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Fool Me Once... by Crickette

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Chapter Ten

Miriam was amazed at herself.

Whether she was amazed at her foolish brazenness, or simply her foolishness in general, she didn’t know. But she had successfully escaped out of the castle through one of the underground secret passageways Sirius had showed her during a midnight stroll once, avoiding both Peeves and Filch on the way, and emerged safely inside the shed next to Hagrid’s hut. Miriam could see through one of the cracks in the wood that there was a fire burning inside, and felt relieved. If anything, she could always send out the red emergency sparks from her wand, and pray that Hagrid might notice and come running to her rescue. That was, of course, if she had time to even reach for her wand before being dragged off and mauled to death.

As quietly as possible, Miriam creaked open the rusty shed door, intending on doubling back to the castle and finding the dog. She slid out of the narrow space she had made for herself, and edged the door shut, wincing at each squeak and groan. Blowing out a sigh of relief, Miriam leaned her forehead against the cool metal…and a second later nearly froze with terror. The sound of heavy panting was right behind her. She turned around very slowly and held her breath. The enormous, jet-black dog sat back on his haunches barely a foot away from her, as if he had been waiting patiently for her arrival. Miriam had barely a second to wonder how he had known where she would emerge from, when the dog turned, and ran away from her into the darkness.

But Miriam stayed put. Right before the dog disappeared from sight, he stopped and faced her, and barked once as if to say, “Are you coming?” But Miriam was still very frightened and unconvinced. Pressing her lips into a thin line, she slowly raised her right hand out in front of her “ her wand hand. It meant that Miriam was defenseless, unable to attack, and was for her a sign of trust. The dog seemed to be considering her, and then, understanding, walked calmly back towards where she stood. Miriam’s hand began to shake, but she held it out determinedly. Every instinct in her body told her to run, that one leap was all that was necessary to have him ripping her hand off. And then, at the last moment, the dog gently touched the very edge of his cold snout to the very tips of Miriam’s trembling fingertips. His bright, intense eyes seemed to be willing her to trust him. When he ran off into the darkness this time, Miriam followed.

They had not been running long before Miriam lost sight of the dog in the overwhelming darkness. She lit the tip of her wand (“Lumos!”) but still he was nowhere to be seen. So she listened. In no time she heard the unmistakable sound of large paws pounding against the ground, the crunch and snap of branches and sticks, and she took off, sprinting in that direction.

With each step, Miriam’s curiosity grew and grew; she had no idea where the dog was leading her, or why he seemed so determined to fetch her. She became so absorbed in her thoughts and the sound of her own breath panting in her ears that she didn’t realize the guiding footsteps had come to halt. Her wand caught the shadow of the gigantic and unmoving dog, but it was too late. She came skidding directly into the brute, tumbling backwards straight onto her bottom. Gasping for breath, Miriam hastily pushed her disheveled hair out of her eyes and stared anxiously at the dog, nervous that her clumsiness had angered him.

To the contrary, the dog, who hadn’t seemed to budge at all by the force of the crash, was breathing very rapidly, in loud pants that reminded Miriam absurdly of laughter. Grumbling to herself, she stood up and, clutching a stitch in her side, gazed around at their surroundings. They hadn’t traveled all that far, and it soon became obvious that they were still on Hogwarts grounds, She lifted her wand to give the light a greater stretch…and froze, her mouth wide open in a silent scream.

He’s trying to kill me!

she thought anxiously. She wanted to holler and curse and scream bloody murder at the traitorous dog, but didn’t dare. Miriam knew trees didn’t have ears, but this was Hogwarts after all, and she had seen first hand the damage a Whomping Willow could do; particularly the Whomping Willow that was planted only feet away from where she stood.

Despite her best attempts to remain completely still, Miriam felt a sickly ball of dread gather in her belly as the Willow lifted a fist-like branch as high as it could reach and brought it hurtling down with a massive force right to the spot where Miriam stood. Now she screamed, and braced herself to leap out of the way “ but in those few seconds, the dog sprang forward and sprinted towards the trunk. Now the tree focused its blows on him, but the animal was too quick; it leapt nimbly, almost gracefully over the battering branches and, rearing back to his hind legs, placed a gargantuan paw on a lumpy knot on the trunk.

Immediately, the Willow became as peaceful as any other. Shaking with both panic and relief, Miriam gaped at the dog.

He barked once, and disappeared into a large gap Miriam had never noticed (not that she had ever gotten close enough to get a good look) right at the roots of the trunk. He then reappeared, and barked impatiently at her to follow.

“What do I look like to you, a groundhog?” Miriam demanded. The dog barked again, and dashed once more into the gap. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” she muttered, and begrudgingly followed, casting a wary glance at the fist-like branch that now hung serenely in the air. She somehow folded herself into the awkward opening, and slid down a pebble-ridden slope, landing with a thud in what appeared to be an underground tunnel.

The dog was waiting for her at the bottom, and, sensing he was about to dash off again, she stamped a frustrated foot to the ground.

“Now hang on just a second,” she shouted, her voice echoing throughout the tunnel. “I’m going to say something, because God help me, I think you can understand me.” Miriam threw back the hood of her cloak in a desperate attempt to show the dog that she meant business, though it had the effect of making her feel very exposed and vulnerable. “Not only was I interrupted tonight right in the middle of a very satisfying self-pity-party, but in the last forty-five minutes I have snuck out of school after hours, made use of an off-limits secret passageway, followed a very mean-looking dog to a killer tree, and now I’m in some underground tunnel without the slightest clue of where I’m going or why I’ve been brought here.” Miriam looked at the dog’s blank expression and struggled to find any last traces of dignity.

“And I’m sure you never would have guessed,” she began quietly, “but I’m not usually this spontaneous. So, I think I deserve some sort of explanation.” Miriam stared timidly down at her feet. “Please.”

Miriam wasn’t really sure what kind of response she had been expecting. The dog walked slowly towards her, and once again lightly touched his nose to her fingertips. He then sidled up next to her, almost like a cat rubbing itself against her legs. And whether it was out of exhaustion, relief, or just all of the inner-turmoil she had been experiencing gushing up towards to surface, Miriam found herself blinking tears out of her eyes.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”

This time as they ran down the long tunnel, the dog stayed by her side, nudging her forward when she would stop to catch her breath. The tunnel was long and dark and spooky, and Miriam was grateful for the companionship. At last, when it began to seem like they had been running forever, Miriam could see a light ahead, shining through what appeared to be a hole in the roof of the tunnel.

Without hesitation, the dog leapt agilely up into the opening. Miriam followed, hoisting herself up, her heart pounding in anticipation.

She looked around, frowning. It seemed that she were in some sort of house…a shack, more like it. Furniture lay broken and covered with dust, and the windows were all boarded up. The air was musty and cold. A chill ran down her spine, and Miriam tightened her grip on her wand. Her eyes scanned the room for the dog, but she was interrupted by a sudden noise; a howl so agonizing and mournful, that she would have sworn the blood in her veins froze into pure ice. Realization hit like a bludger to the head.

“The Shrieking Shack,” she whispered. Miriam had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming as something moved in the corner of her vision, then saw that it was the dog, bounding up the decrepit staircase. Miriam followed stiffly, muttering useless reassurances to herself.

“It’s just a ghost, ghosts can’t hurt you. That’s right, Hogwarts has lots of ghosts, and they’re all harmless “ mostly. Maybe he knows Nearly Headless Nick, I’ll bet they go way back. Or the Bloody Baron…that probably wouldn’t be too pleasant…”

They reached the top of the landing where the howling, to Miriam’s great distress, only grew louder and nearer. A door was slightly ajar, and the dog pushed his way through. Miriam took a deep breath, and walked inside. The first thing she noticed was a thin, red stream that seemed to be inching towards her feet. It was a stark contrast to the dusty-gray wood floor, and her eyes followed the stripe to its origin.

The scene before her sent Miriam’s body, pulse, brain, screaming into overdrive and then seeming to short-circuit at the last second, freezing her into a sickening state of paralysis. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think; fear was so numbing a force that her fight-or-flight instinct seemed to have vanished, leaving her with an eleven-inch Rosewood wand powered by a pregnant-unicorn’s hair, and a brain too petrified to remember how to use it.

So she simply stared, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at the hideous and monstrous werewolf that lay before her. He was twice the size of the bear-like dog, with clawed paws as large as Miriam’s head. The werewolf lay on his side facing away from Miriam, twitching and shuddering. He was whimpering pitifully, but she gave no thought to that; instead, she tore her eyes away from the monster to stare at the dog, and felt a baffling sense of betrayal.

“I trusted you,” she whispered.

But the dog merely walked over to the werewolf and leaned close to its snout, and for the first time, Miriam realized that they were not alone; she had been so alarmed by the werewolf’s presence that she hadn’t even noticed the others. A deer-like creature with large antlers was also leaning very close to the werewolf’s head, and though Miriam couldn’t see its face, from the look of the stag she could tell that their eyes were locked in an unblinking stare. They’re communicating with each other, she realized, completely astounded.

Miriam would never have even noticed the rat if not for his constant twitching and nervous scattering back and forth between the stag’s antlers. He seemed to be shaking about the same, if not more, than Miriam herself. Obviously, the only one with any brains, she thought.

Miriam could have laughed at the bizarre menagerie she found herself in, but she didn’t want to alert the werewolf to her presence. However, he didn’t appear in any condition to move, and she realized that the red stream now inching past her feet was blood “ his blood.

He’s injured! she thought almost giddily, and instinctively turned towards the door to make her escape. Her hand hovered over the doorknob, trembling with the consuming desire to yank it open and run for dear life. What’s one less werewolf in the world!? screamed a panicky voice in her head. Don’t be a fool!

Wouldn’t be the first time tonight, Miriam thought drearily, and resignedly turned back toward the strange collection of creatures. She knew that her chance to escape was slipping through her fingertips. The animals seemed to be focusing their concentration on the werewolf, who had begun to howl in agony. All she had to do was run.

You’re a coward, Miriam, said a familiar voice in her head.

Bloody right, she thought. But damn if she wasn’t a Healer at her core. She took one step, and then another, towards the werewolf.

Miriam wanted to cry, to scream, to run away as fast as she could. But she gritted her teeth and straightened her shoulders and continued to approach the animals. With a deep breath, she bent her knees and lowered herself down to where the werewolf lay, her shoes making squishing noises in the pool of blood she was now crouched in. She spared a glance at the stag, who still had the werewolf’s attention.

“You had better make sure those jaws stay firmly shut together,” she whispered anxiously. Leaning forward, she peered over the matted, gray shoulder to where the blood seemed to be coming from. She felt a surprising sense of pity stir in her belly as she examined the wound; the side of the werewolf’s neck had been brutally gashed open, just barely missing vital arteries and, she thought, the only reason he was still alive. From the amount of blood though, Miriam could tell that it went deep, and from the hideous groans and whimpers, she knew that it was painful.

When she looked up again, Miriam saw that the stag was no longer staring at the werewolf, but meaningfully at her. A spark of recognition ignited in her brain. Where had she seen that animal before? Certainly not in Care of Magical Creatures, she would have remembered that. Something tugged at her memory, and Miriam had a sudden image of silver shadows misting about a classroom, a painfully bright, shimmering horse-like creature…a Patronus!

James!

The realization knocked all of the wind out of her like a blow to the center. Miriam felt weak and dizzy. It was impossible, it should have been impossible…but something told Miriam that it was in fact very probable.

But that would mean… Miriam now stared at the beast-like dog, thinking of the pitch-black fur, the humanlike, almost arrogant behavior…the secret passageway.

Sirius!

“Oh my God,” she breathed.

It was absurd, absolutely ridiculous, and yet seemed to make complete sense. That obviously would mean that the twitchy, nervous rat was Pettigrew, which only left…

But wait a second, she thought. Lupin can’t be here, he’s been out sick for the past two days…

At that thought, Miriam felt a consuming horror unlike anything else that she had ever experienced. Out sick…tomorrow would be the third day…three nights…the full moon…

Miriam felt a tear leak miserably out of her eye.

“Oh, Remus,” she whispered sadly.

Miriam shut her eyes tightly, squeezing out more tears, and pushed everything out of her mind except for the somehow pitiful creature who lay bleeding before her. Suddenly, her purpose was very clear. When she opened her eyes, they were unmistakable and fierce. She looked intensely at the great black dog. Though she was still trembling, shaking violently from head-to-toe, when she spoke her voice was strong and purposeful.

“I’m going to need some tools,” she said.