Chapter 41: Dark Corridors
Katie managed to catch up with Harry just as he was entering the common room.
“Harry, wait…”
Harry spun around.
“What?” he snapped icily.
“I’m sorry I was so short with you“ I’m just trying to find a way for you to stop blaming yourself…”
“Well, do you think it’s true?”
“Do I think what’s true?”
“Everything you said…”
Katie hesitated.
“You do, don’t you?”
“Not entirely, Harry “ but on some level “ yeah, I think you’re just taking the blame before anyone else can put it on you because you’re scared…”
“I’ll talk to you later…” he said grumpily and went up the boys’ staircase to his dormitory, almost stepping on a rat that was running around outside his door.
“What are you doing running around? Go away,” he muttered angrily to it. It squeaked in fright and ran away. He sat down on his bed, watching his picture of Katie and himself that was sitting on his nightstand. This was the first time he’d had a big fight with her. He couldn’t believe she had said what she did.
It was completely of unfair of her to judge me, he thought, she has no idea what it’s like.
But Katie usually always tells you what you need to hear, a voice at the back of his head piped up. And she’s right, you know.
Before the first voice had time to respond, Harry’s thoughts were interrupted by the creak of the opening door.
“Harry?”
It was Ron. Harry turned over on his bed, away from him.
“Harry, I’m really sorry…”
Harry didn’t say anything; after about a minute he heard the door snap shut. He let out a sigh of relief and turned onto his back, staring at the ceiling.
I should go talk to Lupin, he thought.
Without another moment’s hesitation he got off his bed and ran down stairs, trying very hard to avoid looking at Katie, Hermione, and Ron who were all in the common room. They each looked at him uncomfortably, but he was glad they all were seated separately working on essays “ at least they hadn’t formed some kind of council to discuss his behavior as he had expected they would.
He exited the Fat Lady, walking briskly for Lupin’s office. He just stepped onto the last staircase on the way, when it changed.
Great, he thought. Just what I need, a detour.
He followed the staircase to a dark corridor, past unused classrooms. He was just turning the corner, back to more sets of staircases when he heard a loud bang in the last classroom to the left.
“Is someone there?” he asked loudly, walking slowly towards the door.
No one answered. He reached for the knob and opened the door, entering cautiously.
“Is someone there?” he asked again, more quietly this time.
He surveyed the room. His eye rested in the corner where a tall, dark figure stood. It was definitely a person. Harry gulped hard as he saw the person slowly emerge from the shadow, towards him. Two beams of light that were shining through the window rested on the person’s face. It was Snape.
“Professor Snape?” Harry asked, breathlessly. “What are you doing down here, sir?”
“I might ask you the same question, Potter,” Snape responded coldly.
“I was on my way to see Professor Lupin, the staircases changed,” Harry said, annoyed. “And you? Sir?”
“What I’m doing here is my own business, Potter…”
“Still “ it doesn’t seem like a good idea to be wandering the school, making loud noises when the entire school thinks you’re on vacation…sir,” Harry said, bitterly.
Snape eyed him suspiciously, but Harry could see an odd look of anxiety in his pupils “ they looked as though they were darting from side to side; but it was dark, Harry assumed he was seeing things. Snape wasn’t exactly what one would call the nervous type.
“Be on your way, Potter,” Snape said briskly after a moment. “Wouldn’t want to keep Remus waiting…”
Harry heeded his command gladly, still thinking that he had been right: it definitely wasn’t too smart on Snape’s behalf to be sneaking around the school while everyone thought he was gone; it would bring up a lot of awkward questions.
He was just about to exit the corridor when he noticed a small piece of parchment sitting in the corner next to the doorway. Curious, he picked it up and smoothed out it’s crinkled surface.
Meet me in the old Charms classroom at seven.
Harry didn’t recognize the handwriting, but judging from the time and location “ this note had been written to Snape.
Well that explains it, Harry thought.
Of course, it didn’t seem like Snape to leave evidence of his lurkings around carelessly. Harry thought nervously that maybe he should go back to check on Snape “ but then remembered how coldly Snape had acted when telling Harry to leave, and figured he wasn’t needed. Whoever he was meeting was his own business. Harry stuffed the parchment into his robes pocket and headed for the staircases.
It was another ten minutes before he managed to get to Lupin’s office “ only to find that Lupin wasn’t there. Harry groaned frustratedly as he turned to go back to the common room. He passed a window only to see a shining full moon outside.
Of course, Harry thought angrily at himself, how could I have forgotten?
By the time he got back to the common room it was half-eight and he was exhausted; he didn’t have the energy to go back upstairs so he just sat down in an empty armchair. Across from him Hermione was seated on the loveseat, with Ron draped across her lap, sleeping. His legs were sticking off the end of the seat, but he looked quite comfortable nevertheless; Hermione was running her hands through his mass of red hair and watching him lovingly. She hadn’t even seemed to have noticed Harry sitting down across from her.
Harry thought painfully of Katie; he looked around the room for her, but she wasn’t there.
This is ridiculous,Harry, he thought.
The realization that Katie was right slowly crept up on him; after all, the reason he had blamed himself again was because he thought Ron held him accountable.
I’ll have to apologize when I see her, he thought.
He sat there for a good while, debating going to bed or not before, eventually, he drifted off to sleep himself. He woke up early the next morning to find he was not the only person who had fallen asleep in the common room. Hermione and Ron were still lying on the couch; Ron was snoring loudly. Harry looked at the clock on the wall “ it was seven o’clock. They had Defense Against the Dark Arts in two and half hours. He decided he should probably wake Hermione up. He walked over to them and gave her a nudge.
“Hermione,” he whispered. “Wake up…”
Her eyes fluttered open. She yawned tiredly. She took a few moments to realize where she was and what time it was, before jumping up and knocking Ron to the floor.
“Goodness, how could I have fallen asleep?” she said, panic-stricken. “We have classes today…”
Harry laughed as she shot upstairs in a blur; he looked down at a startled Ron and reached out his hand to help him up.
“Sorry about that, mate…” he said.
Ron looked at him nervously, as though trying to figure out if he was apologizing for inadvertently having caused his fall to the floor, or for what had happened the day before. Deciding that it didn’t matter, he took Harry’s hand and pulled himself up.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said casually.
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Alchemina had taken over the Dark Arts lesson as Lupin was out. The class had only been mildly interesting and Harry had spent the entire class hoping he would see Katie at lunch and running his apology over in his mind.
He left class separate from Ron and Hermione, and walked briskly towards the Great Hall. He found Katie at the Gryffindor table; Michael Corners was sitting next to her. He was talking and smiling, but Katie looked thoroughly irritated by his presence. Harry strode over to them.
“Hello,” he said icily.
Michael looked up at him smirking.
“’Lo, Potter,”
“I can’t be sure, but it looks like you’re bothering my girlfriend,” Harry said.
Michael sneered at him. Then stood up and turned to Katie.
“Bit territorial, isn’t he?” he asked. “Well, tell me if you change your mind Katie…”
He strode off and Harry sat down next to Katie.
“Change your mind about what?”
“He asked me out…” she said uncomfortably.
“WHAT?” Harry said incredulously. “What did you say?”
“I recall using the phrase, “over my dead body.” What’s it matter to you, anyway?” she said coolly.
“Actually “ I couldn’t find you at breakfast… but I wanted to apologize,” he sighed. “I’m sorry “ you were right. Accept my apology for being a git?”
Katie looked at him appraisingly, then grinned and said “Alright…”
Harry smiled and kissed her, causing Michael, who was watching from the Ravenclaw table, to scowl.
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That night, Harry and Katie hung out in the Room of Requirement for a while, and then went for a walk around the castle, just going wherever their feet took them. They had been walking for an hour when they found themselves in an abandoned hall on the seventh floor that neither of them had ever encountered before. It had four or five doors on the right, and seven-foot tall windows on the left, which let in the gleaming moonlight.
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Katie said in awe. “I’ve been at this school for seven years, and still “ there are places I didn’t even know existed…”
“It’s cool alright,” Harry agreed with her as they stopped to look out the window at the full moon. Harry thought momentarily of Lupin before feeling something run over his foot. He jumped back, startled. It was a rat.
“That bloody rat!” he snarled. “It’s the same one, it’s been all over the school “ I feel like it’s been following me…”
Katie and Harry watched as the rat determinedly squeezed itself through a small crack in one of the doors on the right.
“Why’s it want to get in there so badly?” Harry asked.
“Probably scared of you,” laughed Katie.
Harry had the odd sense that there was more to it than that. He walked slowly over to the door and opened it to see what room the rat had entered. Inside was Professor Snape.
“What are you doing, Potter?” he snarled.
“Sorry “ it’s just… well “ a rat…”
“What are you talking about, Potter?” he snapped.
“Nothing, sorry to bother you, sir…” Harry said, wondering what on earth Snape was up to now.
“What are you doing here?” Snape asked. Harry thought he, again, looked nervous
“Katie and I were just walking- “
“Ten points from Gryffindor for your inability to curb you desire to run about the school at night, Potter. Now go back to your common room. It will be twenty points next time!”
They left, completely dumbfounded by Snape’s peculiar behavior.
“It was completely unfair to take points “ it’s only eight o’clock, and this part of the school isn’t out of bounds…”
“Well Snape’s not exactly fair when it comes to me “ but he does have a tendency to be a bit more irrational when he’s trying to cover his own tracks,” Harry said darkly.
“What’s he doing prowling around the castle? In abandoned corridors for that matter?”
“No idea “ but he’s up to something. And I intend to find out just what that is…”