Word Count: 978

Taken

My name is Hermione Granger, and I am an orphan.

The reason I am writing this letter is because I am really scared, scared that the woman who is running the Orphanage - Madam Umbridge - is planning to do something. I don't know what it is, but she really scares me.

Someone please help me.

Yours Sincerely,

Hermione Jean Granger.

The young girl read through her letter three times before rolling it up tightly, and tapping it into an empty bottle she had somehow acquired. She really hoped that this would reach the right people before something bad happened to her or, even worse, one of her friends.

She looked around before casting the bottle out into the vast ocean and sent a silent plea up to whoever was watching over her that this effort was not for nothing. She knew there was a chance no-one would answer, but she had to try something. She watched the bottle bob slowly along the water for a few moments until it vanished from sight.

BONG!

BONG!

BONG!

Oh no! I'm late! She thought her heart sinking as she thought of the awful punishment that Madam Umbridge would give her for being late for supper. She shuddered just thinking about what had happened to Ronald when he had been late a couple of days ago; the poor boy still couldn't walk or write properly after the beating he had been given.

And Umbridge hated her more than anyone.

~o~o~o~

Sirius sniffed at the water, catching the scent of something that that he knew all too well. The fear of a child. He looked around, before looking out into the distance, spotting it.

He barked loudly, summoning his friend and colleague over to him, as a small bottle bobbed towards the shore.

"What is it, Pads?" James asked, as he retook human form.

Sirius glanced at his friend, as he too transformed back to his natural state. He picked up the bottle and shared a worried look with his friend.

"A message in a bottle," he whispered. "Care to do the honours, Prongs?"

James Potter took the bottle from Sirius' outstretched hand, and read the letter aloud. For a child so young, and an orphan no less, she had excellent written English.

"We have to help her," Sirius whispered, looking at his friend pleadingly.

"Agreed. I think it's time we got the old team back together, don't you?" James suggested with a grin, clutching the letter in his hand.

"Prongs, I was thinking exactly the same thing," Sirius replied. He reached over to James, taking the letter to look over himself.

~o~o~o~

Hermione had been right.

She had got the worst beating of her life and she was struggling to find a comfortable position to sleep in. It was so painful. No matter how she lay, a part of her would throb in pain.

The young girl heard the door to the dormitory, where all the girls slept, close and she immediately closed her eyes and attempted to even out her breathing. The footsteps grew closer and closer, and all she could think was who was going to 'get adopted' next.

"This one," the voice of Madam Umbridge whispered, once the footsteps had halted. "She's highly intelligent, some would say too intelligent for her own good. She would be perfect for your… experiment Madam Lestrange."

Please don't let her be talking about me, Hermione thought to herself, but she knew it was fruitless. After all, who else would Madam Umbridge think was 'too intelligent for their own good?' Hermione knew that she was by and far the cleverest girl at the orphanage.

"Very well, Madam Umbridge, we have a deal," said an unfamiliar voice, who Hermione assumed must be Madam Lestrange. "I'll have my man bring her out to the carriage. We have places to be."

"As you wish."

Hermione heard the clinking of coins, signalling money being exchanged, and her whole body froze as she felt cold hands make contact with her skin.

She fought the basic instinct to kick and scream, knowing that it would be fruitless to do so.

~o~o~o~

This was the place.

Wool's Orphanage.

The place where the young child's scent had led them.

James, Sirius and Remus looked all over for some sign of the young girl who had written the letter.

Sirius gave his friends a subtle nod, and disappeared behind a tree, returning to their side in his Animagus form. Not even for something as important as this could they risk exposing magic to the public.

He ran around the entire orphanage, twice, sniffling at every nook and cranny to catch her scent, but there was nothing fresh.

"Nothing!" Sirius said dejectedly, after taking his human form again. "She's been gone at least a week."

"You there!" James called to a nearby redhead, jogging over to him. "Do you know a Miss Hermione Granger?"

"Y—y—yes, she got adopted though," the young boy answered. "But, I don't think she was. Strange things happen here. Some say that the children don't get adopted, they get stolen in the middle of the night."

"What do you mean?" James pressed.

"Exactly that, Sir," the redhead answered. "We go to sleep at night and the next morning, poof, another one if us is gone, and it's not just anyone, it's someone smart, someone who gives Madam Umbridge too much trouble."

The young boy's face paled as though he felt he had said too much.

"Ronald Weasley," a sharp voice said.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," the redhead sad. "If I don't, she'll do bad things. Please find Hermione."

"Thank you, Ronald," James said, tossing a sweet to the redhead and returning to his friends. "Right, guys, it's time to make a plan. The girl has been taken, and it is our job to make sure she is safe."