Disclaimer: I acknowledge that I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or universe. No offense is meant by the situations portrayed in this or any other fanworks.

A/N: I will not be updated throughout the month November because of NaNoWriMo, and I will only be updating once more in October. It will probably be near the end of the month. Updates will resume in December, but I'm not sure about the frequency. Also, I'm a mod in a (very) small Writing Community called "The Periwinkle Pen." It's based on friendly feedback and writing exercises, so if it sounds like something for you, be sure to check it out. It's a private community, so you have to join to see the fourm. The link is on my profile page.
There will be a new Hattie Potter Notes up on my LJ next week to make up for the lack of update. Be sure to ask questions if you want HP Notes throughout November.
And the "who don't you want Hattie to be with" poll's still up. I like that it's essentially the same as the other poll.

Chapter Nine: Grim Reminders

The tension never left the Great Hall. Even though Neville was laughing and snacking on what they brought him, Hattie saw him frequently check the exits and the Professors that came in and out of the Great Hall. It wasn't even decorated for Halloween to keep their minds off the occasion, and Hattie didn't know if Neville would get any sleep tonight.

She also wanted to slink off for some privacy to talk to Quirrell, but she wouldn't be able to leave the Great Hall. And she couldn't exactly just start talking to him in public.

Ginny and Colin sat with them, including some blonde spacey friend who did not make any profound contributions to the conversation, so the conversation was tolerable, tolerable until Natasha decided to grace them all with her presence. Every time Hattie saw her upturn nose she wanted to slug her, though Malfoy's face had the same effect.

"See you're still alive then, Neville," Natasha said, trying to sit down beside Hermione.

"Yup," Neville said, plainly.

"You know what I don't understand?" Natasha asked, stretching her hands out across the table.

"Everything," Hattie muttered to Ron.

Ron used a soft, mocking voice, "Why doesn't the universe revolve around me?"

The two exchanged giggles, and they received a deadly look from Natasha. Hermione rolled her eyes while Neville pretended not to hear them. "What don't you understand," Ginny said diplomatically, trying to hide the smile on her face.

Hattie noticed the blonde girl pull out a magazine. "I don't understand why Sirius Black would go after Neville instead of me," she said. "I mean, I'm the more intelligent one, I'd clearly be more of a loss than Neville."

"Wow, that's rude," Colin remarked. "Clearly you missed Neville being mascot last year. If Sirius Black takes him down, he'll take down the Soul of Gryffindor."

The news didn't spread that Neville wasn't being Team Mascot again. Wood suppressed it, hoping he could convince Neville to do it at the last minute for the spirit of the game.

Natasha scoffed, eyeing up Colin. She made the mistake of insulting him when she first met him. Colin, with absolutely no tact, often spoke his mind regardless of the danger it put him in. And he was terribly loyal to his friends, which Hattie always appreciated.

Natasha's mind whirled as she tried to come up with something to say. Hermione said, "He picked the first born. It's possible he didn't even know there was another one of you, not that either of you are better than the other, of course."

Neville's eyes scanned Hermione quizzically. "Yes I'm the first born," Neville said. "I beat you to the punch there."

"Stealing all the good genes," Hattie added.

"I have my own jeans," Natasha said, eyes shifting from Neville to Hattie. "I'm going to go back and sit where it's less… stupid."

"Good luck," Ron muttered under his breath once she walked away.

Hattie laughed. Hermione looked like she was about to scold her when Lavender and Parvati sat with them, sighing dramatically. Lavender invaded Hattie's bubble by sitting too close to her. "We were supposed to have our Girl's Night, and then this happened," she said.

Hattie could smell the cream in her curls. "Yeah, it's such a shame Sirius Black ruined our girl's night," Hattie said.

"It really is," Parvati said.

"We can do it tomorrow," Hermione offered.

Hattie cringed. She actually was sort of happy it was interrupted.

"I thought today was the only day you two could do," Lavender said.

"I have a match with Slytherin coming up," Hattie said. "I should be training."

"Oliver has nothing booked for you tomorrow," Hermione replied. Hattie tried to figure out her ulterior motives. "It should be fine."

Hattie tried to decide if she could mentally communicate to Oliver Wood that she wanted to train tomorrow. "Oh no," Hattie said. "Tomorrow's detention with Snape."

"I don't remember him giving you a detention," Lavender said.

"And tomorrow's Monday," Hermione said, suspiciously.

Hattie said, "First, we wanted it on the weekend so we could stay up late. Today was a terrible day anyway because it was Halloween, but we decided we'd have too much sugar in us to sleep. Second, Snape and I rescheduled our detentions from Thursdays to Mondays because we normally practice Quidditch on Thursdays."

"So wait, does he just assume you're going to do something terrible on Thursday and have the detention on Monday or is it spill-over?" Lavender asked, sceptically.

"Also, I don't remember you doing anything bad this week," Parvati noted. "Do you actually have a detention with him every week?"

Hermione gave Hattie a smug look. She revealed too much in her own lie. "Uh, no, we just rescheduled just in case I did something stupid and the detention was for something I did after class," she explained.

Lavender shrugged. "It's easy to get a detention from Snape," she said, "especially when he's watching you like a hawk."

"I know, right?" Hattie said, somewhat excited. "It's horrible."

"Next month's Saturday then," Hermione said, quickly, "after Hattie's Quidditch. She'll be tired, but that means she won't talk too much and control the conversation."

"That sounds great," Parvati said.

"But we might not be," Lavender's eyes shifted from Neville and Ron, both who were trying to follow the conversation, "you know."

"That doesn't matter," Hermione said. "It just means we'll be less tired, except Hattie."

"And my opinion doesn't matter either apparently," Hattie said.

"Nope," Hermione said. "So next month's Saturday? The 28th?"

"The 28th it is," Lavender replied.

"I can't wait," Parvati said with a pleasant smile.

They headed back to their end of the table. "You really think I take control of conversations?" Hattie asked.

"You're having a girl's night?" Ginny asked, with just a hint of disgust. "What's that about?"

"Don't ask," Hattie said. "Please, don't even ask. Why were you so pushy about it, Hermione?"

"Because they'll keep nagging us until we do it," Hermione replied.

Hattie asked, "But what if they want more?"

"It's going to be a fun social experience to discover what real girls are like," Hermione said.

"But you are real girls," Neville said.

"They're more like pretty dolls," Ron noted.

"Pretty dolls?" Hattie asked.

"Like, you and Hermione are action figures. You move around and are cool to have. But Parvati and Lavender are like those dolls that Ginny keeps in her closet that just sit there and look nice, if you're into dolls that look nice, which Ginny is not," Ron explained.

Neville looked confused. "So then what are we? Are we action figures too?"

"Sure," Ron said.

"Are there boys that are dolls?" Ginny asked, smirking at Hattie.

"Yes, him," Ron said, pointing at Cedric Diggory.

"But he's amazing at Quidditch," Neville noted.

"But he looks too good while doing it," Ron said. "He's just a doll on a broom."

The blonde noted, "You know there are creatures that possess dolls and live in their frames? I thought I caught one once, but it turned out just be a ghost."

"Really?" Colin asked. "That's brilliant."

There was silence as they all tried to decide what to reply to her. Hattie decided the best way to deal with it was changing the topic: "I would say Cedric is more of an action figure," Hattie said. "You haven't played against him."

They stopped talking as they noticed a few of the Professors walk in, chatting quietly with one another. Even the blonde looked up from her magazine.

"Yeah but I've seen him play," Ron said.

"Oh guys I just remembered something," Neville said, leaning close. "When I was in Lupin's office, Snape gave him a smoking potion. It looked really dangerous. I think he might be trying to hurt Lupin."

"Why would he hurt Lupin?" Hattie asked, scoffing.

"Well, he hates him," Neville noted. "He makes that part clear."

"Professor Snape would get caught," Hermione said, "if he tried anything. He doesn't seem like the type of person that would risk that much just for a grudge."

"It sounds like a Wolfsbane potion," the blonde noted, turning a page in her magazine. "Is Professor Lupin a werewolf?"

Ron sighed. "Doll creatures and Professor werewolves," he muttered under his breath.

"No, that would make sense," Hattie said. "See, Snape is trying to help."

"Yeah but it also means Professor Lupin is a werewolf which is stupid," Ron noted. "Why would Dumbledore have a werewolf teach us?"

"Well, he's a good Professor," Colin noted.

"His last name is Lupin," Ginny added.

"But he could also rip our heads off," Ron said. "Not a werewolf."

"Then what would the smoking potion be?" Neville asked.

"Maybe he just likes really hot drinks," Hermione said. "I'll think about this."

And with Hermione thinking about it, everyone relaxed. Conversation changed to back to normal as more Professors filed in. They seemed to be discussing what to do.

"I really hope we get a bathroom break soon," Ginny said. "Because Sirius Black or not, I really have to go."

Of course, the Quartet kept Neville's involvement with Sirius under wraps, even from Ginny and her super weird friends.

"I'm with you," Hattie said, thinking more of Quirrell than her bladder. "Did they really think we could hold it in all night?"

The enchanted ceiling clearly showed that it was night, the moon hovering over their now ended feast. They had to have been searching for at least six hours, though Hattie wasn't sure she'd see all of Hogwarts in six hours. But Ginny definitely had to use the washroom.

As if on cue, Professor Dumbledore announced that the students could head back to their dorms. They thoroughly searched the castle, and they wouldn't be letting students out of their dorms without an escort. The students were tense, but Ginny exhaled. "At least I'll be able to use the washroom," she said, "and sleep in my own bed."

"I'm definitely looking forward to the bed part," Colin noted, yawning.

Percy and the other prefects filed their students to their respective houses. Neville observed that Professor McGonagall walked with them, keeping an extra eye out for him. George, too, squeezed in with them instead of wreaking havoc with Fred and Lee Jordan. George was more focussed on lifting their spirits, and by making running water noises for Ginny.

"This line cannot move fast enough," Ginny yelled, shoving George. "This is getting serious, my bladder is going to explode."

"You shouldn't have drunk so much at dinner," Ron noted.

"I wouldn't have drunk so much if someone hadn't eaten all the food on the table," Ginny snapped. "Seriously, you ate everything."

"Not true," Ron said, hoping someone would defend him.

"You even finished my cheesecake," Neville noted.

"You don't ever let cheesecake go to waste," Ron said, proudly.

As soon as they were in the Gryffindor Common Room, Ginny and several other students bolted to the bathrooms. Hattie realized she'd find no privacy there, and even if she did have to go to the bathroom, she wouldn't be able to. Professor McGonagall lingered for a few minutes, answering questions with short answers.

Hattie pulled away from her friends to sneak up to her dorm. Lavender and Parvati hadn't made their way there yet, and she was alone. She rummaged in her suitcase for Quirrell's mirror. He was already in the mirror, reading something that Hattie couldn't quite see. "Hattie!" he said, offering a smile.

"Hold on," Hattie said. "Someone could come in, I'm moving somewhere else."

Quirrell nodded, looking over her shoulder. She stuffed him in her pocket and grabbed her invisibility cloak. The bathrooms outside the Common Room would be quiet, and if she ran into Moaning Myrtle, well, Hattie was confident the spirit would keep a secret for her.

Hattie tossed the invisibility cloak around her, and she made her way through the Common Room. She bumped into a few people, but it was so crowded, that no one really thought twice about it. But when she tripped on Percy, his eyes shot around suspiciously, and his hand reached out. He almost pulled off the invisibility cloak, but Hattie managed to manoeuvre out of the way just in time. His eyes scanned areas where she wasn't as she slipped out the door.

She passed a few staff members as she made her way to Myrtle's bathroom, but she found the bathroom empty. It was possible the spirits had been recruited to search for Sirius too, and Hattie was completely alone. She considered using the bathroom first, but the thought of Quirrell waiting for her made her too anxious.

So she pulled him out of her pocket.

"Hattie, are you all right?"

Hattie look confused. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Sirius Black was sighted in the castle, but he's not after me."

"What? Sirius Black was in the castle?" Quirrell asked.

"Yes," Hattie said. "Why did you ask if I was all right?"

"Well," Quirrell said, sheepishly. "It's Halloween."

"As if I'd be scared of a few spirits and monsters," Hattie said.

She looked into Quirrell's grey eyes watching her, and she suddenly remembered what she forgot. "This is the day my parents died."

"I didn't mean to upset you," Quirrell said. "I just thought, you know."

"I forgot the day my parents died," Hattie said, feeling a mix between anger and self-loathing build up in the form of tears behind her eyes. "What kind of daughter does that?"

"You never knew," Quirrell said. "You just found out a few years ago, and you were caught up in the excitement of the day."

"That's why I should remember," Hattie hissed. "None of my friends said anything."

"They probably just didn't want to upset you," Quirrell said quickly, trying to defuse the bomb he just started. "Hattie, it's okay."

"It's not," Hattie said. "If… if Voldemort's out there, like you say, then they died for nothing."

"He's weak," Quirrell said. "If the Ministry would just get their act together-"

"You said he's trying to get stronger," Hattie said. "They were just putting off the inevitable. And I completely forgot they died today."

"Hattie," Quirrell's voice was firm. "If you were my daughter, I would want you to be happy. I wouldn't want you to be upset every time the anniversary of my death rolled around. I'd want you to be strong and focus on the good."

Hattie sniffed, feeling the warm tears roll down her cheeks. "I can't do any of this," she said. "I can't protect myself, I can barely protect my friends." She let out a harsh laugh. "You know Ginny probably knows more curses and counter curses than I do. How am I supposed to defeat the world's most powerful wizard, short of Dumbledore?"

"He's weak," Quirrell said.

"So am I supposed to just escape Hogwarts and rush to you and ambush him?" Hattie asked.

Quirrell didn't say anything.

"Oh Merlin," Hattie said. "This is what this is about. You want me to face him now."

"He's weak," Quirrell repeated.

"No," Hattie said. "I'd make things worse. Get Dumbledore. Get anyone else. I can't do this."

"He's only going to get stronger," Quirrell said.

"I don't see why it has to be me," Hattie said.

"They don't tell you anything, do they?"

Hattie hesitated. Hermione wouldn't trust him. Hermione barely trusted Lupin, one of their Professors, and here Hattie was about to trust a Professor directly associated with Voldemort.

"There's a reason they're not telling me," Hattie said, trying to decide who 'they' was. "And I trust them more than I trust you."

"Wait," Quirrell said. "Hold on."

"I really do want to trust you," Hattie said, "but I just can't."

Hattie put the mirror back in her pocket. She heard him murmur, and she waited until it stopped. She rubbed her face with her sleeve before tossing the invisibility cloak back on and leaving the washroom. She passed Snape in the hallway, and she noticed his head turn as she walked by. Usually she waited so her footsteps wouldn't be heard, but she really just wanted to get back to her dorm. It was stupid, risking that much with Quirrell in her pocket, but Snape didn't follow the footsteps.

When Hattie stepped through the doorway, someone pulled the invisibility cloak off of her with an, "Ah-ha!"

Percy, of course. He already started scolding her, "Did you seriously think you would find Sirius Black when the entire Hogwarts staff searched the school?"

Hattie pulled the cloak out of his hands, but she didn't answer.

"Do you honestly expect me to not get you in trouble for this?" he asked. "Just because we had an adventure one time, it doesn't mean I'm going to let you keep doing stupid things. You can't keep putting Ron on the line. And I see the way Ginny follows you."

"Tell on me then," Hattie said. "I don't care."

Percy's face stayed hard as he tried to figure out what Hattie's angle was, but as she stood at the top of the staircase, Percy's face softened. He had forgotten too. "Hattie," he said. "I'm sorry, I didn't remember-"

"No, it's not even that," Hattie said, laughing coldly. "I can't use that as an excuse."

Percy tried to decipher her words as Hattie dropped on her bed in the Common Room. She actually had to pee, but she couldn't be bothered to get up. "Hattie," Hermione whispered.

"I forgot," Hattie said.

Hermione smiled in the darkness. "I didn't want to say anything. You were so happy at Hogsmeade and you've been so burned out lately."

Hattie wrapped around her pillow, staying on top of the sheets. She felt Quirrell's mirror in her pocket. The sorrow from the boggart-dementor wouldn't leave her. It was as if the weight of the world hung in a necklace around her neck. And somehow she had to find the time to be a happy kid and play games and make friends.

"I don't trust him anymore," Hattie said.

Hermione noticed Parvati stir. They were awake too. Hermione said, "It's going to be okay. I'll figure something out."

"How do you take all those classes and still find the time to solve everyone else's problems too?" Hattie asked. "I can barely learn one spell."

"You'll feel better tomorrow," Hermione said, quickly.

"I'll never feel better," Hattie said, stubbornly.

But Hermione didn't reply and Hattie decided to try to sleep, manoeuvring under her blankets. She wanted to be back at her flat with her Aunt where she'd solve all of Hattie's tiny problems. Hattie would be safe there, she knew, and if she kept everyone else there, they'd be safe too. Staying home with Aunt Petunia seemed like the perfect solution to all her problems, not to mention that it meant her Aunt would hold her and make her feel better like she always did.

Hattie felt a weight beside her on the bed. She turned over to find Quirrell beside her. He wrapped his arms around her and tucked his head next to hers. She felt the warmth spread through her. She felt his lips move against her, saying something, but she couldn't hear the words. Then she felt her sheets grow heavier and they spread into black robes. She was disoriented, but she was standing, and Quirrell was left kissing her hand.

And she felt disgust.

And she woke up.

She felt bile rise in her throat. She rushed out of her dorm and kicked open one of the stalls to throw up in the bathroom. Ginny was brushing her teeth. "Hattie?" she asked.

Hattie felt the contents of her stomach force their way out again.

"Merlin, Hattie," Ginny said, pulling Hattie's hair back. "What happened?"

Hattie instantly regretted racing Ron to see who could eat their Hogsmeade candy the fastest.

Hermione made her way into the bathroom, lightly pushing Lavender and Parvati aside. "Are you all right?" Hermione asked.

Hattie smiled. "Way too much food yesterday," she said. "It gave me nightmares and then it tried to escape this morning."

Within minutes, Hattie was back on her feet, brushing her teeth like Ginny.

The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days, but Neville's involvement was generally kept under wraps. Even the twins and Lee Jordan kept their joking remarks to him on the down-low, and Hattie suspected that it was a ruse to get Neville to be the mascot again.

Hattie stopped talking to Quirrell, cold turkey. She needed to figure out a way to find out what his motives really were, but often when she was working on homework at night, she wondered if he kept the mirror on his desk, waiting for her to come on at her end.

But between Snape's gruelling lessons and Quidditch practice, Hattie was generally too burned out to think too much about anything. Hagrid's lessons were still awesome, dangerous, and interesting. Colin came down with the Quartet, Ginny, and the blonde to take pictures during their breaks. Hattie was putting together a photo album for Dudley for Christmas, but Ginny was doing most of the work.

Despite none of the students knowing about Neville, the staff definitely was aware of it. Neville constantly saw one of the Professors out of the corner of his eye, and he'd often announce to the rest of his friends that one of them helped him with directions around Hogwarts. Hattie noticed that even Snape kept an eye out for him, especially around Lupin.

And while Hattie wanted to ask Snape about his dislike for Lupin, he wasn't exactly the most open person.

Hattie walked down to the dungeons for her detention with Snape. Her Quidditch match was coming up, and she secretly joked to Ron that he was going to sabotage her before the game. She saw the door to his office open, and she started to walk in without knocking.

But she stopped in her tracks and pulled back.

She didn't see the whole thing, but Snape couldn't get control of the boggart. He kept saying 'Riddikulus', but the shape just stayed the same. Hattie couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw her dead body on the floor. But it could have been any another Hogwarts student with her hair.

She pulled the door nearly closed, hoping Snape hadn't heard her step in. She pressed her ear to the door, hearing his 'Riddikulus'es getting more and more hysterical.

And then it suddenly ceased. Hattie counted to sixty before knocking on the door.

"Get in here," he snarled. Hattie noticed his voice was hoarse.

Hattie stepped in. The closet that contained the boggart was completely gone. She hadn't heard Snape laughing it away either.

"You're late."

Convenient for you, Hattie thought. "Got caught up in a Quidditch debate with Ron."

"Ah yes, you're playing Slytherin this week," Snape said.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to throw the game," Hattie said, trying to lighten the mood, "regardless of how much you bribe me."

"I'd have nothing to bribe you with," Snape replied, "because I can't make you magically better at this."

Hattie instantly gave up on trying to cheer Snape up. She looked around the room for another closet. "So where's the boggart whose butt I'm going to kick?"

"He's on vacation, it got tired of sucking up your happy memories," Snape said. "Take a seat, I have a project for you."

"A project?" Hattie asked. She took a seat at the desk in his office designed for detention. "Does it involve arts and crafts?"

"Please, I'm in no mood, Miss Potter," Snape stated. "You are going to make a list of your happiest memories. Then you're going to think about them and decide which ones bring you the most joy. Do you remember that I assigned this assignment to you a while ago?"

"I've been thinking about it," Hattie said, defensive.

"Well, it's time to do it, Miss. Potter," Snape said, placing a paper in front of her.

Hattie stared at the blank page. Snape sat down at his desk. "What are you going to do while I'm working?" she asked.

"Grading these miserable papers," Snape replied. "You'll know when I reach yours because of the sighs."

"Sighs of approval," Hattie said hopefully.

Snape gave her a cold look before going back to his papers. Smiling to herself, Hattie began thinking about her happy memories. It wasn't easy. She wrote about flying with the Weasley's, preferably with Ginny on the broom. She drew a few stars in the border of the parchment. She sighed and stretched out her in her desk.

When she looked up she saw Snape glaring at her. "Sorry," she said.

She thought about his worst fear. Was it really her own death? Or was it just his own failure with her? No one assigned her to him as an assignment. But then she thought about Quirrell, and the possibility of him being assigned to her. She wrote down "talking to friends" because she couldn't exactly say "talking to secret friends who were once attached to Voldemort and who sort of tried to kill me but also kind of saved me and who currently might be trying to do one or the other."

She tried to draw Hedwig but gave up halfway through. Hattie started tapping her quill on her desk to think. Snape cleared his throat.

"With all due respect, Professor Snape," Hattie said. "This is stupid. I have plenty of happy memories it's just that I'm not strong enough yet to face one."

"Humour me, Miss. Potter," Snape said, not looking up from his pages.

Sighing, Hattie turned back to her paper. Smiling, she wrote down, "Detention with Snape and Fred." She chuckled at that thought.

"That sounds like a promising one," Snape murmured.

"Oh it is," Hattie replied.

She spent the rest of her detention doing doodles and writing down a handful of happy memories. Snape only kept her for an hour because he couldn't really keep her against her will since it wasn't actually a detention. So when she started getting too fidgety, Snape let her go.

She left the paper on his desk even though he didn't ask for it.

When she got back to the common room, Hattie was overwhelmed with Quidditch buzz. It had gotten out that Neville didn't want to be the mascot, and there were people ready to step into his place. But Oliver Wood didn't want anyone else. The team knew Neville's routine and they wouldn't find it too distracting, but with someone new, well, who knows what they'd do?

Neville sulked with Ron and Hermione in a corner of the Common Room. Hattie sat down with them. "So word got out," Hattie noted.

"I don't see why he won't do it," Ron said. "I'd do it."

"You know why I won't do it," Neville said. "There'll be a target on my back."

"I have the solution," George said, sitting down with them. "Costume modification."

Hattie knew it was George because Fred was busy talking in the third person on the other side of the room. Unless George was talking in the third person as Fred which had happened before, but it didn't seem likely today since Lee Jordan was in on the joke as well.

"What?" Neville asked.

"Well, Sirius Black obviously isn't going to know that you're the mascot because he's been in jail forever," George said. "So we modify your Lion's head so you no longer can see your face. That way you're just a dancing mascot. I know for a fact that the Slytherins have their own mascot this year, so you won't stand out."

"But what if he overhears someone talking about me as the mascot?" Neville asked. "No way, it's too risky."

"Everyone is going to be there," George said. "I will swoop down and attack Sirius Black myself. We need you."

Neville seemed to consider it, but he hesitated. "What if the other mascot attacks me? I've seen the mascots on Muggle sports."

"No one will hit you, I'll send a bludger in his direction if he even moves to your side of the field," George said.

Neville sighed. "Fine," he said.

"We've got Longbottom back on the team," George shouted, triumphantly.

There were various cheers, though the other mascot options were clearly disappointed.

The morning of the match, Neville was more nervous than Hattie. He constantly looked over his shoulder and he hardly ate anything. Hattie, as usual, stuffed her face to prepare. Rubeus didn't stop in, which wasn't exactly a bad thing. Rubeus had been particularly grouchy, and generally just stuck out his leg for the letter to be taken, and then he'd fly off. It didn't help Neville's mood any, so Hattie wasn't disappointed that he didn't show up.

It was pouring out, but the game carried on. Draco looked particularly furious at Hattie, though it may have just been the rain. She noticed that since Blaise took control of the Slytherins, Draco had been out of her face. She'd receive a glare from Draco from across the Great Hall, but Blaise didn't want to waste his time on the Quartet.

So Draco would take out his aggression on the Quidditch field, which generally just meant flying around furiously.

And they were off in the air. The raindrops stuck Hattie's eyelashes together, her hair clinging to her face. She was soaked within seconds, her robes weighing her down. Her eyes tried to scan for the snitch, but with the rain dripping into her eyes she had a hard time seeing. She tried to keep an eye on Draco to see if he swooped for anything.

He didn't, and Hattie desperately tried to find the snitch. She couldn't even hear Lee Jordan's commentary over the rain. She wondered how heavy Neville's mascot uniform was getting, and if he could see anything at all. She found her mind drifting, her focus fading as the cold seeped into her bones.

She flew in circles, teasing Draco with the thought that she might have the snitch. She just hoped he didn't spot it while she was irritating him. But she would have accepted a Slytherin victory, she just wanted this match to be over with.

"Potter!" Draco shouted over the wind and the rain.

"Malfoy!" Hattie shouted back.

He didn't say anything, lingering in the air for a while. Hattie started, "It's too cold to come up with a good insult!"

She couldn't tell if Draco was frowning or smirking. "Concurred, Potter!" he flew closer to her. "Let's stay in the same location, I watch this end of the field, and you watch this end. We shout if we see it, and then it all comes down to who is the best flyer!"

"Stay close then!" Hattie said. "I don't want you flying off and not shouting! That way at least I'll see you!"

"Same to you Potter!" Draco spat.

Both Hattie and Draco kept close together, keeping their eyes peeled for a flick of gold.

Hattie noticed her dog, the one that bowed to her. He was watching the game. Hattie noticed Neville looking at it, (or at least his lion's head was in that direction) and Hattie reminded herself to tell Neville that it wasn't the grim. It was a dog, a dog that bowed to her.

Then Hattie felt it. The weight. The cold. It wasn't the rain. She saw Draco dive, but it wasn't for the snitch. The dementors began surrounding her. She patted her pockets for her wand and pulled it out. She felt her vision fading. She heard the familiar screams of her mother.

The thoughts rushed through her head alongside the screams and pleas.

Quirrell is trying to kill you.

Your friendships could fall apart at any moment.

Your parents are dead.

You've trapped your guardian in a world she'll never fit into.

Lockhart is a fugitive because of you.

Hattie tried to think of her and Fred during the detention, sticking notes on each other and joking around with Snape. No one could joke around with Snape.

"Expecto-"

You are just a project to Snape.

"Expecto Patronum," Hattie whispered, forcing her wand out.

No one could joke around with Snape.

She was falling.

You can't protect your friends.

She heard her mother begging for her life.

And then she heard nothing.