VOID, harry potter

v. quidditch season

Had the circumstances been different, Juliet would have rather enjoyed sleeping in the serene surroundings of the Great Hall.

Once every hour, a teacher would reappear in the hall to check that everything was quiet. Kate had fallen asleep within minutes, the same way she did, no matter where she was. After an hour or two of incoherent mumbling, Will and Callum had drifted off also. It just left Juliet to stare at the stars while her thoughts danced around restlessly in her mind.

Around three in the morning, when many students had finally fallen asleep, Professor Dumbledore came in. Juliet shut her eyes and rolled around, feigning sleep.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" asked Percy in a whisper.

"No. All well here?"

"Everything under control, sir."

"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."

"And the Fat Lady, sir?"

"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."

Juliet heard the door of the hall creak open again, and more footsteps.

"Headmaster?" It was Snape. Juliet still listened hard. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched."

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before – ah – the start of term?" said Snape, who was barely opening his lips, as though trying to block Percy out of the conversation.

"I do, Severus," said Dumbledore, and there was something like warning in his voice.

"It seems – almost impossible – that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns whet, you appointed–"

Juliet felt anger rise like bile in her throat – surely Snape wasn't suggesing that her uncle Lupin helped her father enter the castle? It seemed absurd that Snape could infer such a thing, when Juliet hadn't heard Lupin mention Sirius Black more than three times in her life, ever.

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it," said Dumbledore, and his tone made it so clear that the subject was closed that Snape didn't reply.

"I must go down to the dementors," said Dumbledore. "I said I would inform them when our search was complete."

"Didn't they want to help, sir?" said Percy.

"Oh yes," said Dumbledore coldly. "But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster."

And that was that. Juliet heard Dumbledore's footsteps creak out of the doors, soon followed by Snape's daunting ones.

She paused for a few moments before opening her eyes, making sure they were really gone before she could reflect on what she had heard.

However, what she hadn't been expecting were a pair of brilliant green eyes staring back at her. Juliet hadn't known that she had conveniently picked the same corner to huddle in as Harry Potter, who had also seemed to have heard the entire interaction between Dumbledore and Snape – the perplexed expression on his face giving it away.