Because You Love Me

48. What Lies Within

 "It's a bit strange, isn't it?" Hermione said once they arrived at the staircases.

"Strange?" Harry echoed.

She stopped and whirled around. "You hear this voice, a voice only you can hear, and then Mrs. Norris turns up petrified. It's just...strange."

"Do you think I should have told them? Dumbledore and the others, I mean?"

Ron's eyes widened. "Are you mad?"

"No, Harry," Hermione stated. "Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign." She turned and continued up the staircases.

When they got into the Common Room, Harry didn't go up to his dormitory like Hermione and Ron did to turn in. He wandered over to the couch in front of the roaring fire. He knew Hermione was right. It was extremely strange, but he didn't know what it meant. Was it his fault that he could hear the voice and no one else could? Maybe he was certifiable. That seemed to be the only explanation and the one everyone was thinking. He slumped down into the couch and stared at the flames before him. It was the start of another eventful year and it was just October.

~ * ~

Alaina walked briskly to her office and dashed inside. Severus had whispered in her ear that he would be up there waiting for her. Sure enough, he was pacing back and forth when she arrived. He stopped when he heard her come in.

Severus cleared his throat. "I talked to Albus before coming up here. He said that I'll have to start patrolling the halls like last year."

Alaina ignored his statement. She walked up to him and stopped only inches away. "What in the world was that?"

He stared at her innocently. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Do you think he did it, Severus? Do you think Harry petrified that cat?"

"Oh, that. Of course not. I wasn't accusing him."

"It sure sounded like it."

"I wasn't. There's something going on though, more than what they told us. Did you see the looks they gave one another?"

Alaina nodded. "I did. I have to admit that made them look a little guilty. But I know Harry. I've known him all my life. He would never do anything like this."

"I know," Severus said quietly. "I was just trying to shake him down a little. I was hoping he might slip up and say something about whatever it was he didn't tell us."

She bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry I went off on you just now. I'm just- I'm scared. The elf warned him not to come here this year."

He frowned thoughtfully. "Do you think he knows what's going on?"

"I'm positive. I wish there was some way that I could contact him. I'd get it out of him somehow."

Severus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Alaina fell with a dull thud against his chest. "Everything is going to turn out alright. You're not going to let anything happen to Harry and neither am I."

Alaina breathed heavily against him. "I just want him to be okay. I just want him to be able to be safe."

"He's safe with us working together. I promise you that."

She smiled, glancing lovingly up at him. "I hope you're right."

~ * ~

The next day Harry, Ron, and Hermione had Transfiguration. They walked to the classroom, chatting and laughing as always. They didn't realize that they were being followed. Alaina didn't get too close, but she made sure they went in the door and then she went back to her own classroom. She planned to do it the entire day off and on. When she was unable to, Severus planned on following them. It was a way for her to put her mind at ease and that was the only reason he had agreed to it in the first place.