The Lost Potter

When Plans Fall Through

Hermione really shouldn't have been surprised when absolutely nothing went right for her the next day.

First of all, Ron wasn't there to walk with her to breakfast. Assuming he was with Harry in the hospital wing, she headed down there. Nope- Harry had left earlier that morning. Okay, so the boys were still at the dorms maybe? Nope again- and by the time she got there, breakfast was almost over. And when she headed down to breakfast and finally caught the other two, they were already deep in conversation about something else.

In between classes was the same way- not only were they being extremely thick and not listening to her, but she also couldn't get them apart from other people to tell them privately. They barely even spoke to her until they were walking to DADA.

"If Snape's teaching Défense Against the Dark Arts again, I'm skiving off," Ron started, "Check who's in there, Hermione."

Hermione opened her mouth to try and tell them anything but saw the mass of students around them and decided now wasn't the best time. She listened to Ron as peered around the door, declaring "It's okay!" When she saw Lupin back at his desk.

After the lesson, Lupin held Harry behind to tell him something or other. Hermione knew Harry needed to hear this a lot more than Ron did, but still tried to sneak it to Ron while they waited in the hall.

"Ron, we have to sneak out tonight," Hermione started off by saying under her breath. Ron took a double take at her.

"Since when do you want to go around breaking the rules" Ron snapped, obnoxiously loud. At least ten students around them turned to look, and Hermione shushed him.

"It's-" Hermione tried to go on, but the halls were clearing out- it was time for their next class. And for Hermione, her next three classes, "Nevermind, I'll tell you about it later."

As luck would have it, after Hermione time-traveled through her next three classes without the boys by her side entirely, the thought started to slip from her mind. And by the time the night came, Hermione was thinking too much of homework to remember what it was she needed to be doing. That nagging feeling that she'd forgotten something didn't go away until the next morning, when Crookshanks gifted her with something particularly odd.

~

"She told me to meet her tomorrow night at the Quidditch announcer's box, but idk how I'll get there now." Olivia sighed, wincing as she tried to bend her toes.

"I'll go in your place. You're in no condition to go anywhere." Sirius proclaimed, as if that fixed everything.

Olivia rolled her eyes at him, "Sirius, Hermione barely believes you're innocent. The boys don't even know that I'm here! If you show up, you'll get caught before you can say-" Olivia cut herself off. She was originally going to say Azkaban, but the name of the place didn't bode well with either of them, so she left the sentence hanging.

"So what should we do? If no one shows up, imagine what they'll think." Sirius suggested, feeling hopeless once again. One step forward, a million steps back.

"What if I write them a letter? You can deliver it without changing out of animagus form, and they won't even know it's you." Olivia thought of, not even waiting for his confirmation before searching her bedside table for something to write with and on.

"But Harry has seen me, Liv. He's seen both of our animagus forms." Sirius reminded her.

"Then, then," Olivia kept searching while racking her brain for a plan, "Then you can just give it to Crookshanks, he can deliver it to Hermione. I can write that into the letter, help me find something to write with, please."

Once they'd found paper and an old bootle of ink- and using one of Olivia's she'd feathers as a quill- they devised a letter to be given to the trio. It had to explain everything, but it had to be too simple so as to not get them caught if need be.

That next night, with the letter all written, Sirius clamped the paper firmly in his jaws as he momentarily left her alone and embarked for Hogwarts. Sirius found Crookshanks relatively easily, and gave him the letter tone given to Hermione. Crookshanks, with his honour-bound ways, accepted it fully and strolled along to fulfil his duty.

Olivia managed to survive on her own for that time- A true accomplishment with how f**ked up I am- and she and Sirius didn't have much else to do that night, so they both slept through the rest of it with relative unease.

~

Crookshanks woke up Hermione the next morning by dropping something cold and wet on her face- which instantly grossed her out.

"Eugh!" Hermione half-squeaked as she shot up, "Crookshanks, what the hell?"

The cat looked at her with his large eyes occasionally flickering towards the package. Hermione picked up what had been bestowed on her and tried to see what it was.

It was originally paper, she could tell, but had been carried in something wet for a while. Only the outer edges were dry, and Hermione could only guess what the liquid was. She hoped it was water.

The ink that had been written inside it was in no better shape then the paper- it had run all over the place, turning from its dark original state to a paint periwinkle streaked across the paper. The paper almost fell apart as Hermione opened it, and she took extra care to hold on to the dry edges as she unrolled it.

She could only make out the first and last words, with how the paper had been written. And once she read it, her missed responsibility smacked her across the face- I'm such an idiot! How could I manage to forget that, of all things! Even Ron didn't remind me! Hermione's thoughts rambled on and on, the blame not settling in any one spot.

One that splotchy paper, all Hermione could read was:

Hermione, don't worry

And at the end:

Sincerely, Olivia

~~

I'm sorry for all the convient plot devices I have to use to keep this rolling, but I simply couldn't have Olivia explain everything so soon. There's the whole ending to PoA, remember?

Anyway, please leave feedback, and I hope you enjoyed!