Sky full of stars {Harry Potter Fanfiction}

41. Wasn't expecting that

Somehow Hermione managed to drag us away from the courtyard, and we all sprinted up to the hospital wing just as Dumbledore was locking the doors.

"Well?" Dumbledore said expectantly, looking at the four of us.

"We did it!" I exclaimed, feeling giddy now that I knew for certain Dad was safe. "We saved them both—Professor it was amazing!"

"I'm sure it was." Dumbledore said, a smile playing on his face under his beard. "Now go on—all of you—before people ask questions."

We hurried into the hospital wing, Sasha shutting the door behind her. Ron let out a yelp as he saw us. "But—I just—you were all just—"

"We'll explain later, mate." Harry said with a satisfied grin, as he laid down on his bed. "It's a long story."

Sinking down underneath the bed covers, with soft pillows behind my head, the adrenaline of the night was finally wearing off. So much had happened, so much had been revealed... We'd had hope dangled then snatched right from in front of us.

While I had a million different thoughts and emotions all trying to sprint to the front of my mind, I silenced them for now. Now was time to sleep.

**

When I awoke the next morning, the first thing I could see was Cassie. She was curled up on a chair next to my bed, reading a letter. Her pale blonde hair was a curtain over her face, and I couldn't tell her expression.

"Cassie?" I sounded groggy even to my own ears as I sat up. "What are you doing here?"

Cassie rolled her eyes at me, folding the letter up. "To check you're okay of course. Sasha found me earlier—explained what happened. Sounds like I missed a lot."

Looking around the hospital wing, I could see that my sister and friends were gone. Looking at my watch, it was just after lunchtime. After all, I used another Phoenix ability: to transport into flames. Hopefully this wouldn't drain me as much as healing.

"You could say that..."

Cassie inched closer to me, looking nervous. "I heard about Remus. I hadn't realised what he was... I would have used my stupid trust fund to buy Wolfsbane for him if I'd known..."

Understanding immediately, I smiled at my kind friend. "That's very sweet of you, Cassie. But Remus is okay." Then something dawned on me. "Did Sasha tell you about Remus being a werewolf?"

Cassie hesitated, before shaking her head. "Well... I thought it'd be better you heard this from me. Before breakfast, this morning, Snape made an announcement in the Slytherin common room. Well really, it was a rant about how dangerous werewolves were and how we should inform our parents we were being taught by one." She paused. "It's all over the school now."

Anger flared through me, like hundreds of tiny fires. Was Snape so bitter about last night, that he wanted to ruin the best job Remus had ever had? Then I remembered about the Defence job being jinxed...

"He's been sacked by Dumbledore, hasn't he?" I said sadly. "So, the parents don't complain."

Cassie reached out for my hand and squeezed. "No... Lyra, he resigned. Hagrid told us earlier... Harry and Sasha went off to see him, they were upset." She looked sad. "It's horrible, really horrible he had to quit. But I'm sure Dumbledore will give him a good reference—he'll find something else."

"Yeah..." I wiggled over on the bed and patted the covers. "Come up here."

Like when we were little, Cassie hopped onto the bed next to me. We leaned on each other, heads brushing against each other. Smelling Cassie's delicate flowery perfume and feeling her cashmere jumper against my bare arms was comforting, taking me back to simpler days.