Bucolic- RBR Book 3

Buolic || 16

Chapter 16: What. Even. Is. Happening.

We all sat, hands shaking and hearts in the fire place, our eyes glassy with tears, staring blankly at the letter that we had only jut managed to make out the words from, it was so shaky.

Harry walked into the common room and began to speak but stoped at the sight of our faces.

"Buckbeak lost," Ron said, his voice as shaky as I felt. "Hagrid's just sent this." Ron handed Harry the note.

"We're going to go down," Harry said firmly. "I can't sit up here knowing that she's down there by himself, watching." Hermione looked at Harry, putty swimming almost the tears in her eyes. I stared fully into the flames of the fire. I had never even met Buckbeak, but I felt a strong emotional attachment to the hippogriff.

"S'at sunset," I said in a dull sort of way. "We'd never be let down there, you especially Harry..." I trailed off, my glazed focus still on the flickering flames.

"If only we had the invisibility cloak..." Harry moaned, sinking his head into his hands. He had lost the cloak attempting to sneak off to Hogsmede when Malfoy saw him at the Shrieking Shack.

"Where is it," Hermione asked, jumping up. Harry gave her instructions and she bolted out of the common room to go get it.

"Bloody hell," Ron said, sounding rather impressed. When she returned silvery cloak in hand, Ron's mouth dropped. "Hermione, I don't know what's gotten into you lately! You walk out on Professor Trelawney, you do this—"

Hermione looked quite proud as she handed the cloak off to Harry.

After dinner, we snuck off to Hagrid's under the invisibility cloak. He let us in, with reluctance, scolding us for making the dangerous move. He was not crying and he didn't throw himself upon us, rather, he looked like a man who didn't know what to do. The helplessness was worse than tears.

Hermione asked about Buckbeak and Hagrid, who had begun to shake so terribly that he couldn't hold anything anymore, broke a milk jug. Hermione went to fetch one and, low and behold, found Scabbers. The reunion brought a brief smile onto my face. I had stayed fairly quiet during this whole thing.

"Rumor... you okay?" Harry asked me under his breath. I sighed and then smiled.

"Just thinking. Something very bad is going to happen tonight- worse than we could imagine at face value," I said, my mind still stuck on the picture from my divination exam. Harry patted my back.

"It'll be okay, Rumor. You're on the right side."

Not for long, I thought, but embraced Harry anyway. The return of Voldemort would me a life of spydom for me. I glanced out to see the executioner, the minister, and Dumbledore making their way down. I stood.

"Hagrid..." I said, placing my hand in his own giant one. "They're coming."

"Yeh gotta go," Hagrid said, his body shaking furiously again. "They mustn' fund yeh here... Go now."

We grabbed the cloak and Scabbers and ran out of the hut, panting slightly. Hagrid watched us with longing eyes, as if he wished that we could stay. He had told us to head straight to the castle, not to look or listen, but we all paused when we heard a loud thud. I let out a shaky breath.

"C'mon guys, we've got to get out before dark," I said after we had lingered in our moment of grief for too long.

We headed back to the castle, our motions seeming robotic when Ron burst out.

"Scabbers, keep still," Ron hissed, clamping his hand over his chest. The rat was wriggling as if it had been possessed. "What's the matter with you, stupid rat? Stay still— OUCH! He bit me!"

"Ron, be quiet," Hermione hissed back. "Fudge'll be out in a minute."

"He won't— stay— put!"

Scabbers kept wriggling and squealing, clearly traumatized. He was writhing with all of his strength, trying to free himself from Ron's grip. I noticed the problem soon enough— Crookshanks, sneaking across the grounds as if he were a fluffy, ginger snake. Hermione tried to shoo him away.

Scabbers had escaped and Ron slipped out from under the cloak, chasing after the rat into the darkness.

"And so it begins," I murmured as Hermione and Harry followed after him. I pulled the cloak off and followed them, thinking full well that I was going to die that night.

Vaguely in the distance, I saw a dog spring out from nowhere. It grasped Ron by the leg and pulled him into a tunnel in the Whomping Willow. I let out a sigh, rolling my eyes and caught up with Harry and Hermione just as the Willow's branches lashed out, flinging me full speed into a rock. Hermione rushed over to try and get me, but the willow pulled her up too. Blackness are away at the edges of my vision and if I had the energy, I would have sighed.

———————

When I finally came too, I saw the ceiling of the Shrieking Shack. I had been placed in a bed and sat up. The first thing I saw was Sirius Black, sprawled out at the foot of a wall, with Ron saying that he'd die before Sirius killed Harry.

"You can kill me too, but I wouldn't be very hard to take out," I said weakly, letting out a cough.

"Rumor!" Hermione shrieked rushing over to me. I shut my eyes.

"Now, will someone explain in the name of Satan what the bloody hell is going on here?" I asked.

"You look familiar," Sirius said.

"We've never met, don't trouble yourself," I said. "Now tell me what's going on."

"That's a good question," a new voice, Lupin's voice said. "Why don't we let Sirius explain?"

"You! You've been helping him sneak into the castle! Not to mention, he's a werewolf!"

"None of you are helping— I'm still very confused," I muttered, before I slipped back under to the sounds of shouts.