Wish Upon A Star

Dementor

The compartment was not actually empty. Ashlyn looked at sleeping, Remus Lupin.  The scars on his face looked more profound in the scarce light. His robes were tattered and old. He had been through a lot. He would go through a lot more too. And he dies just as he finds solace? No. He deserves love, he deserves happiness. He deserves a lot. She had to save him too. She would save him.

"Who d'you reckon he is?" Ron hissed as they sat down and slid the door shut, taking the seats farthest away from the window.

"Professor R. J. Lupin," whispered Hermione at once.

"How d'you know that?" Ron demanded.

"It's on his case," Hermione replied, pointing at the luggage rack over the man's head, where there was a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. The name Professor R. J. Lupin was stamped across one corner in peeling letters.

"Wonder what he teaches?" said Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile.

"That's obvious," whispered Hermione. "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Well, I hope he's up to it," said Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? Anyway . . ." He turned to Harry. "What were you going to tell us?"

Harry turned to them and explained everything about what Mr Weasley had told him about Sirius Black. The way Harry's uttered Sirius's name as though he was talking about some stranger, a cold-blooded murderer seemed to hurt her. Even though she knew that Harry didn't know Sirius's story yet, it didn't stop Ashlyn from feeling bad.

When he'd finished, Ron looked thunderstruck, and Hermione had her hands over her mouth. She finally lowered them to say,

"Sirius Black escaped, to come after you? Oh, Harry . . . you'll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry —"

"I don't go looking for trouble," said Harry, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me."

"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said Ron shakily.

"What do you think, Ashlyn," Harry asked.

"Wait. You are asking me?" Ashlyn said sarcastically.

"Yeah, after the last two years, it would be better to ask you," Ron said.

"Well then. I think there is more to it than we know." Ashlyn said.

"What's that noise?" said Ron suddenly.

A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from somewhere. They looked all around the compartment.

"It's coming from your trunk, Harry," said Ron, standing up and reaching into the luggage rack. A moment later he had pulled the Pocket Sneakoscope out from between Harry's robes. It was spinning very fast in the palm of Ron's hand and glowing brilliantly.

"Is that a Sneakoscope?" said Hermione interestedly, standing up for a better look.

The others were looking at the sneakoscope, but Ashlyn was staring at Lupin. He was awake, listening to their conversation, but pretending to be asleep. That's why the sneakoscope was acting up. And it could be because Scabbers was going mental and the Sneakoscope had picked up that he was an illegal animagus.

Ashlyn had the ghost of a smirk on her face but didn't say anything as Harry asked Ron to stuff the sneakoscope in a sock so that it doesn't wake Lupin up.