Dawn Rivera

Snape's Grudge

No one in Gryffindor Tower sleeps tonight. We know that the castle is being searched again, and the whole house stays awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether Black has been caught. Professor McGonagall comes back at dawn, to tell us he has again escaped.

Everywhere we go next day we see signs of tighter security; Professor Flitwick can be seen teaching the front doors to recognise a large picture of Sirius Black; Filch is suddenly bustling up and down the corridors, boarding up everything from tiny cracks in the walls to mouse holes. Sir Cadogan has been sacked. His portrait has been taken to its lonely landing on the seventh floor, and the Fat Lady is back. She has been expertly restored, but is still extremely nervous, and has only agreed to return to her job on condition that she is given extra protection. A bunch of surly security trolls have been hired to guard her. They pace the corridor in a menacing group, talking in grunts and comparing the size of their clubs.

I can't help noticing that the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor remains unguarded and unblocked. It seems that Fred and George were right in thinking they - and now Harry, Danny, Ron, Hermione and me - are the only ones who know about the secret passageway within it.

Ron has become an instant celebrity. For the first time in his life, people are paying more attention to him than to Harry - and now Danny, because of his good looks - and it is clear that Ron is rather enjoying the experience. Though still severely shaken by the night's events, he is happy to tell anyone who asks, what happened, with a wealth of detail.

Harry, Danny and Ron enter through the portrait hole and spot the Hogsmeade notice on the wall. Then they sit down at the table directly in front of ours.

"Well, Filch hasn't done anything about the passage into Honeydukes..." Harry is saying quietly. I reach out and take his hand.

"Harry! Danny!" I say in Harry and Danny's ears before I can stop myself. Harry and Danny start and look around at Hermione and me clearing a space in the wall of books that were hiding us.

"Harry, Danny, if you go into Hogsmeade again...we'll tell Professor McGonagall about that map!" says Hermione.

"Can you hear someone talking, Harry, Danny?" growls Ron, not looking at Hermione and I.

"Ron, how can you let them go with you? After what Sirius Black nearly did to you! We mean it, we'll tell -" I begin.

"So now you're trying to get Harry and Danny expelled!" says Ron furiously. "Haven't you two done enough damage this year?"

Hermione and I open our mouths to respond, but with soft hisses, Crookshanks and Lizzie leap onto our laps. Hermione and I take frightened looks at the look on Ron's face, gather Crookshanks and Lizzie up and hurry away towards the girls' dormitories.

"Dawn! Dawn, please wait!"

It's Harry. I sigh and turn around.

"What do you want? Aren't you busy kissing other girls?"

Harry looks embarrassed. "Sorry about that. It won't happen again. It wasn't my fault. It -"

"You know, Harry, I might have believed you if it was one girl. I might I have believed that you didn't mean it. But then, it wasn't one, was it? Wasn't even two. Three, Harry Potter. You kissed three girls in front of the school, when everyone knows we're dating. Isn't it bad enough that you were eyeing up Cho Chang?"

"Ch-Cho?" Harry stutters. " I don't -"

"Just leave it," I snap. "Let's face it. This just isn't going to work. It never has and it never will."

"But Dawn I -"

"No, Harry," I say firmly. "You're not exactly loyal to this relationship, and my heart's not in it. Not really. I just didn't want to tell you in case I hurt your feelings. Maybe it's better this way. You can go off with Cho Chang and me with Gre- with whoever is right for me. You'll always be my best friend, Harry, but I don't think we're destined for anything more." And with that, I turn and head for he dormitories, Harry not making any attempt to stop me.