Harry Potter and the Rewrite of Azkaban

Chapter 2

"Sirius? Sirius! Where are you? Sirius!"
Running. Running. Dirt footpath, winding, uneven, dangerous, running, running, trees. Trees?
Danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger da
Wind, whistling, howling, ghosts, people, wind, running.
Where are you where are you where are you where are you where are you where
Running.
"Sirius! Sirius, please! Where are you?"
Whimper whimper whimper whimper whimper whimper whimper whimper whim
Looking, searching, losing. Looking. Finding.
Sirius.
I found you.
You're gone. Forever.

The darkness of the room engulfed him, like a blanket trying to smother him. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't think, and Sirius was safe. He was still there. He was still sleeping, light coming from the stars shining on his face, making him look almost angelic. Remus knew that if he woke him up, Sirius would be grumpy. But the fear, the quickened beat of his heart, the sweat on his forehead, he couldn't ignore them. He couldn't stay up another night afraid that he might lose the two most important people in his life. He drifted over to Sirius's bed, and tapped him, lightly, still afraid that he might not wake up. But he did. His eyes fluttered and almost complained before Remus hugged him.
"Nightmare. Can I stay with you tonight?"

"C'mere, Wolfy, you're safe now," Sirius mumbled, opening his arms. Remus clambered in, already clinging to him like a lifeboat. In a way, to Remus, he was a lifeboat, always there when he needed saving, always there to anchor him. Sirius couldn't know how many times he'd been a saviour.

~~~

Steps echoing in the staircase. The creak of a door, a light tiptoe. Nobody had stirred yet. Good. Aurora needed to wake them all up at the same time. She stood in their room, seeing three people all in bed. All asleep, probably dreaming, lost in the worlds their mind made up for them. She took a deep breath, and flicked the light on and off multiple times. The boy in the middle woke up first, wand already in hand, on guard.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?"
Aurora pointed her wand at herself and muttered "Revelio," before the boy recognised her and let down his wand. She didn't know which one he was - Fred or George - and honestly didn't quite care enough to find out. The other two boys were sitting up by this point and were looking at her.
"A boy snuck into the common room just now and found your friend in there. He had his wand out and looked like he was going to attack, so I cursed him. You need to help me hide the body."
The boy in front of her - she decided to name him Forge - nodded to the other two. She opened their dorm door, and, preparing herself, stepped onto the staircase. It turned into a slide almost instantly, like a helix. She could hear the boys behind her laughing like maniacs under their breaths. Aurora grinned.
In the common room, a Slytherin boy was lying completely straight, unblinking, eyes ferocious as they glared holes into the ceiling.
"I don't know how he got in here, but I thought you would," Aurora said. Lee stepped forward and examined the student on the floor.
"Formation, boys. The classic way this time." One of the twins lifted the guy's head and back off the ground, Lee held his back, and the other twin took his feet.
"Fred, walk backwards five steps and to the right three steps," the one carrying his head - George - said.

With those directions, Fred had his back to the wall - and started to talk through it. The wall broke away, and Aurora followed the others through. How did these guys know of this tunnel? How did they know it well enough for one to be walking backwards without hesitation? What on earth was going on?

~~~

Isaac Foxthorn woke up in his bed in the Slytherin dormitory. Last night he'd tried to visit his friend Cloud so he could help her study again, but she'd fallen asleep early, and then that girl used the Full Body Bind on him. Honestly, why bother sometimes? Sure, he shouldn't have had his wand out, but he kinda needed that to see, and needed it to be able to help Cloud. Whatever, he'll just confront her about it later.

He walked into the Great Hall and saw her immediately, hanging out with the same three people she always did. Isaac stalked over and sat next to her, pouring himself cereal nonchalantly, ignoring the confused stares from the Ravenclaws and the glares from the other Slytherins. The guy with dreadlocks coughed.

"What? Got a problem?" No answer. Tch. As usual. Most Gryffindors blew him off as soon as they figured he was a Slytherin.  "So, studying last night. Fun. Especially when I got cursed," Isaac said, the salt practically falling from his words. 

"Hey, don't look at us, we didn't do it. We don't even know who you are," one of the twins said. 

"He's my friend, he helps me study sometimes," Cloud said. Isaac payed no attention and stood up, leaving the Great Hall. Whatever, I don't have time for this. I need to know who that man was, where he disappeared to, and how the dog appeared so suddenly.

~~~

Harry was in the common room with Hermione and Ron, fire crackling, light from outside low, condensation on the windows, snippets of conversation floating past his ears. He was doing some homework he hadn't finished from summer, and was almost finished when a first year walked out of the tunnel, skin dyed green. They ran up to Hermione, tears in their eyes, and started to explain how they were taking a shower and the water came out green. She tried rubbing the green off their skin, but it didn't come off. Hermione sighed, and got out her wand, pointing it at the student.

"Balneum," she said, watching as the colour dissipated from the young Ravenclaw's skin and hair. They grinned, and started to walk off before Hermione stopped them. "Do you know who did that?" 

"No, but there's a password to get into the showers, no one except a Ravenclaw could get in there," they said, their voice squeaking. Hermione nodded, and let the student go back to their dorms. Huh, I didn't know Ravenclaws were pranksters.

Angelina Johnson emerged from the tunnel, and immediately felt the heat from the fire. She looked around, and, seeing people doing homework, decided to help some people out, but it seemed all the students already had the help they needed. She sank into the sofa next to the fire and sighed, letting the chatter of the other students wash over her, until someone interrupted her.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I noticed how nice your goddess braids are, and wondered if you had a technique," Hermione inquired. Angelina looked at her and grinned, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Well, I part my hair into seven parts, and put a hair tie on six of them. Then I do tight three strand braids in each one, and twist the braids into a partial bun," Angelina said, showing the motions as she said it. Hermione looked in interest, and told her how to do crochet braids. Looking at them, Harry could sense their happiness as they bonded over their favourite protective hairstyles, talking about which ones were more for looks and which were more for protection. The vibrancy he could feel from them made him grin. He turned to Ron.

"Need help?" Ron shook his head, finishing writing his sentence.

"Just finished, actually."

~~~

Danger. They were in danger. They were in danger and they couldn't breathe and couldn't move and wouldn't move no matter how much he shook them. His mark would forever be imprinted in their mind, haunting their every movement, their every waking movement. Every minute with him meant danger for them, danger for their mother and siblings. But telling someone, anyone, would destroy them all. They'd never see their mother sewing again, or their sister laughing at videos, or their brother stomping downstairs. No. They needed to keep this a secret from the world.

Their secret.