I thought I knew my ending - Year 1 and 2

Chapter 21 - The Patronus (part 1)

I stayed in the shower for an hour to wash off the blood and everything that happened since I went into forest. When I crawled into bed afterwards, Evelyne joined me. She grinned and whispered, 'These beds are way too small for this.'

'Tell me about it,' I said and despite everything, I had to suppress a laugh. 'It's nice that you want to keep me company, but please go and lie down in your own bed, because we can't sleep like this.'

'Will you tell me what happened first?' I cringed as I thought back to what had happened.

'Rather not... or at least not now. We'll talk about it tomorrow, allright?' I asked, my gaze fixed on Cathy and Rosa's beds, who were pretending to be asleep so they could eavesdrop on us. Evelyne also glanced at our roommates and nodded.

'Yea, allright,' she said. She leaned forward and gave me a hug before crawling into her own bed.

'I'm glad you and Sev made up,' she whispered as she looked at me smiling with her head already on her pillow. She yawned. I nodded and tried to smile back. 

I fell asleep in the early morning. When I opened my eyes, for a moment I felt disoriented. It was so dark that I could only see the top of the trees, lit by the moonlight. I stood up, knocked the dried earth off my robe and looked around. I walked alone through the Forbidden Forest, my wand with a measly light held out in front of me as my only defence against the darkness. I heard a twig creak, but when I looked around, there was no one in sight. I held out my hand to pull away the invisibility cloak, but it was stuck in the air. There was nothing there. No one.

I was startled by a chilling howl that sounded a few hundred feet away and I remained still, nailed to the forest floor, but then I also heard whinnying. Hazel?

I started running, as fast as my legs could carry me. Maybe I wasn't too late this time.

Again I came out at the clearing. Hazel was standing in the middle. Her beautiful white manes shone almost as brightly as the blood she had lost less than a few hours ago. I stared at her, unable to believe she was standing there grazing so innocently in the moonlight as if nothing was wrong, and then I walked towards her.

'You're still alive,' I whispered and laid my head against hers. She slowly went through her knees. I looked at her questioningly until it became clear that she wanted me to sit on her back. I did so and clamped down with my arms firmly around her neck. She started galloping through the forest. Trees and branches passed us rakishly as she kept running. Again I heard the howl, but this time it sounded much closer.

'Stop,' I screamed, 'you have to stay away from him!' Hazel didn't listen. She kept running until we were out of the forest and let me slide off her back. I had to get used to the light the full moon cast on the grounds of Hogwarts and blinked my eyes. In the distance, I saw the Whomping Willow. There was a silhouette of a stag in front of it. I turned to Hazel who was grazing quietly next to Hagrid's cottage.

'What do you want to tell me? Who are these animals, Hazel?' I asked her. But the mare only whinnied and looked for a new spot of fresh grass. I rubbed her neck and then walked towards the Whomping Willow. My heart was pounding in my throat. Where was the werewolf who had produced that terrifying sound? Where was Remus?

As I approached, the stag was prancing. I was startled, because last time he had greeted me like an old friend. Now it seemed I was not welcome here. I flinched as it ran towards me with its antlers. I held out my wand as a warning and the stag stopped instantly. Behind it, I heard a rasping sound, as if someone was trying to gasp for breath but couldn't get enough air into their lungs. I walked past the stag, my wand still held out like a dagger and the animal let me through, bowing as I approached the creature that had produced the sound.