Third Person's POV:

"Out of the way, everyone!" Dumbledore hollered to the crowd of bewilderment sweeping towards the portrait of where The Fat Lady was at missing from.

The troubled quartet quandary trod their way closer to the commotion of an unspecified obstacle.

The portrait, where The Fat Lady had once been situated at, had been slashed so viciously that strips of the canvas littered on the floor and chunks of it had been torn away completely.

As Dumbledore glided his slender fingers over the ripped canvas, his expression solemnly dropped dead serious.

"Mr. Flich, round up the ghosts to search every painting in the castle to find The Fat Lady," Dumbledore demanded eyeing his cloud silvery eyes from painting to painting.

That is, until Mr. Flich made it obvious where the missing had gone to, "Theres no need for ghosts headmaster, The Fat Lady's there," he pointed his shaky index to a specific painting faraway.

The silence span was a firm 5 seconds till the crowd's steps were echoing the hollow building.

"Hey mind where you're going!"

"Move out of the way!"

"Slow down!"

The sole of the shoes the students wore were clattering against the hard surfaced stairs.

There she was, The Fat Lady, in the painting of Africa sobbing and trembling in horror.

Dumbledore asked with wide determined eyes, "Dear lady, who did this to you?"

"Eyes like the devil he's got," The Fat lady spoke in a quavering voice, "and a soul dark as his name. It's him headmaster, the one they all talk about here somewhere in the castle.

Sirius Black!"

The Fat Lady's voice wailed into a sound of cries bawling. The commotion of kids gasped coeval and the room filled in murmurs. One specific life was known to be endangered. He, himself, Harry Potter. Ron shrieked, Hermione gulped, and y/n felt shivers rip through her skin.

Harry gaped at the lady's alarm feeling it agitate himself. Exactly what he needed, he felt his dearest familiar shaped hand seize his with disquietude.

Y/n's hand brought an assuring warmth to Harry as the two locked eyes slowing the pace surrounding them. Harry looked at her with draped droopy eyes and felt his jaw tremor. He only clasped tighter onto y/n's hand placing his other on top of the clutched compact connection.

"Secure the castle," Dumbledore ordered to Filch, "Rest of you, to the great hall."

Doors slammed shut, walls felt like they were tightening, and locks latch hostile. The building was to be secured by most professors and the Gryffindors were to be accommodated to the great hall soon followed by the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

The night just crept closer and closer. The silver ghostly moon shining in through translucent tall length windows of the very great hall.

"You still awake?" Harry discreetly whispered to y/n resting next to him. The hall was crowded of students from every house dozing to sleep in sleeping bags whereas the quartet were in the corner.

Y/n kept her gaze at the mystical magical galaxy scenery swimming in circular motion above them all, "Still awake."

The raven-haired boy felt his chest lift thankful that she hadn't fell asleep already. He shifted to his side resting his head on his arm looking at y/n's e/c eyes illuminate from the moon shining specifically down at her.

The moon tinted the entire hall a deep twilight blue. Thought as Harry's skin vibrated at the thought of a mass murder out freely on the run for him, y/n, just her existence herself was enough to calm Harry. In his jade jewelry eyes, she looked like a painting to which was watercolored. The moon shone over her like a mineral glowing. Everything he could catch from sight of it looked like silk. Sterling silk.

Y/n's sudden action snapped Harry out of his mixed pondering. She mutedly sighed and turned to her right facing Harry, reflecting a mirror image of him, laying her head on her arm.

"Harry you're not-" Y/n stammered trying to convince both Harry and herself, "You're not worrying about Sirius are you?"

"Pfft, no of course not," Harry scoffed not even being able to convince himself, "yes." He whispered just enough for y/n to vaguely hear.

"I'm here. As long as I'm here, you're fine. You're safe. Oh but if you dare put that at risk Harry James Potter I swear to godric-" Y/n said pointing her index at him threateningly protective staring deeply profound into Harry's emerald eyes.

Before she could curse him, Harry took ahold of her hand and tried to ease the nerve chuckling, "I'm the boy who lived. I'm not leaving anytime soon, y/n."

Y/n scoffed grinning at his ego starting to take an impact on him and swatted his hand off silently snickering.

The two smirked at each other's words and antics till y/n felt the need to reassure Harry once more in all seriousness, "Harold, you know I will kill anyone who lays a hand on you right?"

Harry looked at her with eyes wide and a content grin at his protection. He did believe her words. He did believe that she would commit. His eyes wanted nothing more than to freeze time at that moment feeling the opia in the stare from his eyes at her.

And from at the furthest back of Harry's head, the thought of the mass-murderer in the castle swiftly ran through his mind. Comprehending that even the littlest small talk with y/n wiped out the negativity in his vitriolic mind.

Their hands were laying in the midst opposed from each other feeling the tension of the other's.

Harry asked, "promise?"
In which y/n replied, "promise."

-and to that, their hands magnetically felt each other's. Harry's pinkie hung and wrapped around y/n's, returned.

Eyes fluttered drifting into the depths of darkness and shadows. Their minds drowning in the night Black Sea. Hanging onto each other's warmth by only their pinkie around the other's.

As the stars above them twinkled and the galaxy vividly danced to slow music. The feeling as if the harp was being played putting the students to sleep.

"I've searched the astronomy tower and the owlery, sir, but there's nothing there." Filch claimed to Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Ah, thank you," The grey eyed man enunciated to Argus Filch back.

"Yes and the third floor clear too, sir"

"Very well"

Snape walked in declaring, "I've done the dungeons as well master, no sign of Black nor anywhere else."

Dumbledore evinced that he thought the man would have lingered.

"I'm more than willing to send these students back to their houses," Dumbledore spoke. 

Snape bespoke, "And what about Potter? Should he be warned?"

Dumbledore advised, "Perhaps but for now let him sleep for dreams as we enter a world that's entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest oceans or glide over the highest cloud"

Minerva Mcgonagall, tipped hat professor, walked over to Snape and Dumbledore's conversation with a nostalgic slight grin.

"Just like James and Lily," she started looking down at the connected fingers.

Snape looked down at the pitiful remembrance feeling a chill brush over his shoulder and huffed.

"In time, they'll come to see," Dumbledore agreed.
(A/n thank you for the reads besfrans🤺‼️ I'm so motivated to write atm remembering all that I have planned and plotted for this book.

Now, now,

Choose;

I could update more often with the size of a chapter like this

Or I could update once a week with a fat long chapter

OKOK THANKS LOVES BAI)

𝙄𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 ☯︎︎