Not Alone After All

Chapter XIV

Laura and the Twins kept very close the next few days. They were never separated. It went as much as the professors knew Laurie was somewhere around hiding when they caught the twins for some new prank they had pulled. Of course, they had the same group of friends, which made spending time together easier.

A few days later, Laurie was in DADA, and she was surprised when, instead of Professor Lupin, Professor Snape walked in. He came marching in the class, turning the projector on and closing the blinds.

"Page 394," he said as he opened his own book.

"Werewolves?" whispered Ginny, besides Laura. She only shrugged. Laurie knew very well why Snape wanted to talk about werewolves. That night there was a full moon coming and Remus couldn't come for obvious reasons.

A Ravenclaw student put her hand in the air.

"Professor we aren't supposed to see werewolves for another few weeks," she said.

"I make the class, Miss Potts," Snape spat. "Turn to page 394," he repeated more severely.

"Now," he finally started the class after everyone has their books open. "Anyone knows the difference between an Animagus and a Werewolf?" he asked, turned to the projector.

"No?" then he turned maliciously towards Laura. "Miss Potter?" Laurie sighed.

"An Animagus chooses to become an animal. A werewolf has no choice," Laura described. Snape looked down and nodded.

"Any examples? Do you know anyone?" Snape asked. Oh, Laurie realised. Snape was actually that mean, was he?

"Yes, actually," Laurie said, to Snape's surprise. "Professor Mcgonagall is an Animagus." Snape's smirk fell as he realised Laurie wouldn't give up the information about Remus. Laurie smiled innocently at the sight of that.

"Er, yes. Yes, she is," Snape confirmed awkwardly.

The class went on with Snape telling them how awful it was to be a werewolf, and how a werewolf could be a cold hearted killer to any of those present, even their best friends. Let's just say that Laurie took that very personally.

Later that night, Laura heard a big noise after she got out of her History of Magic class. She followed it to the stairs, and found every Griffindor student standing around the Fat Lady portrait. She spotted Hermione, and ran up the stairs, meeting with her, Harry and Ron.

"What's going on?" Asked Laurie as she met them.

"Neville probably forgot the password again."

"Hey!" Exclaimed Neville, a bit behind them.

"Let me through, please. Excuse me, thank you, I'm Head Boy," said Percy, pushing past everyone to get closer to the portrait. He siddently stopped dead, in front of everyone. "Back! All of you! No one is to enter this dormitory until it's been fully searched!"

Harry and Laurie exchanged dark glances as Ginny emerged from the crowd, her face ashen. "The fat lady. She's gone!"

"Probably stuffing her face with the apples that still life on the second floor again," Ron retorted. It was only then that Laurie saw what Ginny was talking about. And apparently, so did Hermione. She gasped, placed one hand over her mouth and with another, she grabbed Harry's arm for support.

The Fat Lady Portrait had been slashed viciously, great strip of canvas hanging from the frame. Just then, Dumbledore appeared behind them, making his way to the frame.

"Mr. Filch, round up the ghosts. Tell them to search the whole castle for the Fat Lady," Dumbledore commanded, his voice booming through the hall.

There were not only Griffindors around anymore, but also many Hufflepuffs, some ravenclaws and very few Slytherins. Later, they all came to know that apparently, Sirius Black had gotten into the Gryffindor Common Room because someone had written down all the Fat Lady's passwords, and that someone had been Neville of course.

Back in the Dinning Hall, Laurie sat down with her Gryffindor friends, and they talked about their day. When Laura commented about Malfoy's arm in a plaster, the boys were immediately whinning their opinions about it.

" The poor thing didn't do anything! Malfoy is such a brat!" Ron exclaimed. Hermione sighed in exasperation. It was almost like they had been talking about it for the whole day.

"Hagrid told me they were taking the matter into court. There's not chance he'll win against Lucius Malfoy," Harry added.

"What about Quiddich, though," thought Hermione. "Malfoy was Seeker, and he surely won't play the next match."

"Potter vs. Potter!" Ron exclaimed. "I'm looking forward to this." Laurie wasn't. She definetly didn't want to go against her own brother.

"I hope not!" Laura told them. "There's still time. If Malfoy drops his act, he'll be able to play the next game against Ravenclaw."

"And Gryffindor goes against Hufflepuff in Tomorrow . Then it's Gryffindor vs. Slytherin," said Harry.