UNVEIL | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 2)

[ 30 ]

Just like how Aine and her friends went back in time and saved Sirius Black and Buckbeak, time still marches on after her exciting adventure of time travel. It was the end of the term and year for many Hogwarts students, and after the end-of-year exams finally ending, it was soon the summer holidays. Everything went back to its original place, Aine and her friends resuming lessons, professors go on teaching, well... All except Professor Lupin who was on leave after his transformation until recently.

With Ron recovering from his painful bite given by Sirius, and Hermione, Harry, and Aine taking a few days off from their classes to heal their wounds and exhaustion after saving their favourite Hippogriff and Harry's godfather. Professor Dumbledore assigned them a special leave of absence from their classes and even leniently letting them pass their exams even though they've missed a couple of classes. Ron, of course, was ecstatic since he hadn't been able to study much for his exams. Hermione on the other hand was awfully disappointed since she was expecting poor outcomes, even though she gave her best.

While both Harry and Aine were cool about it, their hearts remained uneasy, now that words have been going around talking about how their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had attempted to harm a student. Not to mention the fact that Professor Snape had alerted the ministry authorities about how a professor managed to slip into the school and teach students, despite being a Werewolf, and not having control over it. Harry and Aine decided to head to Professor Lupin's office after their last class to ask about his health and what was going to happen now that his identity was revealed.

Aine left the class with Ginny, who was constantly there for Aine and her friends when she couldn't make it to class due to her absence. Although, she did leave the part out when she, Harry and Hermione travelled across the time. After all, it was a secret between her and her two friends, alongside their Headmaster.

"Aine," Harry called to her, as he approached the girl coming out of the classroom, his eyes shifted to her friend who held a stiff smile, "Hey, Ginny," he greeted, and the girl gave an awkward wave, "Hello, Harry. Are you alright now?" the ginger-haired girl asks politely and Aine purses her lips while looking elsewhere, trying not to smirk in front of her friends.

"Yeah, I'm fine now, better than Ron actually. But thank you for your concern." The boy replies, feeling the awkwardness between them both now, "Are you... Are you good?" he asks her in return, and Ginny's eyes widened, surprised that he asked about her, "Um... Yes, I'm good. I'm fantastic, actually!"

"You definitely are," Harry nodded, grinning. Then he turns to Aine, "Shall we go now?" he asks her and she looks back to him, "Yeah sure. Although I wouldn't rush you if you want to continue talking with Gin," she smirks at both of them.

"Oh! No! I have to go too!" Ginny blurted, wanting to flee then and there because of her reddening cheeks. She gently pushes her friend forward, before bidding Aine, "See you later at the Gryffindor Dormitory, Aine!"

Aine nods as Harry utters a small 'Goodbye' before they went off to find their Professor. She turns her head back, smirking and wriggling her eyebrows, 'YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE!' she mouths to her friend who gasps, clapping her cheeks and running away, causing Aine to shake her head, giggling to herself.

They walked through the corridors and up to the third floor of the castle, approaching their DADA's classroom. Harry pushed the door open, revealing an empty classroom, completely different from before. There was more light in here now, since the windows were all opened, beaming in with rays and warmness. It was surprisingly tidier, although most of the books and artefacts were still displayed on the shelves around the room.

"Is he not here?" Aine asks, not spotting their professor in their sight.

"He's probably in his office," the boy replies, jerking his head to the room at the end of the classroom. "Right," Aine noted, as they both proceeded up the stairs, only to be greeted by an opened door and a subtle melody from a gramophone. Aine looked around, spotting multiple books stacked on top of each other across the office, and opened trunks, slowly being filled with items.