ad astra per aspera - {♕ f.w.}

12. Helping A Hippogriff

Christmas at Hogwarts passed without incident - no break ins, no threats on the castle, and very little mention of Sirius Black. The Daily Prophet continued with the usual reports on the convict, but it had been a while since the front page had been splashed with his picture. 

The holidays passed too quickly for your liking. Fourteen days spent on the grounds with snowflakes collecting on your eyelashes, nights by the fire exchanging gifts and eating cookies with your friends were now all blurred together; a fond memory. The castle's decorations - thick streamers of holly and mistletoe, mysterious lights inside every suit of armour and the Great Hall's usual twelve Christmas trees glittering with golden stars - had all been taken down, but the blankets of snow outside would stick around until at least February.

You spent your vacation enjoying your time with your friends, all the while pondering what you'd learned from eavesdropping in Hogsmeade during your last visit. You spent just as much time telling yourself to relax and stop worrying as you did actually worrying. 

It didn't seem like you were the only one. Even though Ron and Hermione opted to stay at the castle instead of going home for Christmas, Harry kept himself locked in his dormitory for most of the time. It was clear that he too hadn't recovered from what he'd overheard in the Three Broomsticks. No one who had also been listening could blame him.

Since Hogsmeade, you'd done your best to not worry about Harry. You suppressed your worries about Lupin as well. Now, more than ever, you had valid reason to be suspicious of the man, but you still couldn't rationalize him being involved. Regardless of how tightly knit they might have been during their school days, anyone would've had to be insane to help Sirius Black hurt Harry.  

In fact, Lupin hadn't seemed up to helping anyone during Christmas. He had frequented the hospital wing more than any other part of the castle. During the feast when you noticed his chair at the staff table was empty, McGonogall informed you he had fallen ill again. 

At this point, you were more curious as to what ailment was constantly affecting him and less interested in his connection to Sirius Black. It seemed less and less important every time you thought about it. Dumbledore trusted Lupin. That was all that mattered. 

Nearly two weeks ago you rang in the New Year in the boisterous Gryffindor common room, receiving your new term timetable the next morning at breakfast. On Christmas Day, when you'd received a hand knit sweater from Mrs. Weasley (albeit a couple sizes too big) and a large package of treats from back home, you felt as though you'd never have another worry in the world. Now, however, not even all the homemade fudge or Zonko's products in the world would ease the workload that the upcoming term would present you with.

Your O.W.L.S. were starting to loom over you. Several of your friends sent letters over the break, complaining about their parents who bombarded them with questions regarding their future ambitions and current grades the second they arrived back home. You suspected avoiding this pestering was exactly why the twins had stayed at school for the holidays.

If anything was bothering you, it was your apparent late entrance into your exam preparation. You'd been certain that students wouldn't start studying until their head of house gave further instructions, but you were wrong. Only two weeks of the new term had passed, yet you often left the library empty handed. Every book you wanted to use to study, someone else had wanted just a little more. The library was frequented by more fifth years than ever before. 

Fifth years weren't the only ones spending copious amounts of time studying. It wasn't uncommon to find Hermione with her nose in a book, but she'd practically done nothing but read since Christmas. You'd seen her with several books unrelated to third year curriculum, but you couldn't for the life of you figure out what she was doing so much research for.