The next day, Ron and Hermione bombard us with questions at the breakfast table.
"So? Are you not gonna tell us what happened?", Ron asks.
"Can we eat first please?", I say irritably.
"Cmon. What did he want?", he continues.
"Is it bad?", Hermione asks.
Harry and I exchange looks. "You could say that yes", I sigh.
Ron looks at us pleadingly.
"You tell him Harry. I cant be bothered".
Harry begins to explain last nights conversation with Draco at the astronomy tower.
"Bloody hell", Ron mutters under his breath.
"Are you sure?", Hermione asks.
"Hermione, Draco wouldn't lie about something like this okay?", I huff.
"I know but maybe he misheard".
"No. He didn't, trust me", I say.
The morning chatter seems to turn into silence as Dumbledores voice booms the floating candles.
"Can I have your attention please", he says.
"As some of you may be aware, the ministry has recruited several Dementors to guard the school grounds until the fugitive Sirius Black is found.", I look at the trio who's eyes are glued on Dumbledore.
"Try your best to stay away from the dementors. Though they are here to help, they are known to be incredibly unforgiving to anyone who gets in there way", he pauses to look around.
"It is important at a time like this to keep your friends close. That'll be all. Have a good day", he smiles faintly before sitting back down.
"Have a good day? Oh thanks I will now that I've found out there's a 100 dementors wandering round the castle waiting to pounce on me. He cant be serious bringing dementors into a school", Ron says outraged.
"He knows what he's doing. We have to trust him.", Harry says.
"I think the mans gone crazy in old age", Ron snorts.
"Dementors guard Azkaban dont they?", I ask.
"Yes. If he's brought them here then he must be scared about Black getting into the castle. He knows that you guys are in danger.", Hermione explains.
"How would he know that?", I ask.
"It's Dumbledore, he misses nothing", Harry says.
"Nosy git", Ron mumbles.
I can't help but laugh. "How did you do that?", Harry asks Ron.
"Do what?".
"Make (Y/N) smile. I haven't seen her smile in weeks", Harry grins.
"Just my wit and charm mate. It's a gift", he shrugs.
I roll my eyes at them.
"I'm sick of talking about this. How about Friday we all go down to hogsmeade?", I ask.
"Sure", Says Harry.
"If I can fit it into my schedule", Ron jokes.
"Eh its okay, well just go without you", Hermione smiles.
Later that day I make my way to my last class, Defence against the Dark arts.
I sit in my usual seat next to Blaise.
"Hey", he smiles.
"Hi".
"You doing okay?", he asks.
"Yeah I'm fine. I'm not mad at you Blaise you know that right?", I tell him.
"I know. I miss you though", he says.
"I miss you too. I'll see you tomorrow at hogsmeade though right?".
"Eh I don't know. Draco's in a bad mood lately he probably won't want to come", he sighs.
"Come anyways and I'll meet you there, we can get a butterbeer or something", I say.
"You sure?", he asks.
"Of course I'm sure".
"Okay sounds good", he grins.
I turn away from Blaise as the teacher walks in.
For some reason we have a new teacher. Looks of confusion are shared throughout the classroom.
I glance at Hermione who shrugs her shoulders.
"Hello class, my name is Professor lupin and I am going to be your new defence against the dark arts teacher", he grins widely. He has a friendly smile and a warm face although his clothes are rather tatty with rips on the sleeves. A long, deep scar drags across his pale face just skipping his amber eyes. His hair is shaggy and light brown with streaks of grey despite him appearing quite young. He doesn't seem like a teacher at all.
"Wheres our old teacher? He looks like some sort of goblin", someone blurts out. Professor lupin doesn't seem fazed.
"Not missing him already I hope? He resigned and I was put in his place. If you don't believe me you can always skip over to Dumbledores office and ask him? ", he smiles calmly. The class laughs at this and Lupin relaxes his shoulders.
The first lesson with Lupin is about boggarts. The class seems to be entranced by his practical approach to teaching as we line up one by one to try and use a new spell to defeat a boggart which is, "Riddikulus!".
"Now I want everyone to picture the thing they fear the very most and turn it into something... funny", he says.
The first student goes up to try the spell. The boggart turns into a massive rat. With the flick of her wand a clown nose appears on the rat and she begins to laugh, no longer afraid.
Ron's boggart turns into spiders and Hermiones turns into a failed test. I watch Blaise as his turns into him except an older, uglier version. His is probably the funniest one yet.
Next up is Draco.
Without warning the boggart turns into me. The class goes quiet and I feel eyes burning through both versions of me. I watch carefully as the boggart starts shouting, "HELP! HELP! HELP ME!".
A figure comes up behind me and begins to choke me.
"What the bloody hell...", Ron whispers.
"RIDDIKULUS!", Lupin shouts suddenly.
Draco storms out of the room, Blaise following hastily.
I wonder if I should go after him too.
"Class dismissed", Lupin shouts.
The class sighs sadly.
"Don't worry! I'll see you tomorrow", Lupin smiles widely.
"(Y/N)", he says as I begin to pack up.
"Yes Professor", I say shakily.
"Can I speak to you for a moment", he asks.
I finish packing as the rest of the class floods out of the room.
"Are you alright?", he asks.
"Yes why?", I say confused.
"Well you just witnessed a boggart version of yourself which can be very disturbing for some people".
"I'm fine", I say wanting to get out as quick as possible so i can find Draco.
"Look (Y/N), That's not the only reason I wanted to talk to you. I know about Sirius Black", he says, his eyebrows tensing.
"Doesn't everyone Sir?", I say without thinking. He laughs.
"I can see where you get your sense of humour from".
"What do you mean?".
"Me and Sirius were friends", he pauses. "A long time before any of this. I know he's your uncle and I know about the feud between him and your father."
"What was it about?", I ask eagerly.
"I don't know...but I know it was about you.", he says.
"About me?", my heart begins to pound.
"Why don't you come here tomorrow morning before class and we can discuss this further okay?", he says.
"Okay", I gulp.
"Stay safe (Y/N)", he says as I leave the classroom.
"I plan on it", I whisper under my breath.