✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Harry's P.O.V. 

Harry was awoken the next morning by Tom, the innkeeper. Downing the cup of tea Tom made, he began trying to convince Hedwig to get into her cage. All his efforts were lost when Ron barged into his room with a bang, starting Hedwig and causing her to flap away to perch on the bedframe. 

"The sooner we get on the train, the better," he said irritably. "At least I won't need to see him at Hogwarts. After last night and his stupid badge, he's accusing me of dripping water on a photo of his girlfriend. 

"I've got something to tell you," Harry said, recounting the events of last night in his head. 

///

After he had hugged Y/N goodnight (and feeling incredibly risky and giddy), he wandered to Ron's room where he and Percy were having a shouting match. Percy accused Ron of stealing his Prefect Badge and Ron just wanted to go downstairs to retrieve Scabbers' rat tonic. Harry had offered to get the tonic while Ron and Percy looked for the badge. His best friend angrily agreed and Harry descended the stairs to the main pub area. 

He was halfway down the hallway to the parlour when he heard two angry voices and stopped in his tracks. Eventually, Harry realized it was Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. He didn't want them to know he heard them arguing, so he kept quiet and began to turn around to head back upstairs. But when he heard his own name, he moved closer to the parlour door. 

Mr. Weasley's voice came first. "...makes no sense not to tell him, he has the right to know, Molly. He is thirteen years old and fully capable-" 

"Arthur! That would terrify him!" Molly replied shrilly. "Do you really want him going to school with that hanging over him? He's happy not knowing, for heaven's sake." 

Arthur retorted, "I don't want to make him miserable, I want him to put his guard up! You know how the four of them are. Always wandering off. Harry and Ron even ended up in the Forbidden Forest once." His voice tightened as he continued.

 Harry's heart was pounding. "Put my guard up about what?" 

"When he ran away from home, he could've been found dead unless the Knight Bus picked him up-" Mr. Weasley said. 

"He's not dead, he's okay, so why does it matter?" Molly demanded.

And Arthur had an answer. "People say Sirius Black's a madman, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban- and that's supposed to be impossible. Its been more than a fortnight and nobody has seen a trace of him!-"

"Well, thats comforting," Harry thought. 

"- I dont care what Fudge is feeding to the Daily Prophet. We're no nearer to catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after-" 

Molly intervened again and Harry rolled his eyes.

To sum it up, the raving-lunatic-mass-murderer who just escaped from Azkaban was after his life. That's why Fudge had let him off easy, why he had made Harry promise to not stray from Diagon Alley. 

As he was falling asleep, he wondered why he didn't feel more afraid. Sirius Black had murdered thirteen people with one curse. But, Harry knew the safest place in the world was wherever Albus Dumbledore happened to be. 

The only downside of this escape was that Harry probably wouldn't be permitted to go to Hogsmeade. 

/// 

But Fred and George popped into the room to congratulate Ron for pissing Percy off again. They headed down to breakfast, where Mr. Weasley sat at a table reading the newspaper. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley was telling Hermione, Y/N and Ginny about a love potion she had made in her youth. The four of them were rather giggly. 

"What were you saying?" Ron asked. 

"Later," Harry muttered as Percy stormed in.  

Harry had no chance to speak to Ron, Hermione or Y/N at that moment, as they were too busy heaving their trunks down the narrow staircase of the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione promised a caged Crookshanks that she'd let him out on the train. Ron being appalled at this, started another argument. Y/N snickered quietly and walked over to Harry. 

"Top o' the morning, Mr. Potter," she said pompously with a bow. "Your chariot awaits you." 

He playfully shoved her face away with his hand, "shut up, Y/N," he said with a smile. 

"Okay. That was mean." 

"That's why I said it, N/N. Just to get you mad, 'cause I love to see it." He answered her in a joking tone. 

She rolled her eyes and pushed him out the door, where the others were waiting. The Ministry Of Magic cars pulled up, everyone got in and they were off to Kings Cross. 

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Y/N's P.O.V. 

Before they got on the platform, Mr. Weasley pulled Harry aside and they had a conversation that Y/N couldn't hear. She looked around, trying to spot Remus, but there was no sign of him. Once everyone had said their goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, they boarded the train. 

Before Y/N could follow Harry, Ron and Hermione, George grabbed her arm and dragged her with him and Fred. 

"Let go of me you weirdo, I can walk myself." 

"Just hurry up, N/N. Elijah got on the train way before us. We gotta find his compartment," said Fred.

Y/N stuck out her tongue. Since she had sat with Fred, George and Elijah on her first train ride to school, they had made it a tradition. She would sit with them for half the ride, then go and find Harry, Ron and Hermione. Maybe she'd pop into her uncles compartment. 

Finally, they found Elijah sitting alone. When Y/N opened the sliding door, Elijah got up and hugged her. It was comfortable, but lengthy. She felt her cheek heat up a little when he whispered, "missed you, Y/N," in her ear. They pulled away from each other and Y/N sat down next to him.

"Missed you too, Ellie," she said with a playful grin. Elijah pouted. 

"C'mon, you know I hate that," he said. 

Her grin never faltered. "I know, I just love being annoying. Kind of my job." 

"You could never be annoying-" 

Fred and George interrupted, brows furrowed. "-Are you trying to sweet talk our sister? In front of us?" They demanded with annoyance laced in their voices. 

"I am not! She's my friend," he defended as Y/N laughed. She wasn't sure if was enjoying this or if it made her incredibly uncomfortable. "Somewhere in between," she decided.

"A friend would've called her annoying and moved on," Fred said with a scowl. George nodded. 

Y/N clapped her hands. "How about we move on from this conversation!" She said, turning to Elijah. "Ellie, how was your summer?" She asked the blond. 

The three of them listened as he went into detail about his trip to Italy. "Why is everyone going places?" Y/N thought to herself. 

Then, the conversation shifted. The four of them began planning their Start of the Year prank, listing things they'd need and deciding which teachers they'd target. 

About halfway through, Y/N yawned. Elijah noticed and told her to take a little nap. She agreed with a sly smile. Laying back, she shifted so her head rested on the seat of the train and her legs were in Elijah's lap. 

"Y/N-" 

"It was your idea," she said innocently.

 He mumbled a "fine," and continued his conversation with Fred and George, who were scowling once more. 

✦

Y/N woke up to a rattling noise, to their door opening. The room was dark and freezing and a feeling of dread washed over her. She shuddered. The three boys looked terrified - their eyes fixed on the glass door. She followed their gaze to see a shadowy figure silhouetted in the dim light. Her breath was bated and her heart was pounding in her chest. 

Then, slowly, a withered hand slid the door open. She wasn't sure who shrieked. 

The sight that beheld them was horrible. It was tall, unnaturally so, and was shrouded in tattered black fabric. The cloth outlined it's thin frame, and when she looked up, her head spun. In the place where it's face should be...was indistinguishable features. The only discernable characteristic was it's gaping mouth - a dementor. Remus had told her about them.

Dementors were the guards of Azkaban. They feed on the positive emotions of people, like happiness and hope. They consume these feelings, leaving the victim in despair. The worst part, though, was the Dementors Kiss. When a Dementor kisses a person, it sucks out their soul, leaving them empty - a shell of what they once were. It's a fate worse than death. 

Her mind, despite the situation, still seemed half-asleep. "I bet it gets game, with a mouth like that." 

The temperature seemed to drop by twenty degrees when it stepped - no, floated, inside. It turned, facing each of them one by one. It didn't have eyes. It was judging off of scent alone. Then, it abruptly swiveled and left the compartment. 

Before anyone had the chance to say anything, the person she hated the most at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy, entered their compartment. Everything was still dark, but it was impossible to mistake his white-blond hair. This time, it wasn't with a disdainful look. He seemed absolutely terrified, almost as if he was going to piss his pants. 

"Friends left me...alone...could I stay here..." he mumbled, not looking at their faces. 

Y/N, Fred and George looked at each other. Elijah almost agreed - being a Slytherin and all. Y/N didn't feel that way, especially after all the torment he had put her friends through in the past two years. 

Y/N answered, "maybe there's a reason they left you,' she said with disgust. 

Elijah gave him an apologetic look. 

"Leave, Malfoy." George said, standing up in case Malfoy decided to try something. 

"I will not take orders from a blood traitor-" he sneered. Elijah's sympathy evaporated. He too, stood up. Fred followed suit. 

"I don't have the energy for this." Y/N thought, leaning back with her arms behind her head. 

Elijah glared at the boy. "But you will take orders from a Slytherin Prefect, won't you, Malfoy?" He challenged. Malfoy averted his gaze. 

"Fine." He muttered angrily, turning on his heel and storming out into the dark hallway. Y/N smirked in satisfaction. 

"Beautifully handled, Ellie." she complemented with a wink, still tense. Then, suddenly, the light's flickered and blinked to life. The cold feeling vanished and Y/N visibly relaxed. 

He stuck out his tongue, she laughed. He sat down beside her, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "So, how was your summer?" he asked. Fred and George were whispering to each other, probably about some prank. 

She shrugged. "Decent. Did a bunch of homework, lettered my friends. Oh and I stayed at the Leaky Cauldron with the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry-" 

"Potter?" Elijah said sharply. 

"Okay, what's his problem?" she thought, frowning. "Er, yeah? He's my- my friend," she told him, a slight edge to her voice. 

He relaxed slightly, but his arm was still tense around her, making her a little uncomfortable. 

"Er..." she glanced at Eljah's watch. "I better get going. Check up on the others, you know." 

She didn't wait for an answer. Y/N got up, ruffled the twins' hair - whom, she realized, were now asleep. 

Feeling a little guilty, she hugged Elijah and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He flushed, but she pretended not to nice. Picking up her trunk and Bandit's cage, she exited. her mind reeling at what she had just done. 

✦

Y/N wandered the halls, looking for their compartment. 

Some of the windows were still foggy, so she peeked her head into a random compartment. What she saw left her terrified - two students, on top of each other, lips interlocked- 

-she slammed the door shut with her face burning. "Okay. So. Trauma." 

Sighing in relief when she found the compartment, she opened the door and stepped in. Three people were huddled around a figure on the floor. Wait - three? And what was on the floor? 

They payed her no heed, but when Y/N peered to get a better view, she saw that the unconscious person was Harry. Her heart stopped. 

"Harry?! Is he okay?" she shouted frantically, dropping to knees beside him. 

Beside her, a man kneeled. It wasn't Ron or Hermione. Then, he turned. 

"Da-...Uncle Remus?" She caught herself. She hadn't told the others about her... interesting living situation. Or her parents'...issues. Her dad-uncle looked at her, relieved, probably because he hadn't seen her with Harry, Ron and Hermione. 

Hermione looked at her. "He's your uncle?" she questioned. 

"Later," Y/N mumbled hastily. "What happened to Harry?!" she demanded. 

Ron rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Well, er, when the Dementor came in...it, sort of tried to suck out his soul..." he trailed off. "If it weren't for your uncle..." Ron glanced sadly at Harry. 

Her body felt like it was on fire. "Harry could've... he would've been..." She couldn't even think straight. "Why isn't he waking up?!" 

At her voice, Harry stirred. His eyes blinked open and he sat up with Y/N's help. "Y/N? When'd you get here? What happened?" he asked groggily, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. "Did you guys hear the screaming too? 

"No one screamed," said Ron, still nervous - as though Harry would pass out again. Harry looked around, his eyes adjusting to the light. 

A loud snap made them all jump. Remus had broken a slab of chocolate into smaller pieces, handing one of the bigger pieces to Harry. "Here. Eat it, it'll help." 

Harry took the chocolate but didn't eat it. "What was that thing?" He asked Remus. 

"A Dementor," Remus and Y/N said while Remus handed everyone chocolate. 

When he gave her a particularly large piece of chocolate, she murmured "I'm fine, dad," so nobody could hear. 

Remus ignored her, handed her another piece and continued, "one of the guards of Azkaban." 

Everyone stared at him. He crumpled up the chocolate wrapper and tucked it into his pocket. "Eat. It'll help," he repeated. "I need to go speak to the conductor, excuse me," he said, strolling past them and disappearing into the corridor. 

"Are you sure you're okay, Harry?" asked Hermione, watching his form, which was wrapped in Y/N's arms, anxiously. 

He ignored the question. "I don't get it, what happened?" Harry said, wiping the sweat off of his face. 

Hermione and Ron looked at each other. "That - thing, that Dementor, it looked around and-" 

"We thought you were having a fit, or something. You went sort of rigid, fell out of your seat and started twitching-" 

"Well, that's not embarrassing," Harry murmured. 

"And Professor Lupin stepped over you and pulled out his wand." Hermione said. "He told the Dementor, 'none of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.' but it didn't leave." 

Ron filled in the rest. "So Lupin muttered something and some silver stuff came out of his wand. It sort of turned around and glided away." 

"It was horrible," Y/N said. They all turned to her. "Well, In my compartment." 

Her redhead friend nodded. "It felt weird," he agreed, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. "Like I'd never be happy again." 

Finally, her uncle returned and told them that they'd be at Hogwarts in ten minutes. Then, he turned to Harry. "Are you alright, Harry?" He asked. Y/N felt her heart warm. 

"'M fine," the boy in her arms mumbled. They looked at him with sympathy, but he averted his gaze from all of them...except Y/N. 

She tightened her hold on him and the compartment fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the journey. 

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

At last, their carriage arrived at Hogwarts. They exited and began to climb the stone steps to the entrance. As they were walking, Y/N heard the familiar sneer of Draco Malfoy. 

"You fainted, Potter? You actually fainted?" He said, pushing past Hermione and blocking Harry's way. Y/N's hands balled into fists. 

"Shove off, Malfoy," said Ron and Y/N. 

"Did you faint as well, Weasley? Did the scary old Dementor frighten you?" He laughed, nudging his friends.

 "Nothing's scarier than his father's bank balance, though," he continued with a smirk. 

His friend group roared with laughter and Y/N started towards them, fuming. "How fucking dare they?" 

Hermione grabbed her shoulder with a whispered, "Y/N, no!" 

"Is there a problem?" said a mild voice behind them. Her uncle had arrived and was eyeing Draco suspiciously. Malfoy gave a judgmental look at the state of her uncle's clothes and Hermione had to tighten her grip on Y/N's shoulder. 

"No, professor," Malfoy said, then smirked at Crabbe and Goyle, leading them up the stone stairs. 

The four students descended the stairs as Y/N shot her uncle a "we'll talk about it later," look. Just before they entered the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall called Hermione and Harry. The two followed their Head of House, leaving Ron and Y/N. 

"Ronnie, what do you say we find a seat?" said Y/N. 

"N/N, I say you should sit on the floor," he replied, waiting for it to register in her brain. 

She kept walking, until, "Ronnie! You're so dead," she exclaiming, going to slap him lightly. When he just swatted her hand away, she stuck out her foot. He tripped, falling onto his arse and Y/N roared with laughter. 

"Who's sitting on the floor now, Weasley?" She challenged through wheezes. 

He got up with a, "yeah. Hilarious. I'll get you back, Sterling."  

But the girl was still doubled over. Eventually, she recovered and they found an empty spot on the Gryffindor table. Wiping some last tears out of her eyes, she sat down. Ron immediately started complaining. 

"Where's the food?" He whined. 

"We just got here!" Y/N reprimanded him. He rolled his eyes. 

"So? This is child abuse, neglection, did I mention abuse-"

Then, the new first years filed into the hall. Dumbledore set the Sorting Hat on it's stool, it sang it's song and the Sorting began. 

✦

In between the Sorting and Dumbledore's speech, Ron nudged Y/N. "So, got your eyes on the famous Harry Potter?" He teased. Y/N glared at him. 

"Will everyone stop? He's one of my best friends," she stated, avoiding his gaze.

Ron gave her a "are you serious?" look. "Sure, that's why he was wrapped in your arms like that," he said in mock-seriousness. 

Y/N stood her ground. "Because he had passed out and because he's my friend." 

"You wouldn't do that to me," Ron said tiredly, staring at his food-less plate. 

"Ew, Ronnie! You're so not-" 

"See what I mean?" He asked, slyly. 

She wanted to smack him upside his carrot-looking ginger head with a plate. Maybe stab him with a fork, or a knife, or shove a spoon up his-

"Nice to see you two got us a seat," Hermione said brightly, sitting down beside Y/N, breaking her train of thought. 

Y/N turned to her and gave her a quick hug, saying "Yep! Well, a while ago, Ron found his seat on the floor-" 

"I am going kill you Y/N-" 

"With kindness because I'm the best," Y/N said happily, interrupting Ron and making him scowl in annoyance. 

Then, the hall fell quiet as Albus Dumbledore rose from his seat. Though very old, he gave off the impression of great energy. He had several feet of long, silver hair that matched his bead, half-moon spectacles and a crooked nose. To the world, he was the greatest Wizard of all time. He beamed to the hall full of students, truly glad they respected him - and it went both ways. 

"Welcome!" Said Dumbledore, spreading his arms. "Welcome to yet another year at Hogwarts. There are a few things to inform you all of and as one of them is very serious, we best get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..." 

He cleared his throat and continued. He went on about the Dementors, how Hogwarts is being guarded by them, having Dementors stationed at every entrance to the grounds. He said, "...while they are with us, I must stress that nobody is to leave school grounds without explicit permission. Dementors are not fooled by tricks or disguises - or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added, plain and simple. 

Harry, Y/N, Ron and Hermione traded glances. 

After continuing about the Dementors, he said, "on a happier note, I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year." 

Y/N grinned, catching Remus's eye, giving him a thumbs-up and mouthing, "you're doing amazing, sweetie." Her uncle rolled his eyes playfully, giving her a small smile. 

"Firstly, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." 

There was some scattered applause. Only those who had witnessed the events of the train compartment clapped hard, with Y/N screaming and whooping for her uncle. 

Ron whispered something to Harry, pointing at the Head Table. Y/N's gaze followed, landing on Snape, who's lip was curled in loathing. 

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore said. "I am sorry to say that Professor Kettleburn has retired, however, I am delighted to inform you that his place will be filled by none other than our very own, Rubeus Hagrid!" 

The four of them stared at each other, stunned. Then, they joined the applause, which was incredibly loud at the Gryffindor table in particular. 

Hagrid, who was blushing red, grinned down at his hands. Even from her spot at the Gryffindor table, Y/N could see the tears of joy in his eyes. 

"We should've known!" Ron roared, banging his fist on the table. 

Hermione laughed, "who else would've set us a biting book?" 

Their group was the last to stop clapping, only halting when Professor Dumbledore spread his arms once more. "Well, I believe that is everything of importance," he said. "Let the feast begin!" 

Their golden plates, their goblets, filled suddenly with food and drink. Ravenous, the four of them reached for anything they could and began to eat. The hall was filled with the clatter of knifes and forks. But the quartet was eager to finish so they could talk to Hagrid, then Y/N could speak with Remus. 

Throughout dinner, they laughed and talked. At one point, Y/N picked up the tongs from the salad bowl and started clamping them at Hermione. 

"'Mione, look! Its the jaws of... bad grades approaching you!" she said with a laugh, bringing the opening and closing tongs steadily closer to Hermione's face. 

Hermione just stared at her. "You're so childish, Y/N, but I love you anyway," she said, but even she giggled. 

When Y/N turned, she saw that while he was in conversation with Ron, Harry was staring at her. He gave a small smile and she returned it, feeling something in her stomach that was sure wasn't the food. 

At long last, Dumbledore gave the word for students to head up to their dormitories. "Congratulations, Hagrid!" Hermione squealed as they reached the teacher's table, hugging Hagrid.

"All down ter you four," said Hagrid, wiping his tears. "Can' believe it...great man, Dumbledore, came straigh' down ter me hut after Kettleburn said he had enough....s'what I always wanted..." overcome with emotion, he buried his face in his napkin. 

Y/N looked around for Remus, but he was nowhere to be found once more. Her shoulder's slumped slightly, but she smiled for Hagrid. Professor McGonagall shooed them away. 

They joined the hoard of Gryffindors streaming up the marble staircase, through corridors and up more stairs to the hidden entrance of Gryffindor tower.  

Even though she had been going to Hogwarts for two years, Y/N still felt a sense of awe when she saw the Gryffindor common room. After reciting the password ("Fortuna Major!") to the portrait which concealed their tower, she headed inside, holding hands with Hermione. 

Skipping to the Girl's staircase, they climbed up to their dormitory with a quick, "good night," to Ron and Harry. 

Opening the door to their tower dormitory, Y/N saw Bandit on her bed. She fed him a treat, digging through her trunk to find her pajamas. Hermione did the same, picking up Crookshanks and petting him. Once they were changed, they heard Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil enter. The two girls proceeded to their Four-Poster beds and began their nightly routine while Y/N and Hermione huddled on Y/N's bed. 

This was the case since their first ever day of school. Y/N had been chatting with Lavender and Parvati in their dorm when Hermione came in, sobbing.

 She curled up on Y/N's bed, ranting through tears about how everyone was insufferable and extremely rude. Hermione ended up falling asleep in Y/N's arms as Y/N was comforting her. They'd been inseparable since. 

"'Mione, I'm tired," Y/N complained, flopping backwards onto her bed. 

Hermione smiled tiredly. "Then sleep, you idiot," she said. 

"But that's boooorrrrrinnnggggg," she whined, tugging on Hermione's sleeve jokingly. 

"You are such a child!" Hermione exclaimed. "Do you need a toy to keep you busy? A bedtime story to sway you into slumber?" She asked. 

Y/N put a finger on her chin playfully. "Hmm, bedtime story," she decided. 

Hermione sighed at her best friend in her sleepy state. "Alright, fine, " she agreed softly, whispering now since Lavender and Parvati were asleep. 

"Once upon a time," she began, smirking at Y/N who sighed contently. "There was this girl. And there was this boy! He was, like, really famous. And he was incredibly in love with this girl and the girl was in love with hi-" 

Her sentence was cut off as Y/N threw a pillow in her face. Hermione laughed her head off, falling back onto the bed. Y/N glared at her. "

"You know you love me, N/N." 

"That I do, 'Mione." 

─── ☆: *.⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ .* :☆ ───

 we're finally back at hogwarts, herm-own-ninny is our best friend and everything is amazing! 

vote and comment if u liked it and Merry Christmas if you celebrate! 

- dizzyann1e