Hunted AIAOY 3

Chapter 5

"What the fuck?"  

Rebecca and Hermione left their room together, ignoring the curious looks of Harry and Ron and leading the way to breakfast without a hint of anything having happened the day before.  The sentiment, pouring from Rebecca like a gem of inspiration ought have, came with the mail.

"Look at this!"  Rebecca demanded, holding it out to Harry and Ron as Hermione sat silently--she had read it with Rebecca.  "I-I can't believe this!"

"Buckbeak didn't do anything!"  Harry gasped, reading the words of Hagrid's block-like letters around the splotches scarily similar to teardrops.  Scarily similar in that these on the letter were massive and Harry had hoped they weren't tears.  

Within the letter, Hagrid said that he got a summons from the Ministry late last night about what had happened in class.  Draco's father, it seemed, was pushing to have Buckbeak executed.

"We know that."  Ron started, angry.  "Hagrid knows that.  You know why this is happening, we all do."  Ron nodded towards the Slytherin table where Malfoy had been greeted like a wounded warrior.

Pansy Parkinson, another Slytherin, spooned his breakfast out and ran her hand over Draco's bandaged arm.  "Does it hurt terribly?"

"It comes and it goes."  Draco answered.  "I consider myself quite lucky.  Madam Pomfrey said another minute and I could've lost my arm.  I can't possibly do any homework for weeks."

Rebecca looked around their table, needing to show this to Fred and George.  She had no ideas, no solutions.  All she felt was anger on behalf of the creature who had been scared into lashing out because Draco hadn't listened.  But if Fred and George saw it, they could at least be lost together.

"We're going to have to help him then."  Hermione could see the grasping on their faces, all three of them.  "We're going to have to help Hagrid make a case for Buckbeak."

Ron's outrage faded near instantly and he turned back to his oatmeal as he muttered.  "Second bloody week and she's assigning extra homework."

It was instantaneous.  Rebecca and Hermione were suddenly talking with one another.  Sentences were finished by the other, books referenced partially, quotes from things they'd read shared.

Harry was not able to follow.  His eyes wandered around the Great Hall with their nonsensical tangents and ramblings acting as the perfect white noise.  At least Defence Against the Dark Arts was next, Professor Lupin seemed the least likely to be evil and considering their last two, that was a necessary requirement.

The unfortunate part of looking forward to Defence, however, was that a double-block of Potions followed it and he hated that his favourite class had to be sullied with Snape.

Harry was distracted from his distraction as he looked to the end of the table and found someone staring at him--One of the Weasley twins.  Harry had spent plenty enough time with the Weasleys to know one from the other.  And, he had made sure to know how anyway with how much time Rebecca spent with them.

Harry, finding Fred's gaze unwavering, realised he was not staring at him.

Fred was stuck on Rebecca.

Fred was bumped by George who was bumped by Lee who was bumped by another fourth year and caught Harry's eyes for a second before Fred turned his attention to his breakfast and wouldn't look up again.

Harry noticed how red Fred's ears got, but he wasn't sure why.

Why Fred was embarrassed or why he had been staring at Rebecca.

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