Rewrite the past

Chapter 13

"Severus, do you know where Remus is? We wanted to revise yesterday but he didn't turn up in the common room," said Hermione at breakfast a few days later.

"He told me that he was not feeling well. He went to bed but when I woke up, he was gone. I figured he was already here, so I didn't look further," answered Severus looking a bit concerned.

"Maybe he just went to the library,"

"Maybe, we'll see soon, won't we?" replied Severus, his mind obviously somewhere else.

Following Breakfast, the walked to class and took their seats in the classroom, saving one for Remus, should he come but he did not walk into the room until the lesson began. Severus and Hermione exchanged worried glances upon that but said nothing to Professor Binns who just swept into the room through the wall behind his desk. The professor in turn did not take notice of his missing student and so they just had to wait until the lesson was over before they could go search for their missing friend.

Just after the ringing of the bell they practically fled the classroom and ran to the library to see whether he was there, but he was not.

Following their next lesson, they wanted to stay behind to talk to Professor McGonagall and ask her if she knew anything.

They quickly took their seats upon entering the classroom out of breath just before the bell rang, earning them a sharp glare from the professor who had been acting as Hermione's grandmother.

The lesson seemed to go on forever. At least for Severus and Hermione who were not so patiently waiting for it to end. When the bell rang, their teacher asked them to stay behind which was what they were planning to do either way.

"Hermione, Severus, do you know, where Mister Lupin was today? As far as I know, you share a room with him, don't you, Severus?"

"We wanted to talk to you about that. The fact is that we do not know where he is. I saw him last yesterday evening and Sev said that he was not there when he woke. We figured he couldn't sleep and had gone to the library before breakfast, but he was not there and he did not turn up to class with Professor Binns," explained Hermione worriedly.

"Okay, I will look into this and you two would do well to go to lunch before it is over." The Professor smiled and ushered them out of the room and into the long hallway. Immediately they hurried down the hall to get to the Great Hall as fast as possible.

***********

After that the hours seemed to fly and soon Hermione found herself sitting on the windowsill in her bedroom up in Ravenclaw Tower looking out into the night. Maggie and Florence had long fallen asleep when she was still sitting there watching the stars and the moon.

It was just before one in the morning when she suddenly remembered a major thing she had completely forgotten until now. Last night was a full moon.

Remus had told them all the story of how he became a werewolf. He was bitten by Fenrir Greyback on his fifth birthday as revenge for his father's hateful behaviour towards the dangerous magical creatures.

That must be why he was missing that day, he was somewhere out there recovering from his transformation the night before.

She quickly got up, put on some shoes, grabbed her wand and then ran out of her dorm room. The halls were completely dark, and she tried her best not to make too much noise on her way to Minerva's room.

She was not far from the statue that hid the professor's chambers when a voice behind her cleared their throat. Shocked, she turned around to find herself facing professor Dumbledore.

"Miss McGonagall, what are you doing here? Surely, you are aware of the time?"

"I am, Sir. It's just that I need to see Professor McGonagall, sir, it is really urgent," said Hermione looking into the face of the younger Dumbledore.

He looked at her over the rim of his halfmoon spectacles, eyeing her suspiciously before smiling gently: "Go ahead then but be aware that I cannot be so lenient the next time. Surely you've learnt how to cast invisible charms back in your own time?"

The young girl smiled gratefully and nodded before hurrying off to knock on her so-called grandma's door.

It took the professor quite a while to open the door and she looked quite confused to find Hermione at her door at that time of the night.

"Hermione? What are you doing here? It is one in the morning!" She quickly opened the door more to let her in.

"I know what has happened to Remus, we need to search for him immediately!" said Hermione as soon as the door had been closed behind her.

Instead of answering, Minerva looked her over as she sat down on the plush couch in her living room. "At this time of night? Can't that wait until the morning, he could never have left the castle," sighed Minerva,

"No, it cannot. You see, Remus is a werewolf, he got bitten on his fifth birthday by Fenrir Greyback and yesterday was a full moon. He must have found a way to get out in the night. He is somewhere on the grounds or in the forest. Remus told us that, especially when he was younger, he hurt himself while being transformed!" exclaimed Hermione worried for her friend.

"Are you really sure about this, Hermione?"

The girl sitting in the armchair nodded instead of answering.

"Well, if that is the case we better get going, but we really need to inform someone else before we can leave."

"Professor Dumbledore is awake, he talked to me directly before I knocked, maybe he can help?"

"Good idea. You transform your clothes into something you can go outside with and I contact him to help us," instructed the head of Gryffindor house.