Rewrite the past

Chapter 14

Just a few minutes later Hermione, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were leaving the castle. Upon notifying the latter of the circumstances, the old wizard would not let them go alone unaccompanied.

"Where do you suspect he is, Hermione?" asked the woman who had been posing as Hermione's grandmother for quite some years now.

Hermione looked around her trying to come up with an idea. "I know that he used to go to the shrieking shack that had been built for him on the school grounds. Seeing as that surely cannot be the case now, I absolutely have no idea," answered Hermione sounding a bit desperate.

"Well, we'll have to search then, won't we?" remarked Dumbledore and so they started to walk upon the school grounds.

After half an hour of searching with no success Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. "Wait, there is a small lake near the edge of the forbidden forest. He's been there sometimes!" exclaimed Hermione, looking at the two professors.

"I think I know where that place is, Newt used to go there to watch different beasts," answered Dumbledore, sounding as if he'd been there quite often when Newt was a student.

"But sir, didn't he get into trouble then? It's still in the forbidden forest, isn't it?"

"I knew where he was, and he always preferred the company of beasts over people. Here in the forest he found many wondrous creatures, and this is where he started the research for his book. I came here to look for him every once in a while, and he was always inside when he needed to be and thus I saw no need to inform the headmaster," smiled the old grey-haired wizard with a twinkle in his eye.

After a rather short walk they arrived at the lake which was in fact the lake where Harry succeeded in producing his first patronus to save himself and his godfather Sirius from the dementors. Hermione vividly recalled the night they saved Sirius and Buckbeak from a painful death.

"There, do you see that on the other side? That could be him!" Exclaimed Minerva after which they all hurried over to where something lay in the damp sand.

Even from a few metres away they could see that the thing on the ground was indeed a human in very torn clothes. Hermione started to run and was the first to reach him.

As she kneeled down next to him, she saw his many wounds, some of which were still bleeding lightly. Without a single word being spoken, a stretch was conjured out of thin air and the student was magically carried back towards the castle.

~~~~~~~

"Poppy, come quick!" exclaimed Minerva upon entering the infirmary.

Only seconds later a very sleepy Poppy Pomfrey emerged from her office looking as though she had been fast asleep until a few seconds ago.

"What is the meaning of this, Minerva?"

"We found him out on the grounds. He had been missing for more than a day, you need to tend to him quickly. He has been bleeding profusely it seems," explained Professor Dumbledore setting the boy down on a hospital bed next to where they were standing.

"He has most definitely caught himself a cold out there and his bloodloss seems also quite extensive. I will tend to him and you better get back to sleep, especially you, Miss McGonagall," said Poppy Pomfrey, ushering them out of the room with a stern expression.

~~~

Waking up the next day proved to be quite a challenge for Hermione, who had made it to bed at around 3 o' clock in the morning.

"Hey, Hermione, you need to wake up now or you will be late for lessons, which your grandma would definitely not be too amused about," said Meggie, shaking the young brown-haired witch's shoulder to wake her up.

Slowly, she opened her brown eyes and investigated her friend's face. A big part of her inner self was trying to persuade her to go back to sleep but this would definitely endanger her whole cover and so she begrudgingly stood and dressed for the day ahead of her.

On their way to the Great Hall, Hermione found herself to be questioned by the two girls she shared her room with: "What is troubling you? You don't really seem to be you today, Mia!" Exclaimed Florence with a concerned look on her face.

At that, Hermione blushed and hoped she could somehow manage to get out of this situation without drawing too much attention to last night.

"I'm just tired, that's all. I spent too much time looking out onto the school grounds last night. I kind of got lost in my own thoughts and went to bed way to late for my own well-being," explained Hermione, only half-lying to her friends.

Somehow, they seemed to buy it and so the progressed to their usual seats at the Ravenclaw table.

As breakfast, which was filled with idle chatter from Hermione, Florence, Meggie and Severus, who arrived just after them, nears its end, Professor McGonagall walked to their table just as Meggie was asking: "Do you know, where Remus is? I haven't seen him for a while and he was not in classes, if I recall correctly."

Hermione was about to answer when Minerva arrived and said: "I just wanted to tell you that I found out where Remus is currently as you asked about him yesterday, Hermione."

"Where is he? Is he okay? Where did you find him?" Asked Severus who had clearly been concerned.

"He went to Madam Pomfrey because he was feeling very unwell. He seems to have caught himself a heavy cold, but I think he would like to have some visitors when classes are over today," answered the professor before turning to leave again.

"I guess we'll do that then," said Hermione as soon as McGonagall had left their table. She was really glad that the plan she and the head of Gryffindor house made the night before went so smoothly.

A few seconds later the bell rang, signalling that the first lesson would start in just a few minutes, so all of them stood and went to their first lesson for that day.