The Sunrise of My Heart

The days passed in a blur, time flying past me as if I was standing still in a world shooting by. As each days passed and the third task grew closer, an increasing feeling of unease grew within me. For some reason, I was dreading the coming of the third task.

"So what do you think, Riley?"

"Huh?" I looked up, startled to realize Ginny was standing in front of me, apparently having been talking to me. I had been musing over my misgivings about the third task and had been completely lost in my mind.

"Weren't you listening at all?" She sighed, rolling her eyes at me. "I asked you if you wanted to spend part of the break at my house this summer."

"Oh! Yeah, sure, that should work..."

"Riley, are you okay? You seem really distracted."

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine. Just preoccupied."

"With what? You and Draco aren't having problems are you?"

"What? No! I just didn't get much sleep last night. So I'm really tired now." I smiled at her, hoping she wouldn't see through my facade. Luckily, she didn't. She just smiled at me and nodded knowingly.

"I haven't been able to sleep much, either. I'm..." She lowered her voice and looked around, as if embarrassed to continue speaking. "Well, I'm kind of worried about Harry and the third task. No one knows what it'll be, and I'm afraid he might get hurt." I noticed her ears and cheeks had turned a rosy pink color.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that too. I can't help but think the last task is going to be far more difficult than anyone expects." My words hung ominously in the air, and we were both silent, thinking our own private thoughts.

"Well, I'll see you later," Ginny finally said, waving to me as she walked away. I didn't have time to say goodbye to her, though, because at that moment Professor Snape was walking quickly towards me, looking somewhat annoyed (or more so than usual).

"Miss Carson, follow me." He swept away, his cloak billowing behind him. Silently, I followed him, wondering what this was all about.

We went into his classroom, which was empty now because it was lunch. "The next time you hear from Lupin, tell him I have his concoction ready and he needs to find a way to get it. Before the full moon, preferably."

I nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll tell him. Um thanks." I headed for the door, hoping that was all. Despite being one of my favorite teachers, I couldn't deny the fact that he kind of scared me.

"One more thing, miss Carson. The next time you feel like taking a midnight stroll through the castle, please refrain from bringing foul creatures from outside in with you." His black eyes glittered dangerously, making me think he knew more than he was letting on.

"Yes, sir. I just really like animals so I let it in while I was strolling." He continued to stare at me, making me feel nervous. "Um I'm hungry, so can I go to lunch now?"

"Yes. Go." I left, trying to quell the racing of my heart. Did he know I had helped Sirius to stay in here undetected? That would be bad.

I walked to the Dining Hall slowly, moving through the empty halls like a ghost. If Snape knew Sirius was here, that might mean he could find him. And if he found him, Sirius was in deep, deep trouble. I had to warn him soon. For the time being, though, I pushed those thoughts aside and tried to appear cheerful and calm so I wouldn't make Draco wonder what was wrong. I wasn't sure if I could come up with a good enough lie to convince him at the moment.

"Where were you?" Draco asked when I sat down next to him.

"Sorry, I had to talk to Professor Snape about some of the Potions homework," I said, dumping food onto my plate without even looking at what I was grabbing.

"Filthy Mudblood," he muttered, causing me to look up sharply at him. He scowled and mumbled an apology so softly I barely heard it from right beside him. Rolling my eyes, I turned away from him and faced Hermione, who had walked over to our table, looking timid and frightened.

"Um Riley, Harry asked to talk to you. He would have come over here himself, but he was worried it would cause trouble." Without hesitating, I got up and followed her, leaving Draco to glower at our retreating backs.

"Yes, Harry?" I sat down next to him, grabbing a bit of food off of his plate and eating it because I was hungry.

"You know Si- Snuffles?" His eyes were intense, making me scoot back a few inches.

"You look insane, Harry. Just so you know."

"You know Snuffles?" he repeated, just as intensely.

"Yes, I know Snuffles! What's the big deal?"

"You saw him. You know him, you saw him, you didn't tell me. Last year, you knew he was innocent and you never said anything. He came to visit you, and didn't even bother to stop by and say 'hello'. What made him so keen to come and visit you? How do you even know him? He's been in prison for most of your life."

"Honestly, you sound like a possessive gay-boy, Harry. It's not very flattering to you." He glared at me, so I continued. "I know Snuffles because my parents knew him, like your parents did. They were always convinced of his innocence, so they took me to visit him in Azkaban as a child. He became like... like an uncle to me, I guess you could say." I was not telling him the whole story, but that was all he needed to know. I doubted he'd even believe the real story if I told him.

"So you've known him for your whole life?"

"Yeah. So that's why, on his journey last night, he felt he only had time to visit one person without risking getting caught. But if I write him again, I'll tell him to visit you because you're jealous." Harry rolled his eyes at me, the green intensity having dulled down quite a bit. "Now can I go back to my own table and eat? I'm freaking starving!" Without waiting for an answer, I went back to Slytherin table and sat down next to Draco.

"What did Potter want?" He looked really, really unhappy that I'd sat next to Harry and left him behind, and his voice was icy.

"Honestly, I don't know. I wasn't listening to a word he said. I just kind of nodded and mumbled incoherently so it would seem like I was listening to him." I smirked at Draco, causing him to smile coldly, pleased with my answer.

"Wait. Do you ever do that to me?" he asked. I crammed food into my mouth, eating it rapidly and not answering him, intentionally bugging him. "Seriously, do you ever ignore me when you're pretending to listen to me?"

I swallowed my food and stood up, grabbing my bags. "I have to get to class early today so I can finish up some homework that I forgot to do."

"Hey, wait! I'm serious."

"Bye, Draco!" I walked away quickly, laughing at his expression. For the time being, my apprehensions over Snuffles and the third task had been pushed down, letting me enjoy myself for a bit.