***I keep only Jo, Beck, Annie, Ross, and all the Durmstrang students (too many to name!!) I'm on a roll! Hehe. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the previous chapter ( I'm supposed to be making pasta right now, but eh. I'll go down in a minute. Enjoy!***



Chapter 11: Disbelief

ZAP!

Jo jolted awake. She felt the sting of the zap fill her and she shuddered.

"Did you sleep well, Ms. Stockton?" asked Professor Sinistra dryly.

Jo looked at the teacher with frightened eyes but she nodded weakly.

"Good. Now, I would very much prefer it if you would get back to your work. You only have, oh, about fifteen minutes left. And I believe I made it clear that I want the star charts drawn by the end of this lesson."

Jo nodded and she began on her starchart. But she couldn't concentrate. The last time she'd fallen asleep in a class and had a dream, she'd just felt horrible, because she had dreamt that SHE had been the cause of her friends' deaths! And now…now she had had a dream that it had been…Jack.

Jo glanced at Marc for a split second and was terrified to see that he was staring at her. She felt a shiver go through her spine and she shook her head and turned away from him. She was frightened and remained so for the rest of the class.

When the bell rang, Jo shuffled her papers and stuffed them hurriedly into her bag and leapt to go, but Professor Sinistra stopped her.

"Are you feeling all right?" the teacher asked. "I've been hearing from most of your teachers that you fall asleep almost every time. Are you feeling ill? Would you like to go see Madame Pomfrey?"

Jo gave the teacher a hasty nod. "Y-yes, please. I would like to see the nurse."

"Very well. I shall inform your next teacher that you shall be late. And what do you have next?"

"Nothing. Because Care of Magical Creatures has been cancelled because of last night's snowstorm."

"Ah. Well, you'd better go see the nurse."

"Yes. I will."

All right. You may go."

"Thank you, professor."

Jo left the Astronomy Tower and bounded off the steps, feeling grateful that she had no class for the next one and a half hour. She was eager to let Annie, Ross, and Beck know about her dream. She now felt that all the answers had fallen directly onto her lap. But just as she was about to near the Common Room, she felt a hand grab her.

She let out a small cry.

"Hey, what's the matter?" It was Beck. "Are you all right?"

Jo felt relief wash over her.

"I-I thought you were…" She tried to say, but she felt weak.

"Let's go in. I think Annie and Ross are there too."

"Okay." She nodded and they entered the Gryffindor Common Room.

"We're off for a while!" Annie said as she saw Jo and Beck coming in. "Let's play Snap!"

"No." Jo said hastily. "I have to tell you something."

Just as she was about to explain, the portrait door opened and she turned to see Marc entering. He gave Jo a stare as he continued his way up to the boys' dormitories.

"What's going on?" Ross asked anxiously.

Taking a deep breath, Jo slowly explained her dream. As she narrated each part of it, her friends' eyes grew wider and wider until Annie let out a gasp.

"That's—scary!" She said finally.

Jo swallowed. "It is. Oh my gosh, I—I really do need to see the nurse! If you'll all excuse me."

She got up and left the Common Room.

The corridors were now empty of students. Jo staggered towards the Infirmary, confused and still very afraid. As she neared the Hospital Wing, she became aware of footsteps behind her.

But she did not want to look. She had a feeling that she knew who it was.

She quickened her pace and the stalker did so too. Jo felt her panic heighten until she finally broke into a run. The hallways echoed of her running feet and she took a deep breath as she reached the Infirmary.

"What is it, child?" Madame Pomfrey asked in alarm as she saw Jo leaning over a chair.

Jo took a few more breaths before answering, "Headache."

"I'll get you something to drink. But first, you sit down and take a rest. I'm sure this headache is from you just troubling yourself."

Jo nodded quietly and sat down on an armchair while Madame Pomfrey went about to getting her the medicine.

Jo closed her eyes and tried to relax for a moment. Then Madame Pomfrey said, "Can you get me the box of ginger root? It's on the table in the front."

"Yes." Jo answered and she went up to the desk. The bottle of ginger root was very small and Jo picked it up. All of a sudden, she experienced a foreign feeling: a sudden jerk that almost threw her forward.

It was not until she found herself holding the bottle of ginger root and standing outside a castle with grey stones that she realised that the bottle had been a portkey.

"Welcome," came a familiar voice. And it had no accent. "To Von Brunckst castle again."

Jo turned. It was Jack. Alias: Marc.

***SO? What's a-gonna happen? We'll find that out soon…hopefully!!***