Chapter 10: Lost

Susie scrambled out of the fireplace in the stationmaster's office on Platform 9 and 3/4 and made to leave when a hand caught her wrist in an iron grip. She gave a loud, exaggerated sigh and turned around to glare at her captor.

"We're at the Platform, can't I go yet?" she asked sulkily.

"Not yet," Ferran told her, hoisting her trunk up with his other hand and dragging it and Susie onto the Platform itself.

"I want you to behave yourself. No Spellcrafting at school. And I want that Theory work done. And the Arithmancy."

"All right!" she answered impatiently, searching the crowd for Hannah.

Ferran walked over to the luggage car and threw her trunk in on top of the others. Susie noted its location carefully. Her wand was in there. She turned back to the crowd.

"Hannah!" she shrieked, trying to pry Ferran's fingers off her wrist with her free hand. "Hannah's here, lemme go!"

"I'll see you in a few weeks," he said, completely ignoring her efforts to break his grip. "And remember—"

"I know, I know," Susie cut him off, still trying to free her wrist.

At last he released her, calling after her to 'stay out of trouble!' Ignoring him completely, she ran to Hannah without looking back, shoving her way through a forest of black robed students. She hugged Hannah tightly, and began to gush. "How was your holiday? Mine was awful, I wish I could have been with you! I'll bet it was nice to see your parents. Did they miss you?" Susie asked in one breath.

Together they dragged Hannah's trunk to the luggage car, where Ferran lifted it into the car. Hannah introduced herself politely, but Susie was pulling her towards one of the passenger cars, and she ran off behind Susie with a quick 'Bye, nice to meet you!' to Ferran.

Once they were in the car, Susie ran into the nearest empty compartment and watched intently as Ferran Disapparated off the Platform.

"He's gone, let's go!" she hissed at Hannah, who was making herself comfortable and peering into a small basket Susie hadn't noticed before.

"What? Where are we going?" she asked.

"I've got to get my wand! It's in my trunk!"

Hannah sighed. "Susie, we're not allowed to do magic on the train anyhow. Just wait until we get back to Hogwarts. It'll still be there."

"Yes, but I want to make sure it's still ok. He took it from me, and I haven't seen it since. C'mon, we've got fifteen minutes until the train leaves. I'll just run and fetch it out and we'll be back in no time." And she left the compartment.

Hannah sighed again, peeked in the basket once more, and then followed Susie.

~~*~*~*~~

When Hannah caught up to Susie, she was staring up into the luggage car, now three quarters full, with a thoughtful look on her face which Hannah knew meant trouble. She looked up into the car and saw why. Susie's trunk, easily distinguishable by its age and the broken handle, was underneath two other heavy looking trunks.

"We can't get to it, Susie. Let's just go. You can get your wand back when we get to Hogwarts. I'm sure it's fine."

But Susie wasn't listening. "Lend me your wand, Hannah," she ordered.

"I-it's back in the compartment."

"No, it's not, it's in your pocket, I can see it," Susie said impatiently, holding out her hand for it.

Hannah handed it to her reluctantly, and Susie gave it an exuberant wave and cried, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Several trunks toppled down out of the luggage car with a tremendous clatter and burst open in front of them, attracting the attention of everyone nearby, including two Ravenclaw prefects.

"What are you two doing?" demanded the first, a tall girl with long fair hair.

"I accidentally left something in my trunk," Susie told her, as if this should have been obvious. Hannah rolled her eyes. Susie would only make things worse with her cheek.

"Well it'll just have to stay there, and you're not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts. You should know that."

Susie looked about ready to argue back, but Hannah kicked Susie in the leg to quiet her, apologized to the prefect, and scuttled back to the train, dragging Susie, now walking with an exaggerated limp, with her.

Back in the compartment, Susie was still thinking about her wand. "We can just wait until they leave and go back and get it," she told Hannah, handing Hannah's wand back to her.

"No. We can't," Hannah said firmly. "We nearly lost points. You'll just have to wait."

Susie looked upset, but was distracted by a small mewing noise coming from a wicker basket on the seat next to Hannah. "What's in there?" she asked, curious now.

Hannah was relieved by the change in subject, and eagerly opened the basket. She pulled out a small, squirming, silvery-grey bundle and placed it gently in Susie's lap.

Susie picked it up and cradled it gently. "A kitten," she whispered, awed. "Where did you get it?"

"Mrs. White gave her to me for Christmas. Her cat had a litter last Halloween."

"You're so lucky," Susie murmured as she held the sleepy kitten, almost too softly for Hannah to hear. The look of longing on her face was almost more than Hannah could bear, and she remembered that Susie didn't have anything just for herself, just because she wanted it, not because she needed it. The little cat was the only thing Hannah had received for Christmas that she had really liked, but at least she got Christmas presents. She wondered if Susie had gotten anything other than the set of colored inks and drawing paper Hannah had given her, but didn't like to ask.

"She's really yours, too," Hannah said in a rush, before she could change her mind. "Mrs. White said so. She said she would have given you a kitten, too, except that she'd promised all the others away already, so we'd have to share this one. She's both of ours." It was a lie, one of the biggest lies she'd ever told, but she knew she'd tell an even bigger one if that was what she had to do to lessen the look of longing on her friend's face.

"Really?" Susie whispered, her eyes filled with hope. "She's really ours to share?"

"Yep," Hannah confirmed, pleased.

"Does she have a name?" she asked softly, as if fearing to disturb the now napping kitten.

"Matilda. But I've been calling her Mattie."

"Mattie. She's perfect."

~~*~*~*~~

Susie ran for her trunk as soon as she entered her dorm and began throwing out its contents in her search for her wand.

"You're going to wish you hadn't scattered all that when you've got to put it all away," Hannah warned her, placing Mattie on her pillow.

Susie sighed and began to unpack with more care, though as this involved dumping everything on her bed instead of all over the floor, it wasn't much better.

Megan and Emma came in soon afterwards, and came over to admire Hannah's new kitten. Their new kitten. She wasn't sure that what Hannah had said about Mrs. White wanting them to share Mattie was entirely true, but she wasn't going to argue. It was the first time she had ever owned a pet, or even partially owned one. Granddad had been allergic to cats, and Grandmother couldn't stand dogs.

After a little more digging and she found her wand at the very bottom of her trunk. She gave it a wave and a few sparks shot out. She wanted to make sure she could still make up spells with it, but that would have to wait until the others weren't around. Ferran had threatened dire consequences if there was so much of a whisper of her Spellcrafting outside of his lessons with her, and she didn't doubt that he would go through with it, either.

The other girls stopped cooing over Mattie, who was looking a bit grumpy at being woken from her map, and began to put their things away. Susie supposed she should, too, but wasn't looking forward to sorting through the mess now strewn all over her bed and floor. Maybe if she waited, Hannah would help her, but she knew Hannah wouldn't like it if she didn't at least make an effort, so she began to half-heartedly sift through the pile of clothes and books and school supplies and toss some of the stuff back into her trunk.

"Megan, you dumped your cloak on my bed," she said irritably, as if one cloak would make a difference to the mess. She held up the offending piece of clothing as evidence.

Megan looked a bit miffed. "I did not. I hung mine up. Besides, that's not even mine. Mine is embroidered black velvet, and that's…well, that's not."

Susie turned to Emma, who studied it for a moment, then concluded, "I don't know. I suppose it might be mine."

"No, you hung yours up, too, remember?" Megan interjected. "C'mon, Emma, let's go get some dinner." Megan flounced from the room, Emma trailing in her wake.

Susie turned to Hannah, who shook her head. "I don't know whose it is, Susie. It must have been in your trunk, since it's not anyone else's. It looks too small to be anyone else's anyhow. Try it on, see if it fits."

Susie wrapped the cloak around her, and it was indeed her size. It fit better than her old one, which had trailed along the floor behind her when she wore it.

"I bet it's from Mr. Behrak. It's probably a Christmas present. You said he didn't give you anything on Christmas Day," Hannah continued.

"He wouldn't do anything like that. He's too mean," Susie said, though she wondered if Hannah might be right.

"He seemed nice enough to me," Hannah said. "And anyhow, who else would it be from?"

Susie twirled around in front of the mirror and watched with pleasure as the cloak flared out around her. "Very nice, dear," complimented the mirror in its sleepy voice.

"You ought to write him a thank you note," said Hannah bossily, watching Susie spin around the room.

Susie plopped down on Hannah's bed and looked at Hannah skeptically. "It's probably not even from him, the house-elf probably stuck it in there by accident," she stalled.

Hannah rolled her eyes and thrust a piece of parchment and a quill at Susie. "Write it," she ordered.

Susie gave a loud, exaggerated sigh, and scrawled a quick note on the parchment. Hannah was probably right. Her grandmother had been picky about thank you notes, too. She had always had to write them to her grandparents' friends, who used to send her frilly pink birthday gifts and thought she was just too precious for words.

She handed the note over to Hannah for inspection. Hannah gave it back. "At least tell him you like it," she said.

Susie squeezed in a few more words and looked at her note.

Ferran,

Thank you for the cloak. It's very nice.

Susie

Hannah looked as if she wanted to say something, but thought better of it. She sighed and said, "All right, go ahead and send it."

Susie shoved it into a drawer. "I'll send it later. I don't feel like going down to the owlery right now."

Hannah shot her an exasperated look and took the note back out of the drawer. She grabbed Susie's elbow and tugged her toward the door. "Send it now. C'mon I'll go with you, and you can see if that cloak is as warm as it looks."

Thinking that showing off her new cloak was a good idea, and Susie followed obediently.

~~*~*~*~~

Susie shot a sour look at the prefect sitting next to her in the carriage. Charlotte Harris, a pretty Hufflepuff 6th year, ignored her and continued to chat with the two other 6th years sharing their carriage. Susie sighed loudly. All her plans had been ruined when Professor Sprout had assigned a prefect to escort her to the Three Broomsticks pub to meet Ferran.

The carriage jerked to a stop, and Susie leapt to her feet, preparing to make a run for it. She was the only first year allowed to go to Hogsmeade, and she didn't intend to waste the trip studying with Ferran. Especially since she hadn't done any of the work he had assigned her.

Charlotte spotted her and grabbed Susie's shoulder just as she was about to leap out. "Oh, no you don't," she said, tightening her grip. She rolled her eyes at her friends, who looked sympathetic in return.

The door opened and a Gryffindor boy grinned up into the carriage, offering his hand to help the girls down. He waited until the two other girls had wandered off and spoke softly to Charlotte, who still hadn't let go of Susie. "I found some early flowers in the woods, come on, I want to show them to you."

He took Charlotte's hand and Susie sighed in exasperation.

"I- I need to drop her off at the pub" Charlotte stammered and blushed. Susie watched as Charlotte laced her finger's through the boy's.

"If you go to the pub, you'll get caught up talking and everyone will want to know where we're going and we won't have any time to ourselves," he explained impatiently. "She can find her way to the pub by herself, can't you, kid?"

Susie agreed eagerly, hope rising within her. Maybe her visit to Hogsmeade wouldn't be such a waste after all.

"I don't know," Charlotte said uncertainly. "Professor Sprout said I was to take her to The Three Broomsticks..."

"Professor Sprout probably just didn't want her to get lost," he coaxed. "And she can't possibly get lost. Look, you can see it from here."

Susie hated being talked about like she wasn't there, but put up with it for the sake of her freedom. She butted in, eager to confirm the boy's opinion. "That's right, Professor Sprout just didn't want me to get lost. I'm fine, now. You go on, I'm ok," she assured them.

"Well, if you're sure," Charlotte asked, sounding more delighted than concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Susie told her casually, trying not to sound too excited and raise suspicion.

They left her alone, making their way towards the forest without so much as a backward glance.

Susie watched them leave with great satisfaction. As soon as she was sure they were gone, she looked around Hogsmeade. It was her first trip to Hogsmeade, and she was going to make the most of it. She decided to follow a crowd of students to Honeyduke's first. She could sample the new chocolate everyone was talking about and maybe get a late Christmas present for Hannah.

Once in the store, she realized she might have a problem. She was at least a foot shorter than everyone else, and looked very much the first year. So far, all she'd gotten was a few strange looks, but she was certain there would be a prefect would come along soon to drag her away. She nibbled a bit of the honey flavored chocolate they were giving out and glanced over her shoulder. It occurred to her suddenly that she should have sent Ferran a note saying she wasn't coming. Would he ask about her when she didn't show up? She began to feel a bit nervous, and looked over her shoulder again.

She swallowed the rest of the sweet chocolate without tasting it, and wondered if he'd be more likely to find her here in a crowd or someplace less popular. She opted for a less populated place, think perhaps that would be the last place he'd look.

Looking out the frosty window, she spotted a pet shop across the street. She had a few sickles Ferran had given her. She would go get a collar for Mattie. Blue would go best with her grey fur. Or maybe they had Hufflepuff colors. Feeling better with a purpose, she strode confidently across the road. No one would look for her in a pet shop.

"SUSAN BONES!"

Susie didn't bother to turn around. It was Ferran, and he sounded furious. She hesitated for a moment, then decided to make a run for it and try to make it back to the carriages to hide. She took off, heading in the general direction of the carriages. She was vaguely aware of people pointing, and also of Ferran's voice shouting out spells.

She felt a spell barely miss her, and fear gave her added speed. She came over a rise and saw the carriages. Despair clutched her. She would never be able to run that far! She heard Ferran shouting behind her, and she made a split second decision. She turned to run into the forest, where her small size would give her the advantage. It couldn't be that dangerous. She would just go a little ways in and return to the castle later, when he had gone.

The branches tore at her robes and cloak and hair, slowing her down. Full of fear now, she pulled out her wand and screamed, "Get out of my way!" A blinding flash of light and a sharp crack, and she had cleared a five foot swath through the forest. Heart pounding, she took off again, deeper into the heart of the forest. She heard rustling behind her, and glancing back, she saw the branches and bushes closing behind her, hiding her path. Good! Ferran couldn't follow her now.

She finally allowed herself to slow down and walk for a bit, the blood pounding in her head making her dizzy. At last, when all she could hear was the deep winter silence of the forest, she collapsed in a small clearing and caught her breath. She looked around. All she could see in every direction was trees. Everything looked the same. There were no footprints, no broken branches, nothing to indicate where she had come in. Nothing to indicate the way out.

~~*~*~*~~

Hannah sat in a window seat and stared out the common room window at the forest that held her friend. It looked dark and evil and cold.

She felt someone wrap a blanket around her shoulders and looked up. It was Charlotte Harris, the prefect who had been assigned to escort Susie to Hogsmeade. There were tears running down her face, and Hannah felt a swell of pity. She knew Charlotte had been closeted with Professor Sprout and Professor Dumbledore since Mr. Behrak had come, pale and exhausted and furious, and told them what had happened. He had left just moments after he had come, though Hannah had begged him to tell her what had happened. Hannah wondered if he was still out combing the forest.

Knowing Susie, it probably wasn't Charlotte's fault at all. Susie had been complaining earlier about having to go study with Mr. Behrak. Hannah shouldn't be surprised by this at all. She was angry and worried and frustrated by her friend's stupidity. This time Susie had gone too far.

'What the hell is wrong with that kid?' Mr. Behrak had shouted at her in frustration just before he left again. But Hannah didn't know either.

Why did she feel she had to fight everyone all the time? Why did she seem to think everyone was out to get her? Hannah wondered what the orphanage had really been like. Or was Susie just like that naturally? Hannah stared out at the night sky, but the bright moon and flickering stars offered no answers. Sighing, she wrapped the blanket around her more closely and resumed her vigil.

"Won't you go to bed?" Charlotte pleaded after a moment. "It's after midnight."

Hannah shook her head. She couldn't sleep. Not now.

Charlotte sat on the other side of the window seat opposite Hannah and watched the forest as well. Every now and then a pinprick of light would appear and then die. Hannah had seen them before, but they had never looked malicious until now. Against her will, the world blurred and Hannah slipped into a fitful sleep.

A/N: As usual, a million thanks to Aristyar. Thanks also to those who've reviewed. Sorry this update has taken so long.