Augury [Harry Potter Fanfic]

c. one

A single moment of silence has passed before the dark brunette's hand grabbed the arm of Remus Lupin. The pale girl seemed as white as chalk.

"Sawyer?" he asked softly, watching as she watched the blank air with wide eyes.

Her mind was overly consumed by the Fat Lady's fear and death that it never occured to her; his presence. But the moment it has, everything's changed.

It made so little sense.

"Sawyer!" Remus spoke with urgency as the girl trembled, knees wobbly. The teachers turned to her as the Gryffindor students were sent back to the Great Hall, and Dumbledore caught her eyes flashing something... strange.

"Get her to the Hospital Wing, Remus, and get to the entrance to the Great Hall the moment you're done."

He frowned, done?  "What do you mean done?"

"When Poppy would take her from you," he spoke, like the girl he's been speaking of isn't the one Remus' been taking care of since before she was  two years old.

"But... It's Sawyer."

"And you're a Professor at this school," seethed Snape, "and you have a responsibilty, moreover... I'd hate to leave you with no proper observation."

"If you're even implying that I have anything to do with it─"

"Should I remind you, Headmaster, that his best friends were Potter and Black?"

"And Pettigrew, and two out of them were murdered thanks to the third, so consider your words, Severus." Remus' voice was just above a whisper, but it was enough to send a chill through most people's spines.

"And how can we tell it's not the girl?"

His grip on Sawyer tightened, "Sawyer wouldn't help a murderer, and don't you dare speak of her like that."

"Blood is thicker than water is all I'm saying."

"We all know your opinion of blood," he mumbled lowly, hooking his arm under Sawyer's knees, heaving her upwards with difficulty. Snape visibly stiffened, and the two older Professors stood by, watching in silence the exchange.

"You─"

"Hour of death, five fifty two. The fetus hasn't survived," a broken whisper was heard, and the two men turned to look at a still shaking Sawyer.

"Sawyer?" Remus spoke with uncertainty, hoping she'd turn to look at him, which she's done. "What was it? What did you see?"

She opened her mouth, about to tell him about what was impossible, yet happened, but no sound came out. "I saw the Fat Lady's death," she said easily after a second of silence. It was not a lie, per-say, she was bending the truth. She did see her death less than twenty minutes earlier, and she pitied her, going through the same ordeal in life and in death.

"Headmaster, would you object to interrogating the two of them?" Snape drawled, turning his black eyes to the headmaster.

"Yes, I would," Dumbledore spoke with certainty. "I will simply take their word, Sawyer, Remus, did you help Sirius Black?"

"No, sir," the two said easily. Vibrant blue eyes seized them up, scrunching slightly at the young girl, before he settled it.

"Very well, you both may go."

::

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."