The Hospital Wing and the Astronomy Tower, the Sequel

Even long after the others had left, Harry and Blaise remained in the astronomy tower. Blaise seemed to be amazed beyond anything by the empty bottle labelled 'MacRiddler's finest,' and she was studying it closely when Harry finally spoke, breaking the long silence.

"Do you think we should even bother with this?" he said. "You know, this 'Bob' thing."

Blaise shrugged. "I want to know where this bottle came from," she said, holding the bottle out to him.

Thus far, Harry had not yet taken a good look at the bottle, and was looking at the label for the first time. There was, of course, something odd about the bottle. He reached out and placed his hand on the glass.

It was as though he'd been shocked by a thousand volts of electricity, which was quite impossible in the wizarding world. He drew his hand away quickly, feeling a pain in his head.

"My scar," he muttered. "It hasn't hurt in a long time..."

"The bottle?" said Blaise.

"I think so," Harry replied. "But I can't be too sure; and I doubt Voldemort's inside that bottle or anything of the sort."

"But still," said Blaise, "he might be."

"I doubt it," said Harry. "But it might not have been the bottle at all; Voldemort might be near."

"Did you use a Dream Tracing Potion to remember the dream you had over the summer?" Blaise asked.

Harry shook his head.

"Why not?" Blaise asked. "You were supposed to take it anyway, in order to write your Potions essay."

"A part of me doesn't want to remember the dream," said Harry. "I can't explain it, but for some reason, half of me doesn't want to remember."

"Which half is that?" said Blaise. "The evil side, or the good side?"

"Evil side?" Harry gave her a questioning look.

"I know there's a dark side to you," said Blaise. "Anyone with half a brain would know."

Harry shrugged, beginning to think Blaise knew something he didn't want anyone to know.

"I think you should take that potion," said Blaise.

"But it doesn't work like that," said Harry. "It's too late now."

"Well, couldn't you have another dream?" said Blaise.

"No," Harry replied. "I don't control my dreams."

"Try to remember," said Blaise. "Maybe it'll answer everything; like who is 'Bob'? And where is Voldemort? And the oh so important: is Pansy gone forever? And if so, when do we celebrate?"

"I can't remember," said Harry. "Not that easily."

"Touch the bottle again," said Blaise, holding the bottle out again. "Maybe it'll trigger something!"

Harry backed away from the bottle, as though threatened by it. "I don't think so," he said.

"Does your scar hurt?" Blaise asked.

"Not that bad anymore," said Harry. "But a little."

"Do you hear footsteps?" said Blaise, looking around the room. "Outside, I think someone's coming."

Harry listened hard, and sure enough, there were footsteps coming toward them from outside.

The footsteps stopped as they reached the area directly outside the room, and the door handle turned. The door opened slowly, or so it seemed to Harry and Blaise who were extremely curious as to who was outside.

Blaise and Harry stood quite still as Remus Lupin's head peered around the door.

Unfortunately for them, Harry and Blaise were not invisible, and had just been caught by a teacher while Blaise was holding out a bottle of what appeared to be alcohol to Harry.

Lupin eyed the two pupils with curiosity, no doubt wondering what they were up to.

Blaise noticed she was holding the bottle, and dropped it, although it was already too late.

"Miss. Zabini," said Lupin. "May I ask what you're doing here?"

"Homework," Blaise replied. "Er, we're doing star charts for Divination."

"Star charts?" said Professor Lupin. "I see no charts." There was a cheeky glint in his blue eyes, almost mischievous.

"That's because we haven't started yet," said Blaise.

"Would I be correct in blaming that bottle for your delay?" Lupin pointed at the bottle lying at Blaise's feet.

"Yes," said Blaise. "Very curious it is, that we should find such a bottle in the astronomy tower."

"Find?" said Lupin.

"Yes, find," said Blaise. "You don't honestly think we brought it?"

"Well, I don't think Harry brought it," said Lupin. "But I wouldn't put it passed you, Miss. Zabini."

"It's not mine," said Blaise. "Actually, it belongs to Pansy Parkinson; I've seen her with it before."

"Be that as it may, you were found with the bottle," said Lupin. "And Miss. Parkinson is quite... er, indisposed at this time."

"True," said Blaise. "But I think she brought it up here before her disappearing act."

Professor Lupin raised his eyebrow. "And do you suppose Mr. Creevey's disappearance is connected with that of Miss. Parkinson?"

"Of course," Blaise replied. "They probably got drunk up here last week, and then ran off somewhere, never to be seen again."

"You ought to go back to your dormitories," said Professor Lupin.

"We haven't done our homework yet," said Harry.

"I happen to know you haven't any Divination homework," said Lupin. "And I know neither of you will go back to your dormitories, but I think you shouldn't be here, not with Professor Snape lurking around this end of the school."

"Snape's here?" said Harry, looking around. "Where?"

"Not far from here," said Lupin. "And he's coming up this way. He seems to think he'll track down the missing students."

"He won't," said Blaise.

"All right, we'll go," said Harry. "Come on, Blaise."

"And don't go getting yourselves into too much trouble," said Lupin.

"We won't," Harry replied, leading Blaise by the hand, out of the room.

***

"You don't really believe we'll find 'Bob'?" said Ron. "We'd have to be suspicious of every pupil in the entire school."

"And the staff," Hermione added.

"No, just those in Slytherin robes," said Verity. "About the size of Seamus."

"Well that narrows it down," said Hermione.

"It does, actually," said Verity. "The smaller fifth and sixth year Slytherins and most of the fourth years, but I should say anyone younger is too small."

"And if they decide to change their robes?" said Hermione. "What then?"

"Who cares?" said Verity.

"Well, we won't find 'Bob', for one thing," said Seamus.

"That's okay," said Verity. "I think we can trust Draco and Ginny to find him."

"And why do you say that?" Seamus inquired.

"They're the only ones who actually care," said Verity.

"Oh, so we shouldn't bother then?" said Ron.

"Nah, not really," said Verity. "But then again, there's something sort of bothering me."

"And what's that?" said Hermione. "Is it Malfoy's coin? Because I didn't say anything at the time, but it reminded me vaguely of our Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson."

"Exactly," said Verity. "And 'Bob' must be whoever gave that coin to Draco. He'll soon realise it, if he's smart enough."

"Then he won't realise it," said Ron. "But didn't You Know Who give him that coin?"

"I don't think 'Bob' is Voldemort," said Verity.

"But where do you get the connection of 'Bob' and whoever gave Malfoy the coin?" said Seamus.

"The bottle was the first clue," said Verity. "The bottle probably has a big connection with Pansy and Colin's disappearances; but it also has something to do with the coin."

"Maybe this is all a trick," said Hermione.

"A trick on who?" said Verity.

"Malfoy," Hermione replied. "Perhaps someone is trying to get back at Malfoy for some reason."

The four of them were sitting outside on the stairs leading up to the Hogwarts main entrance. It was a clear night, and the grounds were void of people, or so they thought.

Somewhere deep in the Forbidden Forest, Peter Pettigrew was searching for his master, who he had followed out of Azkaban. Only two people in the world, besides Pettigrew himself, was aware of Pettigrew's escape, mainly because no one cared. These two people went by the names Lucius Malfoy and Sirius Black.

Lucius was inside Hogwarts, looking for Pettigrew, and Sirius outside Hogwarts, following Pettigrew through the forest.

Of course, it took Pettigrew more than a few minutes to find his way out of the forest, and Sirius followed patiently behind him. Every now and then, Pettigrew would trip over a tree root and tear his worn robes a little. Sirius would secretly smile to himself, glad to see his enemy troubled.

Eventually, Peter found his way out of the forest, and walked quickly, stumbling over his feet every now and then over his own feet, towards the entrance of Hogwarts castle.

Sirius followed quickly behind, preparing to attack his enemy just as soon as they were in an open space.

At the entrance of Hogwarts castle, Peter saw four teenagers sitting on the stone steps. He knew one of these teenagers very well as his ex-master, Ron Weasley. Ron had been a generous and kind master, although he had not known Ron's true identity at the time.

He also knew another of them as Seamus Finnigan, the sarcastic little joker who had made a complete fool of Pettigrew less than a year ago.

Peter, of course, was not trusted with a wand, and did not own one. Even if he did own a wand, he would probably not get a single curse, hex, or charm correct, therefore, it was all for the best. But if he had had a wand, he would've jumped out at Seamus and hexed him right there and then. However, Seamus probably would've hexed him right back, or worse, set him on fire.

Sirius was still lurking behind Peter, still preparing an attack, as Peter neared the stone steps.

"We needn't worry about a thing," Verity was saying; "I doubt any death eaters would come to Hogwarts."

"That's what they all said last year," said Seamus. "And even then, nobody took them seriously."

"Let's face it," said Verity, "the death eaters and their master have become a laughing stock, and the world fails to see their power."

"And what happens when they strike again?" Hermione asked. "What if they do happen to find a way into Hogwarts, what if they're inside right now?"

"How would they be inside?" said Ron. "I think we're all forgetting about good old Dumbledore."

"I haven't seen dear old Dumbledore around lately," said Verity. "I don't know if you noticed at all, but he wasn't at supper."

Hermione yawned, plopping her head on Ron's shoulder. "I'm exhausted," she muttered. "I feel like playing chess right now."

"Chess?" said Seamus. "Wouldn't you rather revise early for Potions?"

"Why does everyone think my only interest is school?" said Hermione. "There's more to me than just brains."

"We know that, Hermione," said Ron.

"And I'm allowed to have fun too," Hermione continued. "I hope you knew that."

"Hmm, looks like I've hit a nerve," said Seamus. "Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut."

"Maybe you should, blasted idiot," Peter Pettigrew muttered under his breath.

Sirius, who, with his astoundingly good hearing, heard these words, and clenched his teeth. He had, over his year of teaching at Hogwarts, grown protective of his students, and hated to hear people speak of them in any degrading manner. But of course, while on duty, he could not be seen, neither by Pettigrew, nor the pupils, so he remained hidden in shadow.

"We ought to be going to bed," said Verity. "Seeing as our search for 'Bob' is practically over."

"Yeah, but we still haven't found 'Bob,'" said Ron.

"Some will," said Verity. "But I'm not going to hang around here all night." With that, she got to her feet, Seamus following, and together, they re-entered the castle through the oak front doors.

Hermione and Ron sat quietly for a few minutes, unaware of two people watching them from the shadows.

"Should we go and play some chess?" said Hermione, breaking the silence at last.

"No," said Ron. "I don't feel like it."

"It's cold," said Hermione.

"Then we ought to go inside," said Ron.

"Should we go?" said Hermione. "We'll find something to do."

"Yeah, why not," said Ron. "I wonder if Harry and Blaise are still in the astronomy tower."

"Most likely," said Hermione. "And I doubt they've bothered to look for 'Bob.'"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. He had heard mention of someone named 'Bob,' but who was 'Bob?' And whoever this was seemed to be missing, and the pupils seemed to want to find 'Bob.'

As Ron and Hermione stood, Peter neared the entrance ever so slightly, Sirius following him, discreetly.

Ron opened one of the front doors, letting Hermione inside before he followed.

As soon as they were out of sight, Peter tramped hurriedly up the stone steps to the oak doors. He waited a few seconds before opening the doors and rushing inside.

Sirius followed him, expecting him to have remained in the Entrance Hall, but when Sirius stepped into the Hogwarts Entrance Hall, Pettigrew was nowhere to be seen.

Sirius decided to go to the first place which jumped to his mind: the astronomy tower.

***

Blaise and Harry had run down a few flights of stairs, allowing their feet to lead them into an empty classroom. Although this classroom was not nearly as unused as it appeared.

In the room, there was a tall closet, in which Blaise felt the need to hide. Harry found this absurd, but stepped into the closet regardless.

"I can't see you," said Blaise. "It's dark in here."

"I can't see you either," said Harry. "And I know it's dark."

"You know, this closet may prove handier than the astronomy tower," said Blaise. "But seeing as it's so dark, I ought to watch where I put my hands..."

Harry smiled, though no one saw. This smile was almost nearly a sneer.

"Wouldn't it be something if someone found us here, in a tight little closet," said Blaise, voice quiet, though very close to Harry's ear.

Again, Harry smiled. "I don't know," he said, snaking his arms around Blaise's waist. "Would we want someone to find us?"

"Of course not," said Blaise.

And then, as thought to annoy them, the closet door slammed open.

The stood Peter Pettigrew, looking startled as ever.

"Have you never heard of knocking?" Blaise snapped, angrily.

Harry stared at Pettigrew. "You!" he shouted, swiftly pulling his wand out of his robe pocket and pointed it at Pettigrew, who then proceeded to fall on his backside with a 'thud.'

"Have you never heard of knocking?!" Blaise repeated, furious.

"It's him!" Harry shouted. "'Bob!' It's him!"

Blaise stopped for a moment to think.

"It was him all along!" said Harry. "He must've got some of Seamus's hair last year!"

"And Draco's?" said Blaise.

"Same time," said Harry. "And all this time, it was this little git."

"What was me?" said Peter, voice shaky.

"Don't you lie to us," said Harry. "We know it was you. But I don't quite understand why..."

"Because he has nothing better to do!" said Blaise. "I mean, look at him, does it look like he has anything better to do?"

"I suppose not," said Harry. "But there's got to be a reason... I bet it was on Voldemort's orders..."

"Have you seen my master?" said Pettigrew. "Please, I can't find him, and I thought he might be at Hogwarts. Have you seen him?"

Blaise and Harry stared disbelievingly at the little man on the floor.