I burst into the common room twenty minutes later, only to find a party raging inside. Shoot, the match! I'd missed it all! We must have won.

I couldn't find Hermione in her corner, so I went up to our dorms and found her fast asleep, her rune book still open on her chest.

"Hermione," I whispered, gently shaking her by her arm. Suddenly, she bolted upright, her book falling to the floor with a loud thud.

"How long was I asleep?" She asked vigilantly. "I have so much work I still have to do!"

"Never mind that." I eased her back down. "You needed a nap — I haven't seen you sleep since I returned from the holidays."

"I have, just in three to five hour increments," Hermione rubbed her eyes. "How'd the match go?"

"Excellent apparently," I told her, grinning. "There's a party in the common room to celebrate."

"Oh, I couldn't," protested Hermione. "Especially since I didn't come to the match because of my work, and then just took a nap when I was supposed to be working."

"You need a break, Hermione," I told her sternly, "you know it's a problem when I'm the one telling you to relax." When she still didn't seem convinced, I rolled my eyes. "Even Percy's downstairs partying. You don't want to be more boring than Percy, do you?"

"Definitely not," Hermione laughed, then yawned, "oh, alright then."

We were greeted by most everyone with cheers and offering of food and drink. Harry was the first — he must have thought we both were swamped with work, or that I'd stayed back to be with Hermione, because he didn't ask about my absence. He hardly seemed upset either, more so grateful that she'd come down at all.

She did run off after half an hour, though. Ron still wasn't taking too kindly to her. Harry pulled him over to talk while I ran back up the stairs after her, two plates in hand.

I found Hermione sitting on her bed, wiping the tears from her face with her sheets. I felt my heart sink a little in my chest.

"I'm sorry for making you go down," I told her. Reconsidering, I shook my head. "Actually, I'm not. I'm sorry that Ron's still angry with you about Scabbers, but I'm glad that you came down, even for a little. Harry was happy to talk to you again, and Fred and George were just telling me how pleased they were to see you."

Hermione sniffled, but she smiled. "Were they really? Thank you Lila, that makes me feel much better."

"Of course," I nodded. "I brought you food, too."

"Thank you," Hermione took the plate from me happily. "You're a lot better at cheering people up than you think you are."

"Really? You think so?" I asked, smiling as I took a bite of my cookie.

Hermione nodded. "You're an amazing friend. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Oh, don't say that," I smiled, slightly abashed at the flattery. "You give me too much credit. It is such an honor to be able to call you my best friend."

Hermione set her plate down on the comforter and pulled me into a hug. While the party raged well into the night we were perfectly happy spending time with each other in the comfort of our dormitory. Only when Parvati and Lavender returned, looking exhausted, did we realize that we should probably go to bed. I'd forgotten entirely about Sirius.

It seemed only an hour or so after I'd dozed off that I was awoken by a strangled yell from the boy's dormitories. Rubbing the sleepiness out of my eyes, I sat up and looked around at the others in the darkness of the room. Parvati was shaking Lavender awake, while Hermione was sitting up as well.

"Everyone else heard that, right?" She asked. We all nodded, except for Lavender, who was still waking up.

"Let's go see what happened," I suggested, getting out of bed. I made sure I was the last to leave, leaving the door slightly open.

I lead the way down to the common room. By the fireplace stood the boys in our year, Ron looking extremely shaken.

"— right in front of me!" He was insisting. "Holding a knife!"

"What happened?" I asked him, though I feared I already knew.

"Sirius Black was in our common room!" He cried. "Slashed our curtains with a knife and was standing over me when I woke up!"

"The rest of us weren't awake," said Dean.

"I don't understand why he wouldn't have just gone after me," Harry said. "I was asleep — he could have done it easily."

I fought the urge to facepalm. "Beats me," I said instead. More and more people started to gather in the common room, and McGonagall herself came down in her nightdress.

"Now, really, enough's enough!" She looked at us disappointedly. "I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorize this, Professor!" protested Percy. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare—"

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" Ron yelled. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME, HOLDING A KNIFE!"

Fifteen minutes later, we all sat in a clump by the fireplace, gossiping amongst ourselves. I was trying to engage in conversation, but my head was reeling. What the hell was he thinking?!

I finally stood up. "I'm going back to bed."

"Are you insane?" Ginny looked at me dubiously.

"He can't get into the girls dormitories anyway, he's a man." I said, with the irony of knowing that that's exactly where he was. "I haven't slept enough as it is. I don't pull of these eye bags quite as well as Hermione does."

She swiped at my ankle in reprimand, but laughed nonetheless.

"I'll come up in five. I want to make sure Ron's okay."

Bless her golden heart — she was much better than me. When I reached my bed upstairs, I tossed open my closed canopy. Guiltily, a big black sheepdog stared up at me from my bed, a knife in his mouth.

I sighed heavily. "Give me that."

The dog whined, but dropped the knife and transformed back into Sirius. I wasn't ever going to get used to that. I climbed into my bed and cast a silencing charm so nobody could hear from the outside.

"Does subtle mean anything to you?" I hissed.

"I was very subtle!" He insisted. "It's not my fault the boy's a light sleeper." He huffed. "And it doesn't matter anyway — the rat wasn't even there."

"I told you that he escaped." I reminded him. "Why did you go looking for him?"

"It was worth a shot." Sirius said impatiently. "He had to have returned to the castle. Where else would he go?"

"Alright, sure, but now what?" I frowned. "There's no way he'll go back. He knows you know."

Sirius seemed to think of something, then retract it. I prompted it out of him soon after.

"I was thinking . . . The map . . ." Sirius considered, then shook his head. "But no, he knows about the map, so he'd stay out of its bounds, if he were smart."

"We have the map," I informed him. "Well, more so Harry does, but Brutus and I will keep an eye out for him."

"Yes, yes, keep a lookout," Sirius mused. "I'll keep watch by the edge of the forest and Hogsmeade. Well, as long as I'll be able to anyway."

"Alright," I agreed. "And I'll visit you as much as I can in the shack. Probably early in the morning or while everyone else is away. I'll smuggle you some food, if you'd like."

"More than I deserve, but I'd appreciate it," Sirius smiled wryly. "Berries from the woods aren't exactly a sufficient source of nutrients."

After we arranged a bit more of a schedule, as well as discussing a few other theories or possible plans, a tired silence fell upon us.

"When can I get out of here?" He asked me.

"You'll have to leave tomorrow morning." I frowned. "We can't go now, it's too risky with the Dementors, and everyone's in the common room." I gestured to my rumpled covers. "Make yourself comfortable, I suppose."

I fell asleep that night with an escaped convict in dog-form at the foot of my bed. Thankfully, when I woke up, I was happy to see that he had gone.

The news spread like wildfire, and so I took to locking myself away and trying to restrategize. I couldn't visit Sirius again until the next Quidditch match, or until I mastered the Patronus, both of which seemed long off.

On Friday, there was a notice posted for another Hogsmeade trip. Hermione was quick to tell Harry not to go, especially considering what had just happened, but he and Ron ignored her.

"Harry knows well enough not to go," I tried to reassure her.

"I'm sure he's planning on it," she said stiffly. "He's lucky I'm not going to go to Professor McGonagall, even though I really should. You'll keep an eye on them, right?"

"Oh, I dunno," I shrugged, because I had other plans for the day that involved illegal activities. "Ron and I can't seem to go five minutes without arguing, and then Harry's in a bit of an odd spot. I'm thinking I'll do some shopping on my own."

"Oh, alright," Hermione sighed. "But would you pick up a book for me? It's ordered under my name — it's for Buckbeak's trial."

"Yes, of course," I agreed. Despite my own busy schedule, Hermione had been doing at least threefold of what I was, and I still didn't yet know how. Sirius could wait a few minutes — Hermione took priority.

Unfortunately, he'd have to wait a few more. Malfoy intercepted me just as I was leaving the bookstore.

"Holmes. Let's talk, yeah?" Strangely enough he was alone. He had that perpetual frown on his face and was already tugging me by the elbow to a more secluded area.

"We're friends, aren't we?" He asked as he stopped me behind the building. The Shrieking Shack was in plain sight behind him — I tried my best not to look at it.

"Yes." I agreed, then reconsidered. "I think so?"

"Yes," Malfoy reaffirmed. "And friends are honest with each other?"

Uh oh. "Yes?"

"Friends would tell each other what they're doing going up to the Whomping Willow and walking into secret passageways." Malfoy's silver eyes bore into mine. "Yes?"

Damn it. I tried to brush by him. "Unfortunately that is the exception."

"Is it?" Malfoy caught me by the wrist. "Holmes, I truly hate admitting this, but I just want to know you're not in any danger. That you aren't doing something to get you killed. Or," he grimaced, but cut off.

"Or what?" I prompted.

"Arrested."

I swallowed. "How did you see me?"

"It wasn't me. It was Pansy." Malfoy explained, looking disappointed. "She got detention with McGonagall for talking back, and the entire grounds are visible from the Astronomy tower." He said this very meaningfully. "She was worried about you, in her own way. Came to me the next morning grumbling about how you never seem to learn your lesson."

"Well I promise it's nothing I can't handle." At Malfoy's disbelieving expression, I insisted. "You're going to have to trust me about this."

"Are you sneaking Sirius Black into the castle, yes or no?" He hissed, losing all tact in favor of frustration.

"Really, Malfoy, everyone knows it's far easier to prove that something isn't true than to prove that it is," I said sagely. "To ask me to do so would be an insult to my intellect."

"I can't believe I'm saying this." He put his face in his hands. "Fine, fine, alright. Whatever the hell you're doing I trust you have a reason. But just don't get caught, okay? Be careful, because I know the dementors won't be so forgiving."

I sobered up quickly. I knew now from Sirius just what would happen if he were caught. If my aid was traced back to him, it could very well be the same for me. "I promise. I didn't mean to scare you."

"You never do," he sighed, but before I could ask him to elaborate he had already moved on. "Also, about Pansy. She wanted me to let you know that she wants to accept your offer."

I perked up. "Really?"

"She needs help in Transfiguration and Charms." He continued, ignoring my surprise. "Her Herbology could use some work too, but it's kind of hard to study that."

"Not necessarily." I said thoughtfully. "Tell her I'll do whatever I can. I'm free tomorrow, if she doesn't mind studying on a weekend."

"I'll tell her, then." Malfoy bit his lip, then seemed to acquiesce against some internal struggle. "Thank you, Holmes. I've been trying myself, but I'm not the best at explaining, and I've got my work cut out with Crabbe and Goyle—" he stopped and scowled at my expression. "What's that look for? Is it a crime that I want them to do well?"

"Look at you." I teased and poked his chest. "Perhaps there's a heart of gold in there after all."

"I'll kill you," he sneered.

I brushed by him, this time successfully. "Goodbye, Malfoy."

I met Pansy the following morning in the library. She looked rather disgruntled, her hair pulled into a messy bun that's rumpled on one side like she's slept on it. Her bangs grew into her eyes, but didn't do much to hide the bags below them.

"Hey," I greeted her with a smile. "Thanks for joining me. I'm really excited to-"

"Dial it down with the pep, I can't do that right now." She looked incredibly surly. "Please just tell me how to do a Banishing Charm so I can write this paper."

"Sorry, guess I'm just nervous." I did as she asked, acting as I normally did. "I didn't think you'd say yes."

"I didn't think I would either." She agreed with a defeated smile. "But after enough P's on my practicals I'm taking drastic measures."

"It's not your fault, you know." I told her sincerely. "I know McGonagall and Flitwick have similar teaching styles, which is why I picked up on them the fastest. They're my best subjects."

She raised an eyebrow. "Not Potions?"

"Malfoy's caught enough of my slip ups to make it seem that way." I waved a hand. "But you're good at Potions too. It's pretty straightforward, none of the mental gymnastics that go with Charms and Transfiguration. They don't talk about the theory that often in class, but it helps other people understand."

Now she seemed interested, hope sparkling in her previously dull eyes. "What do you mean?"

And so I explained to Pansy the same concepts I did to Dean, Neville, and Seamus when we studied together in first year. Pertaining to Banishing Charms, I broke down the theory of an objects' existence in a location vs its potential.

"I never thought about it that way." She mused after fifteen minutes of explanation.

"Try a Banishing Charm now." I encouraged. "And don't doubt yourself. That's half the battle. I know you can do it. I'll even turn around, if you want."

"No need for that," she rolled her eyes, brandishing her wand. With a breath, she managed to Banish the book in front of her first try. Her eyes brightened, and her lips pulled themselves into a surprised smile as she turned to me.

"You're pretty good at this, Holmes."

I bit back my own proud smile. "I try."

I met with Pansy once a week after that, and sometimes Malfoy would tag along, but then I needed to start studying with my Gryffindor group again. I hadn't studied for finals with them since first year, given my unavailability last year. On top of that I visited Sirius under the Whomping Willow during mealtimes, and at night I stayed up practicing my Patronus.

I'd only produced a few silvery wisps and the faint trace of both wings and a long tail, though on separate occasions. I was starting with more recent memories but realized I might need to go further back, perhaps to first year.

I'd started to make a schedule for myself: wake up, visit Sirius, eat breakfast, go to class, study, grab food from the kitchen, visit Sirius if I hadn't already, go back to class or study, eat dinner, homework, patronus.

Notably, I hadn't slept much because of it.

Dean suggested that we combine study groups.

"Pansy and Malfoy are good at Potions while the rest of us are terrible, and we can help them with Defense Against the Dark Arts." He explained reasonably. "Neville could easily fix Pansy's Herbology problem too, if she'll let him."

"Absolutely not," Pansy said when I brought it up. "I don't need even more goody-two-shoes Gryffindor studying with me."

"It'll be mutually beneficial. They have a lot to learn from you too." Malfoy, who happened to be there on this occasion, took my side. "You've got top marks in Arthimancy. Holmes and I could use your help too. Thomas as well, probably."

Seeing that the argument was two to one, Pansy relented. We decided that we'd start meeting all together closer to exam season.

I ended up meeting Sirius in the Shrieking Shack once more on the next Hogsmeade weekend. We'd had no luck regarding Pettigrew, and often our meetings slipped off into other topics. He'd tell me stories about my mother. In turn, I'd tell him stories about Harry. After all of the threats and formalities, Sirius was very enjoyable company.

There was one day we'd gotten so lost in conversation that I accidentally skipped both of my classes, and had to cut him off midway through a story to rush back. I met Harry and Ron in the hallway, Hermione nowhere to be seen. If they were concerned about my absence, they didn't say so. They seemed too bewildered by something to care.

"You missed Charms." Ron said conversationally.

"Oh joy." I replied.

"Oh, and Hermione slapped Malfoy."

"What?!" I tripped over my own feet.

"And quit Divination." Harry added.

"EXCUSE ME?!"

"Hermione Granger!" I burst into the common room, the two boys in tow, to find her asleep in her chair. I woke her up with my volume, of course, and dramatically fell to one knee in front of her. "When did you stop becoming my best friend and start becoming my role model?!"

She blinked awake in front of me, clearly confused. "What? Oh, no! I forgot to go to Charms!"

"But how could you forget?" Harry asked, thankfully too perplexed by this to realize I hadn't been in Charms either. "You were with us till we were right outside the classroom!"

"I don't believe it!" Hermione groaned. "Was Professor Flitwick angry? Oh, it was Malfoy, I was thinking about him and I lost track of things!"

"Clearly," Ron muttered, staring at the pile of work she'd amassed. "Hermione, I reckon you're doing too much."

"No, I'm not!" Hermione protested, grabbing her bag. "I just made a mistake, that's all! I'd better go and see Professor Flitwick and apologize . . ."

She ran off through the portrait hole.

Ron had apparently forgiven Hermione a while ago, but I hadn't been there for it — I was too busy with Sirius, or perhaps studying with the others. Ron's now taken up trying to prepare for Buckbeak's case, hoping to take a load off of Hermione's back.

"How's she doing it?" Ron asked me in the library. Hermione was working a little ways away at her own table, papers spread all out in front of her and books flipping pages on their own. "Getting to all of her classes?"

"It's pointless to ask her, she won't even tell me," I shrugged. "But I'm really impressed with how she's been able to do it all."

"She's crazy, if you ask me," Ron remarked, "brilliant, of course, but crazy. She's been so bold lately. Hitting Malfoy, dropping out of Divination . . ."

"Malfoy definitely deserved it," I replied, having been filled in on the circumstances. "And as a Seer myself, Divination's easily the worst class I've ever taken. I might even drop it next year."

"You think Hermione will drop some classes?" Ron asked, still looking at her curiously. "She's been so worked up lately, it's honestly