Briar ⋆ Fred Weasley (2)

━ five: series of sonnets

     To their side, Briar heard Hermione ask, "Do you think Black's still in the castle?"

     "Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be."

     "It's very lucky he picked tonight, you know. The one night we weren't in the tower..."

     Briar could feel her insides shaking with worry. The excitement had quickly worn off, and she felt like even her Inner Eye would be unbalanced with nervousness. She tried to keep quiet, as Hermione and Ron discussed the matter, as did everyone else.

     "I reckon he's lost track of time, being on the run. Didn't realize it was Halloween. Otherwise, he'd have come bursting in here."

     "Maybe he knows how to Apparate. Just appear out of thin air, you know."

     "Disguised himself, probably. He could've flown in."

     Briar kept her head resting on her hand, clamping her mouth shut from snapping at someone. She reeked of nervousness, though. Every basic sign of someone being nervous was evident in her body language. The next time she heard someone mention Sirius Black, she was sure that her hair twirling would result in blonde strands falling out of her head and remaining coiled around her finger.

     "The lights are going out now!" shouted Percy. "I want everyone in their sleeping bags and no more talking!"

     She let out a breath of relief and crawled underneath the covers. By the time that the first teacher came in to check that all of the students were asleep, Briar had fallen asleep, but George was hugging her arm like a teddy, and Fred was using her stomach as a pillow. The three sleeping bags had been pushed together, and the three were sleeping almost identically to what happened every summer, when they had a sleepover, and they fell asleep on top of each other.

     Eventually, though, Briar woke up. She disregarded the two next to her, as she heard Percy ask Dumbledore, "Any sign of him, Professor?"

     "No," said Dumbledore. "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."

     The door opened again, followed by a creak. Briar could feel the nervousness return to her insides and felt the need to twirl her hair, put her hand over part of her face — something. She wished that she could ignore the nervousness, and just fall back asleep, but she worried that if she did fall asleep, her mind would be so concerned about the matter that she'd dream something relating to the outcome. And, her visions liked to be on the darker side. Briar really didn't want to see Sirius get hurt.

     "Headmaster?" said Snape. "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?"

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

     "You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before the start of term?" said Snape. Briar inhaled and shut her eyes the instant that she heard someone nearby move to see what the commotion was.