| Inked | (George Weasley)

Chapter Thirty

"Right." The Ravenclaw nodded shyly, keeping her head slightly downward as they walked carefully down the path. Hermione had her wand out, lighting the way for everyone.

"Why do you mess with Fred and George's pranks anyway? Most of them are harmless." Hermione asked, "Annoying as they can be, they can also be quite fun."

"I just thought they should get a taste of their own medicine." Olive remarked, "Not everyone likes to be pranked all the time."

"I guess you may be right... they might have a bias with the other houses." Hermione sighed, "Your secret is safe with all of us- in case you wanted to keep messing with them."

Olive immediately thought back to her argument with George. He did have a point- pranking was what they wanted to do... and she kind of nearly ruined it for them this year. However, their pranking sometimes went a bit too far... and way too bias towards their house.

"I'm not sure." She shrugged, "I guess I have all summer to figure it out."

As they reached the entrance for the tunnel, Hermione pressed the knot on the tree by levitating a stick to press it. One by one, each person was able to safely climb out of harm's way from the Willow's swinging branches.

"Sorry about the leg." Sirius said to Ron, "I was aiming for the rat."

"You have some pretty bad aim-"

"Ron-"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know he was going for the rat?" Ron defended.

Olive chuckled at Ron's complaining, adjusting her grip on the jar in her hands. The sky was completely dark now- the windows dimly lit from the lights inside.

"Do you think the Minister is still here?" Hermione asked, "He was here when they executed Buckbeak."

"They executed Buckbeak?" Olive repeated with her brows furrowed.

"Malfoy's doing." Harry nodded, a bitter look on his face, "Buckbeak was completely innocent."

Looking up towards the full moon, Olive sighed, "That's too bad."

Then, she froze, her whole body going stiff.

The full moon.

Immediately Olive turned to Professor Lupin, whose gaze was transfixed up at the sky. His eyes had already changed, their gaze like that of a wolf's.

"Professor?" Olive said quietly, her face going pale.

Sirius had let go of Ron's side, running up to his old friend.

"Remus, look at me. Look at me! Remember who you are! You're my friend! You have control, alright? Just think." He grabbed Lupin by the shoulders, shaking him to try and get the man to focus. However, the more Sirius pleaded, the further away Lupin's mind seemed to go.

"Looks like someone didn't take their Wolfsbane." Snape said, who had somehow waken up from his unconscious state. He was somewhat happy that this was all playing out- even when everyone was in danger. Even when people could get hurt.

Even if Sirius's name couldn't be cleared.

Olive and the others watched in horror as Lupin painfully transformed into his werewolf form. His clothes were stretched and ripped, his bones transfigured under his skin. It looked excruciating to watch, and Ollie could only imagine what it actually felt like for the Professor.

Once Lupin was fully transformed, he was curled up, whimpering like a lost dog. Olive actually thought maybe he was able to get control of his mind- that he did have control. She took a small step forward, holding her breath as she stared with her wide cobalt eyes at the professor.

Sirius was the closest, searching the wolf's eyes for any sign of his friend. He looked ready to transform into his animagus form any minute- to try and deter the werewolf from attacking the others.

"P-Professor Lupin?" Olive asked, her voice no louder than a whisper. She was pale with fear, her clammy hands tightly gripped onto the jar that held Peter. The wolf seemed to be dazed for a moment, breathing heavily after having just transformed. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting to see what the werewolf was going to do.

Then, the wolf howled, tilting his head towards the sky. The Ravenclaw was paralyzed with fear, not knowing if she should run or not. A few feet behind her Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood huddled together, holding the injured Weasley up but also preparing themselves to run for it.

Lupin made eye-contact with Olive, his brows furrowed for a moment. She could see the gears clinking in his brain- if this young girl was a threat or not. Ollie knew she should have moved further away when she had the chance, but her legs were frozen to the ground, heavy like lead. Like a dream- she felt cemented to the ground.

"Miss Lark-" Snape hissed, reaching out to grab the girl by the back of the sweater in order to pull her behind him. However, the werewolf seemed to be faster.

Lupin pounced, claws outstretched as he leapt towards Olive. The girl was pulled backwards by Snape, causing the enchanted jar to be knocked out of her hands, Peter inside. Ollie felt claws sink into her flesh like shredding confetti paper, digging into her abdomen and shoulder.

She fell to the ground, a scream unable to work its way out of her throat. She felt her warm blood immediately start to seep through her cut skin, staining her jumper and shirt. The pain was nearly unbearable, like a fire had been lit inside the wounds and she was burning from the inside out.

"Olive!" She heard someone yell, though she was already deep in shock everything sounded muddled and underwater. In the distance she could hear barking, fighting, a rat squealing as it scurried away. Leaning over her was Professor Snape and Hermione, saying things she couldn't understand.

Tears exited the corners of her eyes, her hair turning pale and colorless as the color seemed to drain from her face. Through blurry vision, Olive watched Harry run after Sirius, and saw Lupin retreat at the sound of distant howling.

The last thing she saw before she faded out was a sea of dementors heading towards the Forbidden Forest.