O, CURSED CHILD. ﹙ harry potter ﹚

XIX ; how it all ever ends

            they crept along the corridor. the door opened. dumbledore's back appeared.

            "i am going to lock you in," they heard him saying. "it is five minutes to midnight. miss granger, three turns should do it. good luck."

            dumbledore backed out of the room, closed the door, and took out his wand to magically lock it. panicking, the trio ran forward. dumbledore looked up, and a wide smile appeared under the long silver mustache. "well?" he said quietly.

            "we did it!" said harry breathlessly. "sirius has gone, on buckbeak..."

            dumbledore beamed at them.

            "well done. i think —" he listened intently for any sound within the hospital wing. "yes, i think you've gone too — get inside — i'll lock you in —"

            the trio inside the dormitory. it was empty except for ron, who was still lying motionless in the end bed. as the lock clicked behind them, they crept back to their own beds, hermione tucking the time-turner back under her robes. a moment later, madam pomfrey came striding back out of her office.

            "did i hear the headmaster leaving? am i allowed to look after my patients now?"

            she was in a very bad mood. harry, elara, and hermione thought it best to accept their chocolate quietly. madam pomfrey stood over them, making sure they ate it. but elara could hardly swallow. she, harry, and hermione were waiting, listening, their nerves jangling... and then, as they took a fourth piece of chocolate from madam pomfrey, they heard a distant roar of fury echoing from somewhere above them...

            "what was that?" said madam pomfrey in alarm.

            now they could hear angry voices, growing louder and louder. madam pomfrey was staring at the door.

            "really — they'll wake everybody up! what do they think they're doing?"

            elara was trying to hear what the voices were saying. they were drawing nearer —

            "he must have disapparated, severus. we should have left somebody in the room with him. when this gets out —"

            "HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!" snape roared, now very close at hand. "YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS — HAS — SOMETHING —TO — DO — WITH — POTTER — AND — HIS — NEWEST — SIDEKICK!"

            "severus — be reasonable — they have been locked up —"

            BAM.

            the door of the hospital wing burst open. 

            fudge, snape, and dumbledore came striding into the ward. dumbledore alone looked calm. indeed, he looked as though he was quite enjoying himself. fudge appeared angry. but snape was beside himself.

            "OUT WITH IT, POTTER!" he bellowed. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

            "professor snape!" shrieked madam pomfrey. "control yourself!"

            "see here, snape, be reasonable," said fudge. "this door's been locked, we just saw —"

            it took all of elara's willpower not to start laughing at snape's reddened face.

            "THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!" snape howled, pointing at the trio. his face was twisted; spit was flying from his mouth.

             "calm down, man!" fudge barked. "you're talking nonsense!"