Young Warrior

Chapter 16 - The Day After

I wake up in the nurse's corridor during the morning. It's empty. I'm drenched and can barely remember what had happened last night.

I sit up in the bed and my whole body hurts. Professor Dumbledore walks into the room a few moments later. He stands next to my bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asks me. I'm confused, "Not too well...what exactly happened?" He sighs, I'll let your friends explain it to you a little later, for now, get some rest. I nod and he leaves the room.

I lay back down and try to remember what was going on. I fade back asleep, slowly still feeling exhausted. I wake up to the echoing footsteps outside the corridor.

I turn around towards the door and see Malfoy sneaking into the room. I slowly sit up as he sees me. He stops in his path and walks over to me. "What do you want Malfoy?" I say coldly.

He sits on the stool next to me and clears his throat not making eye contact. "To apologize," he mumbles. I scoff, "Right, is it gonna be some half-ass apology?" He looks up at me and finally makes eye contact.

"No, it's not I'm...I'm- sorry." I don't know if I should believe him. he's said sorry many times before and every single time he said it smoothly, almost effortlessly except for this time. He almost forced himself to say it. I don't know if that means it's genuine or not.

I don't say anything. I look down and keep my eyes on the floor. I was hoping he would just leave. He's apologized too many times and right now he's not helping. I feel horrible and I'm not in the mood for drama at all.

"Are you okay? You seem off..." he asks me. I don't say anything, I tear my eyes away from the floor and look at him. "A lot is going on right now, and I'm pretty tired so if you could please just-" I stop myself and gesture towards the exit.

"I said I was sorry." He tells me in a stern voice. "I accept your apology." He looks at me weird. "You do?" I nod. He continues to look at me funny. I look back to the exit and he nods once with a serious face. He gets up and leaves. Gryffindors and Slytherins just don't mix.

I roll back over to get some more rest. I fall asleep but once again I wake up to footsteps. I sit up again and see Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking through the door. I smile at them but they seem down.

They walk over to me and sit on the bed across from mines. "What happened??? No one is telling me, I feel horrible and I can't remember anything!" Harry looks at Hermione and sighs.

"Well, Hermione and I kind of messed with time..." Harry says. "Her time-turner?" Ron looks at me "How did you know?" I snicker and look at Hermione as she tries not to laugh. "Anyways, Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf and Wormtail got loose." Harry tells me.

I sit up in my seat more, "No! He got away?!" Hermione walks over to me and sits on my bed "Yes, but we freed Sirius and Buckbeak..." I smile. "Yesterday...the stones? The branch snapping?" She nods, "It was Harry and me..."

"Bloody hell," Ron says I smile. "Sirius got away with Buckbeak, but he's still considered guilty." my smile fades, as Harry told me that. "Wait, why am I here?" Everyone looks at me oddly, "Well, there was a moment..." Hermione said. "A moment?" I question her..."What do you mean?" She sighs.

"Harry was at the lake with Sirius, dementors were attacking them, and then you showed up..." I begin to remember. "You had gotten attacked by the dementors pretty bad, you almost drowned in the lake...but when you got out of the lake the dementors started shrieking."

"Shrieking?" Hermione nods. "Then you passed out, I had sent the dementors away..." Harry tells me. Everyone seemed so concerned. I knew exactly why the dementors were shrieking. One of the things I inherited from my father was the ability to naturally penetrate minds, but dementors cant be penetrated...instead controlled.

Dumbledore had told me about this. I do it without even realizing it's like a fight or flight thing. I had done something to the dementors but it seems almost impossible. Dementors feed off despair, how could I possibly cause them harm.

I didn't tell them why the dementors reacted the way they did. I examined Ron's bandaged leg, "So what exactly happened?" Ron looks up at me, "Sirius when he turned into a dog he uh bit my leg a little too hard." I tried not to laugh. "I'm sorry about that Ron," Harry says and I can see him crack a smile.

"It's not funny!" Ron exclaims. Hermione pats my leg and tells me to get some more rest. They left the corridor and I rolled over trying to go back to sleep. I just couldn't believe that Pettigrew got away. Everything is going to change now. I couldn't sleep for the rest of the day.

I woke up the next morning feeling somewhat energetic. I checked out with Madam Pomfrey and walked to the Gryffindor common room to see Harry sitting in front of the unlit fireplace reading. He looks at me, "Your back?!" I smile and sit next to him, "Yeah I feel much better." He smiles "Good."

He hesitates to say anything but he does "Professor Lupin...he resigned," I get caught off guard, "Why??" Harry frowns, "He said that parents would find out about well, him being a werewolf. That they wouldn't want someone like him teaching their children, which is just rubbish!"

I agreed feeling an overwhelming wave of sadness. "At least it was his choice." I say, Harry looks at me "That's the sad part." He says. Harry pulls out the Marauders map from his back pocket and hands it to me. "Sunni...that's nice."

He says to me, I smile "Yeah, I really like it, but I can't believe he gave it back to you." He smiles "I can, Professor Lupin was always on our side." I laugh, "except when you thought-" He interrupts "In my defense, it seemed pretty convincing!" we both laugh.

Harry and I decided to go to breakfast this morning, I followed him to the great hall and everyone was running up to him filled with excitement. "Where did you get it, Harry?" One voice said, "Can I try it??" Another said.

Harry is just as confused as me, we walk over to Ron, Hermione the twins, and Percy as their surrounded by other Gryffindors "What are you all talking about?" Harry asked as he walked towards Ron.

Ron looks at everyone "Quiet! Let the man through!" Ron says as Harry walks up to the table. "I didn't mean to open it, Harry, It was badly wrapped, they made me do it!" Ron points at Fred and George sitting across an object covered in parchment laying on the table.

Fred and George both say "Did not!" as Harry opens the wrapped package. I already had a feeling what it was. He uncovers it to reveal a brand new broom, in very good condition too.

"It's a firebolt! It's the fastest broom in the world!" Seamus says. Everyone is leaning closer to get a better look. Harry's eyes are filled with excitement as he gently picks it up. "For me?" He whispers.

"But who sent it?" Harry says grinning widely, "No one knows but this came with it..." Hermione says as she holds a stormy grey feather.

I look at Harry "I told you if it's meant for you then you will get a broom someway!" He looks at me and smiles wide, looking very grateful. "You were right."

We all run outside to watch Harry use it. He kicks off from the ground in front of everyone and speeds off into the distance. "WHOOOOOO!!" he shouts as he's flying, I know he's happy and he deserves it.