blame on Sirius. I pointed out that if Peter Pettigrew were an Animagus he would have to be registered, so that didn't make sense, yet even as I was saying it a realized something. Sirius Black was obviously and Animagus, and no one knew about him. Lupin explained to me that Sirius, Peter and Harry's father James had all learned how to be Animagus's while at Hogwarts, so that they could be with him once a month when he turned into a werewolf, because werewolves don't hurt animals, only humans. They had never told anyone about their secret power. Suddenly things were starting to make a lot of sense. Harry spat that all of this didn't prove anything, and Sirius made to begin his part of the story but just then, Professor Snape walked in. I was so relieved, we were saved, then Snape told Lupin he was giving him to the dementors with Black, I felt bad for him but I wasn't one hundred percent sure he was innocent either. I asked Professor Snape if we could just hear them out first and he began to scream at me, this of course set Harry of who began to scream at Snape. Things were deteriorating quickly Snape was threatening Harry and I saw him reaching for his wand. I quickly sent the disarming spell at him but unfortunately I wasn't the only one. Both Harry and Ron did the exact same thing and the combined force slammed Snape into the wall and knocked him unconscious. I was beside myself, I had attacked a teacher, I knew I would be expelled for this. I sat on the bed and rocked back and forth in shock and fear. Harry released the men and let them continue their story. Sirius explained that he had been the Secret Keeper for his parents, but at the last minute he asked them to switch to Peter secretly for their own protection. Peter had betrayed them, Sirius was the one who chased him down, and then Peter framed Sirius and turned into a rat. I had to admit the story was plausible, and it made quite a few things make sense, but there was only one way to know for sure. Ron didn't want them to hurt Scabbers but Lupin assured him that if he was really a rat the spell would do nothing. Sirius and Lupin did the spell and to my utter amazement Scabbers turned into an ugly mangy little man, who had very rat like features. The little man begged and pleaded with each of us, but now we knew the truth. Lupin and Sirius stood over him read to kill him, I closed my eyes and cover my ears, I couldn't watch, but Harry stopped them. He said his Dad wouldn't have wanted his best friends to become killers, so they should arrest Peter and give him to the dementors. That also meant that Sirius would finally be free, I was very proud of Harry for making that choice.

As we walked along the tunnel Harry and Sirius spoke. Sirius asked him if he would like to live with him once he was cleared, since he was his godfather. Harry was stunned but then said enthusiastically that he would love to. I was very happy for him, I wanted more than anything for Harry to have a proper family. We emerged from the Whomping Willow tunnel and immediately I knew something was wrong. Ron and Lupin had each handcuffed one of Pettigrew's arms to them so he couldn't get away, when we got out of the tunnel Professor Lupin was standing rigid in the moonlight and the other two were looking at him in fear. Suddenly I realized what was going on Lupin hadn't take the Potion that controlled his transformation. I gasped this to Sirius and Harry and Sirius told us to run, that he would take care of it, but I couldn't move, Ron was chained to him, and I wasn't leaving until he was safe. I stood watching in horror as Sirius turned into a huge dog and attacked the werewolf. The werewolf had broken the chain that connected him to the other two and I screamed as Pettigrew dove for Lupin's discarded wand toppling Ron to the ground. There was a loud bang and then Ron was lying motionless on the ground. Harry quickly disarmed Peter but he turned into a rat and ran away. Sirius charged after him, and we ran to Ron. Relief coursed through me as I saw he was alive we were just discussing what to do, when we heard a yelp, after a moments indecision Harry ran down the hill after Sirius, I looked once more at Ron and then forced myself to do the same. As we ran towards him I felt the cold increasing and I knew what was coming. We found Sirius but the dementors were already closing in. Harry gasped the Patronus charm and told me to do the same, I tried but nothing came. He told me to think of something happy but I couldn't, I was drowning in sorrow and ice. Everything was going black, I would never see my parents again…. Harry was dying… I would never see Ron's smile again… then I was gone.

I awoke in the hospital wing. I heard Snape outside the door with the Minister, he was telling him what had happened in the Shrieking Shack, I was immensely grateful that he seemed to think we were confounded but I was still terrified. They had Sirius and they thought he was guilty! Harry opened his eye next to me, he looked over at me and I pressed my finer to his lips for him to be quiet. Just then Madam Pomfrey came in and saw we were awake. Both Harry and I immediately asked about Ron, who was lying in a bed a little ways down from ours. She said he would live, and I felt a tiny portion of the weight lift from my stomach. Harry jumped out of bed to run and find Dumbledore and tell him the truth, Madam Pomfrey assured us that Black had been caught and the Dementors were going to suck his soul out any minute. She had meant this to be reassuring but it made us even more frantic, we ran into the hall and tried to get the Minister to listen to us, but Snape just kept saying we were confounded, and then Madam Pomfrey shooed us back into the hospital wing. We were just losing all hope when Dumbledore came in. We quickly explained to him the story, and to my overwhelming relief he believed us. Unfortunately he went on to say that no one else would and we had no hard proof. I was in despair, we couldn't let a innocent man endure such a horrible fate. He looked at me very intently as he said, that the only thing that would save Sirius was more time. I was completely confused for a second, then I remembered the tiny hour glass around my neck, and I gasped in realization. Dumbledore quickly gave me instruction, he told me where Sirius was being held, he told me to go back three turns (three hours), and that we couldn't be seen. I grabbed Harry and threw the time turner over his neck. I turned it three times and we appeared in the Entrance Hall at seven o'clock. I immediately realized we were going to be coming down the stairs any minute so I pulled harry in to cupboard, and explained everything. It took a moment for it all to sink in, but then when we heard ourselves on the other side of the cupboard door he finally accepted it. I was confused as to what we were supposed to do, but within a few minutes Harry had it figured out. Sirius was going to be held on the third floor, Dumbledore wanted us to save Buckbeak the hippogriff and fly him up there at ten. I was glad to know what we needed to do but also completely unsure of how to do it. We ran down the hill being extra careful to stay out of our own line of sight, and waited outside Hagrid's hut, we realized that we couldn't steal Buckbeak before the Minister saw him or they would suspect Hagrid. This gave us very little time indeed; we had just barely gotten the hippogriff into the woods when they exited the cabin to come execute it. We saw the swish and thunk of the axe as the executioner slammed in into the fence in frustration. Hagrid howled but it was in happiness, not in anguish as we had previously thought. Harry asked what we were supposed to do now, and I told him we had to wait. We went through the forest to a spot where we could see the Whomping Willow and we waited. Soon enough we saw ourselves get to the tree, Harry wanted to go get Scabbers right then but I had to remind him that we couldn't be seen, if we messed with time it could have devastating consequences. I winced as I heard Ron's leg break for the second time that night. Then we were in the tree and there was nothing for Harry and I to do but wait, we saw Lupin and then Snape go in a few moments later. We sat there in silence for awhile and then I decided to ask Harry something that was on my mind. I asked him how we had gotten away from the dementors, he said someone had shot a Patronus at the last moment. I asked if he saw who it was, and he paused. After a long silence, he quietly said he thought it had been his Dad. I wasn't sure what to say, I gently reminded him that his Dad was dead. He quickly said he knew that. I asked him if it was a ghost and he said it looked real. I wasn't quite sure what to say to that, but he turned away from me towards Buckbeak, and was quiet. I looked back at the tree and let myself be lost in my own thoughts, I thought about Ron, about the moment he had held me, about the moment I thought he might be dead. I didn't know how in the world someone could mean so much to me, but at the same time I was still confused. I didn't feel about Ron the way that I thought I was supposed to. I couldn't picture Ron as my boyfriend, at least not what I thought a boyfriend was supposed to be, and there was something else that bothered me even more. What if he didn't feel anything for me? He had never really shown any signs of having feelings for me that were anything more than friendship, maybe I was just reading too much into everything. Just then we all emerged from the tree again. Harry suddenly grabbed me and said we needed to move, he had realized that Lupin was now a werewolf and was running right toward us. We tore through the forest as fast as we could, and we ran into Hagrid's cabin for safety because it was deserted. My heart was pounding and I was terrified. Harry said he wanted to go outside to check on things, but I was suspicious, this was about the time he thought he saw his father. I let him go but after a few minutes had passed I followed him. Sure enough I found him standing on the other side of the lake from where are bodies were lying. I breathlessly asked him what he had done; he told me that he had conjured the Patronus. I asked if anyone had seen him, and he explained that he had seen himself, that's why he thought it was his dad. I was relieved to have that explained but we had very little time left, we climbed on Buckbeak and flew up to where Sirius was being held captive. To say that I didn't like the ride on the hippogriff would be an understatement, but we freed Sirius and then landed on the grounds. Sirius was apologizing to Harry for everything and hugging him but we urged him to go, we didn't want him to be caught. He gave us one last smile and flew off into the night. Harry and I had to race to make it back to the hospital wing in time, but we did. Snape of course was furious that Black had escaped, and he tried to convince everyone that Harry had helped him but there was of course no proof.

All three of us got out of the hospital wing the next day. There was of course a lot of murmuring about the incident with Sirius Black, and many fantastic stories were flying around. We also found out that Snape had let it slip that Lupin was a werewolf so he was leaving. We were all livid and Harry went to see him, he told us later that Lupin seemed fine. He hadn't planned on teaching at Hogwarts long term anyway. We got on the Hogwarts Express a few days later and headed home, about halfway through the ride Harry got a wonderful surprise. An adorable little owl fluttered into our compartment, and dropped a letter in Harry's lap. Sirius had signed his permission slip for Hogsmeade, and we all knew that Dumbledore would accept Sirius's position as Harry's godfather. There was also a note attached saying that Ron could have the owl since Sirius technically deprived Ron of his rat. Ron was overjoyed, and I grinned when he held the little owl out to Crookshanks to sniff. When Crookshanks pronounced him acceptable Ron said he was keeping him, and he shot a wink in my direction. I felt myself blush. We got off at King's Cross and Ron mentioned to Harry that he should come stay with him for the Quidditch World Cup later that summer. Harry smiled at him and then went to meet his Aunt and Uncle. We watched him, and in a stroke of brilliance Harry happened to let it slip to them that he had a mass murderer for a godfather who was corresponding with him to see how he was doing. Ron and I laughed at the looks of horror that crossed their faces, and I felt immensely relieved knowing Harry would be treated much better this summer. When my parents pulled up I ran over and hopped in the car but as I went to shut the door Ron was there. He leaned down and asked me if I was going to come stay with him for the World Cup, I explained to my parents what it was, and they said they didn't see why I couldn't go. Ron smiled and said goodbye to me, then he shut the car door. My Mum turned and asked me who the boy was, I smiled at her and said he was my friend Ron Weasley.