Another Chapter that I decided to update a little for your reading pleasure. Please let me know what you think. I love comments and constructive criticism.. Also ideas of where you'd like the story to go is always welcome.
Where's Chloe:
The welcome home feast had been wonderful, Dom hadn't really paid too much attention to the sorting, other than when Eric's little sister, Emily, was sorted into Gryffindor, in which he cheered and clapped for her with Eric. He had eaten until he couldn't eat anymore and found he just wanted to go to bed, but he had a duty to complete. He rounded all the first years together, instructing them to follow him through the castle to the portrait in which he shared the password "Gillyweed". He waited with a slight impatience for each of them to clamber through the portrait hole before instructing boys and girls where they are to sleep. He wasted no time slipping off to his own dorm after that, spending a little time talking to Eric before drifting off to sleep, all thoughts on the train having been successfully forgotten.
The next morning, Dom could be found sitting amongst a group of friends over at the Gryffindor table, he glanced up as a new schedule was dropped in front of him "do try to not be late for my class this year Mr. Ferra" the familiar female voice said behind him, and he'd turn his attention towards Professor McGonagall, shooting her a smile "you say that as if I've never been on time Professor" she shot him one of her warning looks and his smile faded slightly "oh.. Right you are Professor, I won't be late I promise" he watched as she moved on before turning back to his friends, whom he could hear snickering behind his back. Eric put on a faked high pitch voice "Do try and not be late Dom" there was laughter, but it was cut short as the eyes around him landed just behind his shoulder. He raised a brow, he could feel somebody standing just behind him "was there something else Professor…" his voice trailed off as he turned and realized that it wasn't McGonagall but Hanna, his face dropped slightly "can I help you?" he asked, though it was obvious that he didn't care.
His gaze turned softer though as he realized that something was off, Hanna's body language wasn't as overpowering as it usually was, she seemed very subdued and there was a strong sense of worry in her eyes. "Hanna? What's wrong?" he asked, the concern was obvious in his voice. His entire group stayed quiet, listening closely and looking concerned themselves now, even Eric, who never stopped talking, was silent. When she spoke it wasn't in her usual snippy tone "Hey, sorry to bother you but have any of you seen Chloe at all?" she asked. Surprise etched onto Dom's face, frowning slightly "Wait, you still haven't found her?" he was starting to feel a little concerned himself, it's true he didn't know the girl all that well, but she was a fellow Gryffindor and well, it was alarming when anybody just up and disappeared. He felt movement around him as his entire group started looking along the length of the table, but he was sure that Hanna had already thought of doing that. Eric smiled towards Hanna, looking confident "I'm sure she's fine, you know how it is on the first couple of days, it's always so chaotic. I'm sure she'll turn up." Hanna didn't look as if this had been what she was hoping to hear, sighing "yeah, sure maybe.." she said, turning away from them but still glancing around the room as if maybe Chloe had appeared while she wasn't looking.
"That's weird…" Dom commented to himself, surely Chloe wouldn't be hiding from Hanna would she? The two were best friends after all. "What's weird?" Eric asked, before spotting the look on his face "hey Dom, she probably already went to class, I mean Hanna can be a little overbearing, maybe she's just gotten sick of her. You know Chloe, she's way too polite to ever say anything like that to Hanna" the rest of the group nodded in agreement and the conversation started up as if Hanna had never come over but Dom didn't join, he had an uneasy feeling about this whole thing.
A few minutes later he stood up "I'll see you guys later" he added, ignoring Eric's questioning look. He began making his way through the school, he wound up leaving earlier than usual, there was still twenty minutes before his first class began. He glanced down corridors as he walked past them, he stopped by the library to peak in, he even asked the librarian if maybe she had seen the girl, but no, she hadn't. Dom asked a few others on his way to class, earning himself some questioning looks, but most of them said no they hadn't seen her and just continued walking. This was dumb, he thought to himself, why was he wasting his time looking for someone he hardly even knew. Chloe had never said more than two words to him and he had certainly never shown any interest in her before now. He still wasn't interested in her, really more concerned at the idea that she could be missing, although it could have been anybody and he would be showing this kind of interest, wouldn't he? He shook his head trying to clear it out before at last, heading to class. Even though he had left the Great Hall early, he had still managed to make it just in time before class actually started. He slid into his usual seat next to Eric who shot him another questioning look, but it was ignored.
An hour later he emerged from the class having nearly forgotten about what he had been doing just before, he was talking animatedly with his friends about class and about classes they had coming up.
Chloe's name didn't come up at all for the rest of that morning's classes, and by lunch the entire group of them had all but forgotten the conversation that had occurred with Hanna that morning. It wasn't until Dom was leaving the Great Hall for a second time that he heard the name again, only this time it wasn't Hanna who said it, he paused and glanced towards the staircase. There was a small group of third year Gryffindors, all listening to a fourth year Slytherin, it had been him who had mentioned Chloe's name. Dom stepped closer, curious to hear what they were talking about. "I heard that her entire family are in St. Mungo's now" he said, earning a collective gasp from the listening ears "oh, but why? What happened" a girl asked, obviously hanging on this guy's every word. "Are they going to be okay?" another girl asked, her face looking pale. "Nah" the Slytherin boy said with a shrug, "I heard that none of them are gonna make it" he said knowingly. "But what about Chloe, is she in the hospital too?" the girl asked in a worried tone "that's just it.. She was never found, the way I heard it, a group of wizards broke in and tortured her parents, by the time they were found, Chloe was gone, so I don't think she'll be coming back to school" he said with a smile.
Dom stepped forward now, making it obvious that he had been listening "and how exactly is it that you know this?" he asked, his fists white from being balled up so tightly, "it sounded to me almost like a confession, were you there? Did you see this happen? Did you do it?" he asked, the group of girls were now looking between the two of them anxiously. "Even if I were I don't see how it'd be any business of yours" the Slytherin boy spat back at him, but the entire group turned to him now with suspicious eyes "wait" the girl said "are you saying that you did that to Chloe and her family?"
The Slytherin boy put his hands before him defensively "did I say that? No, I'm only telling you what I heard". Dom took another step forward, his height was causing him to tower over the younger Slytherin "and who did you hear it from?" he asked. The Slytherin boy glared at Dom, but answered "I have an uncle who works for Mungo's" he turned away from them all at this point and made his way to the dungeons, leaving the group standing there. The girls began with their rushed whispers about what they had just heard, surely this story was going to circulate the campus quickly. Dom couldn't be sure if what he had just heard was true or not, but he did know that he should be the one to tell Hanna before she heard it from someone else.