Puppet Strings (Hogwarts x Reader)

Chapter 8

"Excuses."

Y/n laughed. "It's getting late, I better go. I'll be by tomorrow again, though, alright?"

Harry nodded. "Y/n? Can you...not tell Ron and Hermione yet? About what I told you?"

Y/n hesitated, then nodded. "Sure. Thank you for telling me, Harry."

She smiled, and Harry returned her expression.

***

Y/n dotted the last period on the parchment, finishing off her werewolf essay.

She had been thinking about this every time she wasn't with Harry. Everything that had been in that textbook chapter....it was giving her a very bad idea. A very bad idea indeed, one that made her stomach sink.

Y/n rolled up her parchment paper and gathered her books in her bag, then exited the library. She scaled the stairs until she came to the Gryffindor common room.

She rolled her eyes when she saw Sir Cadogan. He'd taken the Fat Lady's position in the painting ever since Sirius Black scared her off, and he was the most annoying painting Y/n had ever met.

"Ah, the fair maiden returns!" The man said. He brandished his sword. "Come on, I challenge thee! A duel of honor! A duel of—!"

"Snozberry," Y/n said. The portrait swung open and Sir Cadogan's protests followed her as she entered the Gryffindor common room.

When Y/n first started coming here, the Gryffindors had not been very receptive. In fact, some had openly glared at her. But, well, eventually things got better. Sure, there was still a scowl thrown in her direction every now and then, but for the most part everyone was pretty much used to her presence.

Hermione was the only one there, as it was pretty late. She was studying at a table, but her brow creased when she spotted Y/n.

"Y/n?" Hermione asked, standing. "What are you doing here? It's so close to curfew—"

"I was hoping to, er..." She had to proceed very carefully. "I was just wondering if you could look over my essay real quick?"

"Oh." Hermione gulped. "Um, sure. Do you...do you want to look over mine?"

Her tone was nervous.

Y/n nodded.

They settled down at the table again, and there were a few moments of tense silence as they read before Hermione spoke up.

"I'm not going crazy, am I?" Hermione asked.

Y/n looked at her. She shook her head. "You're not. What we read about...well, it sounds an awful lot like...like..."

"But it can't be true, can it?" Hermione asked. "Lupin can't be a...a..."

She swallowed.

"He can't be a werewolf."

"It makes sense," Y/n said. "He gets sick around the same time every month, and it always aligns with the full moon. And that potion I saw Snape give him that Harry was also there for? I'd bet every last Galleon I have that it was Wolfsbane."

Hermione rubbed her face. "So what do we do?"

"Nothing," Y/n said honestly.

Hermione looked at her.

"You seriously think Dumbledore doesn't know?" Y/n asked.

"I suppose you're right," Hermione said. "Still..." She shook her head. "I just can't believe it." A thought occurred to Hermione and she leaned forward. "We cannot tell Ron or Harry."